From: Sheila A Welch <sheilawelch>
Date: Sat, 27 Aug 2005 14:22:40 -0500

Hello,

I've enjoyed reading the recent posts about children on their own. Most authors of books for kids have heard the advice (along with "show don't tell") "get rid of the parents," or, if that's not possible, "make sure the kids solve their own problems." Obviously, some of the most wonderful books don't follow any of these "rules." But there's no doubt that a lot of appealing books have child characters on their own, fending for themselves and finding solutions. When I was a child, I read and loved The Enchanted Castle by E. Nesbit, and I can't remember much about parents or adults in that or in her Five Children and It. Although Maia mentioned a number of fantasy books in which adults are present in parental roles, most of the action in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Narnia Tales, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and Peter Pan happens without parental supervision or interference.

There are plenty of other fictional titles with kids on their own. Hatchet, Island of the Blue Dolphins, Julie of the Wolves, Z is for Zachariah are a few of the older books that come to mind. Interesting . .
. most of these are a form of fantasy though not in a traditional sense. Like Z is for Zachariah, this year's Printz winner, How I Live Now, is definitely about children on their own, coping with the problems brought upon them and society by events in the adult world. The City of Ember is another look at a future in which children are virtually on their own, trying to overcome the mess adults have caused.

I found it surprising that a number of picture books also deal with kids on their own. Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are has Max off in his imaginary world for most of the story. The situation is similar in his Outside Over There, with Ida's parents at sea or sitting in the arbor, leaving her in charge of the baby. Even in Seuss's The Cat in the Hat, those kids are alone with that crazy cat, worrying about mother returning-- but she's definitely not there. If animal characters are considered stand-ins for children, Lionni's Swimmy is about an orphaned fish who's fending for himself for much of the book, and Henke's kitten in the Caldecott winner, Kitten's First Full Moon, has no parental supervision.

As an author, I found Maia's musings of particular interest. She wrote,
"I wonder, is literary orphaning a device that kids desire, or is it a device that writers use to move the action where they want it? And, now that divorce and moving homes/locales have become much more common than, say at the beginning of the twentieth century, has that motif been replaced by other ways of experiencing conflict, loss, and the corresponding freedoms and catalysts?"

Many of the current titles for middle grade readers and young adults deal with the dynamics of kids within their families are at school. Olive's Ocean and Kira Kira are two titles that come to mind. Like another of my favorites from childhood, My Friend Flicka, these books portray the complexity of a world where children must interact with adults who are parents, teachers, coaches, and others. As a child, I remember being fascinated by the way Mary O'Hara let me get inside the head of a forty-something woman in the three Flicka books. But I found, when writing my novel, The Shadowed Unicorn, that I wanted my child characters on their own for large portions of the story. I agree with Maia, however, when she says, "It sometimes feels as if the author is cheating when s/he orphans a child sans deeper explanation... as if it were too difficult to think of a way to create action while still remaining in relationship... but isn't that the better/more honest/more lasting story in most cases, the story where relationships remain, difficult though they are?" In The Shadowed Unicorn, the father has died before the story begins, yet the three children are dealing with the emotional impact of that loss and are learning to adjust to having their mother as their only parent. On the other hand, in two fantasy books I've written, the children are on their own.

In real life, today's middle class children are not truly on their own much at all. When I was a child, my friends and I were free to play in barns and roam the woods and fields without any contact with adults. Even on the school playground, no teachers or other adults ever came out to watch over us. So today's writers may find that fantasy stories or those set in the future are the most suitable genres for "getting rid of the parents."

Thanks for bringing up this topic.

Sheila Kelly Welch
 
 
Received on Sat 27 Aug 2005 02:22:40 PM CDT