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[CCBC-Net] CCBC-Net Digest, Vol 7, Issue 20
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From: Brooke Shirts <chaitivole>
Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2006 22:36:00 -0500
>
> Mel wrote:
>This discussion about Criss Cross has me wondering what other books
>there might be that successfully combine traditional narrative with
>more experimental passages such as poetry, Q&A, lists, etc. Does
>anyone have any suggestions (even adult lit suggestions would be
>welcome)?
The book that sprang to my mind most readily was
_Amber was Brave, Essie was Smart_ by Vera B. Williams. In this slim volume, Williams combines poetry and drawings to tell the story of two sisters attmepting to survive a family crisis (their father is serving time in jail for check forgery). However, this narrative thread isn't presented as much as implied through a series of small scenes described through the poems -- a feeling very similar to the one created in _Criss Cross_. Combined with the poignant illustrations, Williams has created something that isn't quite a picture book, isn't quite a book of poetry, and isn't quite a novel, but all three at the same time.
As for adult lit, I've talked to several people who think that _Criss Cross_ reminded them of _Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close_ by Jonathan Safran Foer. Although completely different in tone from Perkins' novel (it centers on a boy whose father was killed in the World Trade Center on 9/11) it is similar in that it uses lists, photographs, and even a flip book to tell its story in the same disjointed, "postmodern" way.
Lastly, I can't help but say that _Criss Cross_ reminded me of the early
_Anastasia Krupnik_ books, if anything because it seems like the kind of thing that Debbie might have been reading in her spare time. The lists, the poetry, the references to bell bottoms and Afros -- what more can I say?
Brooke
Received on Thu 16 Feb 2006 09:36:00 PM CST
Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2006 22:36:00 -0500
>
> Mel wrote:
>This discussion about Criss Cross has me wondering what other books
>there might be that successfully combine traditional narrative with
>more experimental passages such as poetry, Q&A, lists, etc. Does
>anyone have any suggestions (even adult lit suggestions would be
>welcome)?
The book that sprang to my mind most readily was
_Amber was Brave, Essie was Smart_ by Vera B. Williams. In this slim volume, Williams combines poetry and drawings to tell the story of two sisters attmepting to survive a family crisis (their father is serving time in jail for check forgery). However, this narrative thread isn't presented as much as implied through a series of small scenes described through the poems -- a feeling very similar to the one created in _Criss Cross_. Combined with the poignant illustrations, Williams has created something that isn't quite a picture book, isn't quite a book of poetry, and isn't quite a novel, but all three at the same time.
As for adult lit, I've talked to several people who think that _Criss Cross_ reminded them of _Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close_ by Jonathan Safran Foer. Although completely different in tone from Perkins' novel (it centers on a boy whose father was killed in the World Trade Center on 9/11) it is similar in that it uses lists, photographs, and even a flip book to tell its story in the same disjointed, "postmodern" way.
Lastly, I can't help but say that _Criss Cross_ reminded me of the early
_Anastasia Krupnik_ books, if anything because it seems like the kind of thing that Debbie might have been reading in her spare time. The lists, the poetry, the references to bell bottoms and Afros -- what more can I say?
Brooke
Received on Thu 16 Feb 2006 09:36:00 PM CST
