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[CCBC-Net] Angela Johnson
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From: HANSNELS at aol.com <HANSNELS>
Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 13:04:43 EDT
Greetings:
I am so pleased that we are discussing Angela Johnson's work. Here are some of my thoughts: When I read Ms. Johnson's award wining novel, Toning the Sweep, I was stunned by the lyricism of her multilayered story, the vivid images that put the reader into the California desert, and the careful unfolding of her tale that resonated, like the toning of the sweep, long after the novel ended. I have gone on to read Ms. Johnson's other works and am impressed by her range and her ability to understand the issues that touch young lives, while at the same time reminding the adult reader how it felt to be young, innocent and vulnerable.
Her creative gifts are evident in her ability to take a simple premise and create breadth and depth as her story progresses. In her evocative picture book, for example, When I am Old With You, she depicts the innocent love of a child for a grandparent as well as provides details that reflect her African American heritage. Her spare, sensuous prose captures perfectly the feelings of younger children. I sense that Ms. Johnson clearly remembers what it felt like to be a child and that she has taken these memories of a close relationship with her elders and reformed them into picture books that transcend their specific time and place, touching many children.
In her young adult novels, she frees her teenage African American characters from the boxes where they are so often placed in works of fiction--crime, drugs, racism and all of the other "ills" of teen age life. Even when showing the underside of life her imagery and thoughtful language and her attention t o craft tells a story that goes beyond the usual stock portrayals and stereotypes. She explores the soul of her complex characters and offers hope, resiliency, strength and even beauty to her readers.
Her work is never condescending or trite. She does not present predictable plots, but forces the reader to think, reflect and most of all to feel. Ms. Johnson's voice and style are distinctive. We see a writer who is not afraid to tell a story in her own special way--quiet, reflective, complex and lyrical. Teenagers reading her work will not only find, possibly, some ansers and inspiration for their own journeys into adulthood, but will understand that there is more than one way to tell a story.
She has raised the literary bar for all of us. Joyce Hansen
Received on Mon 26 Sep 2005 12:04:43 PM CDT
Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 13:04:43 EDT
Greetings:
I am so pleased that we are discussing Angela Johnson's work. Here are some of my thoughts: When I read Ms. Johnson's award wining novel, Toning the Sweep, I was stunned by the lyricism of her multilayered story, the vivid images that put the reader into the California desert, and the careful unfolding of her tale that resonated, like the toning of the sweep, long after the novel ended. I have gone on to read Ms. Johnson's other works and am impressed by her range and her ability to understand the issues that touch young lives, while at the same time reminding the adult reader how it felt to be young, innocent and vulnerable.
Her creative gifts are evident in her ability to take a simple premise and create breadth and depth as her story progresses. In her evocative picture book, for example, When I am Old With You, she depicts the innocent love of a child for a grandparent as well as provides details that reflect her African American heritage. Her spare, sensuous prose captures perfectly the feelings of younger children. I sense that Ms. Johnson clearly remembers what it felt like to be a child and that she has taken these memories of a close relationship with her elders and reformed them into picture books that transcend their specific time and place, touching many children.
In her young adult novels, she frees her teenage African American characters from the boxes where they are so often placed in works of fiction--crime, drugs, racism and all of the other "ills" of teen age life. Even when showing the underside of life her imagery and thoughtful language and her attention t o craft tells a story that goes beyond the usual stock portrayals and stereotypes. She explores the soul of her complex characters and offers hope, resiliency, strength and even beauty to her readers.
Her work is never condescending or trite. She does not present predictable plots, but forces the reader to think, reflect and most of all to feel. Ms. Johnson's voice and style are distinctive. We see a writer who is not afraid to tell a story in her own special way--quiet, reflective, complex and lyrical. Teenagers reading her work will not only find, possibly, some ansers and inspiration for their own journeys into adulthood, but will understand that there is more than one way to tell a story.
She has raised the literary bar for all of us. Joyce Hansen
Received on Mon 26 Sep 2005 12:04:43 PM CDT
