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Eva Ibbotson
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From: Connie Rockman <connie.rock>
Date: Fri, 13 May 2005 08:23:22 -0400
I've enjoyed all of Ibbotson's books for young readers and was sure her adult novels would be delightful too, so I appreciate Faith's recommendations. There is a profile of Ibbotson in the recently published Ninth Book of Junior Authors and Illustrators (H. W. Wilson, 2004), which should be available in libraries and online, if your library subscribes to Wilson Biographies. In an autobiographical piece, she talks about her childhood in the 1930s, growing up in Vienna and being shunted on trains between divorced parents. Forced to flee from Hitler, both her parents went to England, where she fell in love with the language . . . it's a wonderful story and it's fascinating to see the roots of her books in those experiences. Having had the childhood she did, she finds it impossible to write books that do not have happy endings, because children need that hope.
I've been reading another author who writes for both adults and younger readers - Alison McGhee. Her adult novel Was it Beautiful? is a heart-wrenching story of a man coming to terms with the death of his adult son. All of her books take place in a small town in the Adirondack foothills and she writes spare, haunting prose about the people in this town and their relationships. Her upcoming novel for YAs, All Rivers Flow to the Sea, is also about loss - the main character was in an auto accident with her sister who is now in a coma and she is struggling to cope with all the feelings of guilt, loss, and anger that overwhelm her. One of the people who helps her through this is William T., the man from the adult novel who lost his son, though it's now five years after that event. McGhee interweaves these themes through the relationships of the people to each other and to their environment - all in the most beautiful prose. In both these books the theme of redemption at the end comes hard won, and is gently moving. I'm looking forward to reading her other books.
The one book that keeps haunting me - and is on my mind now because I recently loaned it to a friend who keeps calling to talk about it - is the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night. I read it as an amazing experience of being in someone else's head, but my friend has been most affected by the realization that we all do things in our lives to keep us "safe" and reading about the extreme ways that Christopher keeps himself safe - and yet the journey he sets out on, knowing it will turn his world upside down - makes us realize how fragile all of our lives can be.
Connie Rockman
Received on Fri 13 May 2005 07:23:22 AM CDT
Date: Fri, 13 May 2005 08:23:22 -0400
I've enjoyed all of Ibbotson's books for young readers and was sure her adult novels would be delightful too, so I appreciate Faith's recommendations. There is a profile of Ibbotson in the recently published Ninth Book of Junior Authors and Illustrators (H. W. Wilson, 2004), which should be available in libraries and online, if your library subscribes to Wilson Biographies. In an autobiographical piece, she talks about her childhood in the 1930s, growing up in Vienna and being shunted on trains between divorced parents. Forced to flee from Hitler, both her parents went to England, where she fell in love with the language . . . it's a wonderful story and it's fascinating to see the roots of her books in those experiences. Having had the childhood she did, she finds it impossible to write books that do not have happy endings, because children need that hope.
I've been reading another author who writes for both adults and younger readers - Alison McGhee. Her adult novel Was it Beautiful? is a heart-wrenching story of a man coming to terms with the death of his adult son. All of her books take place in a small town in the Adirondack foothills and she writes spare, haunting prose about the people in this town and their relationships. Her upcoming novel for YAs, All Rivers Flow to the Sea, is also about loss - the main character was in an auto accident with her sister who is now in a coma and she is struggling to cope with all the feelings of guilt, loss, and anger that overwhelm her. One of the people who helps her through this is William T., the man from the adult novel who lost his son, though it's now five years after that event. McGhee interweaves these themes through the relationships of the people to each other and to their environment - all in the most beautiful prose. In both these books the theme of redemption at the end comes hard won, and is gently moving. I'm looking forward to reading her other books.
The one book that keeps haunting me - and is on my mind now because I recently loaned it to a friend who keeps calling to talk about it - is the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night. I read it as an amazing experience of being in someone else's head, but my friend has been most affected by the realization that we all do things in our lives to keep us "safe" and reading about the extreme ways that Christopher keeps himself safe - and yet the journey he sets out on, knowing it will turn his world upside down - makes us realize how fragile all of our lives can be.
Connie Rockman
Received on Fri 13 May 2005 07:23:22 AM CDT
