From: Melissa Henderson <mhenders>
Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 13:28:02 -0500

>>Megan wrote:
What books for children and young adults are particularly adept at capturing the physical and psychological geographies of a state, region or nation? Are there specific writers or books you think of as representative of a regional literature for youth?<<



While I haven't had the pleasure of visiting much of the South and cannot speak for authenticity, the children's writer who makes Mississippi come alive for me is Debbie Wiles, author of "Love, Ruby Lavender" and "Each Little Bird That Sings." I would imagine that these books are somewhat sentimental looks at small town life, but they are lovely (and funny!)

I *love* the names of people and characters in her books: Ruby Lavender, Comfort Snowberger, Halleluia (Ruby's hometown), Snapfinger (Comfort's hometown), Declaration Johnson (Comfort's best friend), and so on.

Melissa



 
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Melissa Henderson Children's Librarian Ela Area Public Library 275 Mohawk Trail Lake Zurich, Illinois 60047 847.438.3433 ext. 108 http://www.eapl.org/ys/index.htm

Visit Book Safari at http://www.booksafari.org
 

-----Original Message----- From: ccbc-net-bounces at ccbc.education.wisc.edu
[mailto:ccbc-net-bounces at ccbc.education.wisc.edu] On Behalf Of Megan Schliesman Sent: Friday, September 02, 2005 10:47 AM To: ccbc-net at lists.education.wisc.edu Subject: [CCBC-Net] Upcoming Topics

Here are the Upcoming Topics on CCBC-Net:

First Part of Month: A Sense of Place: Regional Children's Literature. What books for children and young adults are particularly adept at capturing the physical and psychological geographies of a state, region or nation? Are there specific writers or books you think of as representative of a regional literature for youth? Are there books that offer surprising perspectives on a particular place? And what about books from or about other nations here in the United States? Overall few in number, do they bear an unfair burden of representing a country as a whole? We'll look at these and other issues in the first half of September.

Second Part of Month: The Books of Angela Johnson. From her early picture books for young children, such as Tell Me a Story, Mama and Do Like Kyla, to poetry and singular novels, Angela Johnson has been creating some of the most finely crafted, quietly dazzling literature for youth for well over a decade. In 2003, she was only the second author of books for young people to win a prestigious MacArthur Foundation "genius" grant. In 2004, she won the Printz Award for literary excllence in young adult literature for her novel The First Part Last. In the second half of September, we'll discuss this gifted author's books for children and teenagers.

We'd planned on officially opening the September discussion on the 6th, and continue to leave the days thorugh Labor Day for announcements. But if people would like to start, and at Maia's suggestion explore start with regional literature of the Gulf Coast region in the U.S., that is fine!

Megan

Megan Schliesman, Librarian Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education, UW-Madison 600 N. Park St., Room 4290 Madison, WI 53706

ph: 608-262-9503 fax: 608-262-4933 schliesman at education.wisc.edu


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Received on Fri 02 Sep 2005 01:28:02 PM CDT