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[CCBC-Net] What book has changed your life?
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From: Maia Cheli-Colando <maia>
Date: Tue, 23 May 2006 09:50:40 -0700
Like, Deb, a Madeleine L'Engle novel tops my list: A Ring of Endless Light. Receiving my own signed copy from her hands was a double blessing -- the passions for marine mammals, music and the dancing cosmos have been long friends to me now, while her writerliness inspired me to become the same. I think I would have to list her body of work as having had the greatest literary impact on my life.
Another novel that significantly influenced my younger years was about Mary Magdalen. I can't remember the exact title, unfortunately, and I would guess it has gone out of print. I read this shortly after my folks became involved (and thus involved me) in the Episcopal Church. Coming to the church at age nine, with no religious background whatsoever, I was open to a wider breadth of ideas than I might otherwise have been, and this book was at odds with how Mary is often presented. As I remember her, she was bright and independent, suffered from epilepsy (not demons), and became a close friend to Jesus. This book continued to form my definition of Mary Magdalen; had you asked me who I would have wished to be in Church history, then if not a female Jesus (hey, why not go for the hero?), then Mary would definitely have been my pick. I'm not sure if this book was written for a young adult or adult audience, but it certainly was readable by and applicable for teens. (Hurrah for strong yet unmartyred girl images in the Church!)
Other dominant titles/series of my childhood: Lord of the Rings, A Wrinkle in Time, Narnia, The Princess and the Goblins, and Oz formed my basis of fantasy. Dragonflight introduced me to used bookstores; MacAvoy's Damiano series, The Great Divorce and the Screwtape Letters
(the Lewis admittedly not written for children, but that was when I read them) to more religious variations; and as a teen, Marion Zimmer Bradley to more encompassing notions of sexuality. L.M. Montgomery reassured me with other fey children. Little Women, Rose in Bloom and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm taught me something about delight. The Campfire Girls series allowed me to imagine girls in groups as real friends, not catty or cliquish (as was much the case in my own school) -- strong, physical, intelligent young women who were engaged with the natural world.
Most of the YA I read was either classics or in fantasy, or perfectly awful, so I have little of non-fantastical YA fiction to report from my adolescent years. I made up for that later! :)
Maia
Received on Tue 23 May 2006 11:50:40 AM CDT
Date: Tue, 23 May 2006 09:50:40 -0700
Like, Deb, a Madeleine L'Engle novel tops my list: A Ring of Endless Light. Receiving my own signed copy from her hands was a double blessing -- the passions for marine mammals, music and the dancing cosmos have been long friends to me now, while her writerliness inspired me to become the same. I think I would have to list her body of work as having had the greatest literary impact on my life.
Another novel that significantly influenced my younger years was about Mary Magdalen. I can't remember the exact title, unfortunately, and I would guess it has gone out of print. I read this shortly after my folks became involved (and thus involved me) in the Episcopal Church. Coming to the church at age nine, with no religious background whatsoever, I was open to a wider breadth of ideas than I might otherwise have been, and this book was at odds with how Mary is often presented. As I remember her, she was bright and independent, suffered from epilepsy (not demons), and became a close friend to Jesus. This book continued to form my definition of Mary Magdalen; had you asked me who I would have wished to be in Church history, then if not a female Jesus (hey, why not go for the hero?), then Mary would definitely have been my pick. I'm not sure if this book was written for a young adult or adult audience, but it certainly was readable by and applicable for teens. (Hurrah for strong yet unmartyred girl images in the Church!)
Other dominant titles/series of my childhood: Lord of the Rings, A Wrinkle in Time, Narnia, The Princess and the Goblins, and Oz formed my basis of fantasy. Dragonflight introduced me to used bookstores; MacAvoy's Damiano series, The Great Divorce and the Screwtape Letters
(the Lewis admittedly not written for children, but that was when I read them) to more religious variations; and as a teen, Marion Zimmer Bradley to more encompassing notions of sexuality. L.M. Montgomery reassured me with other fey children. Little Women, Rose in Bloom and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm taught me something about delight. The Campfire Girls series allowed me to imagine girls in groups as real friends, not catty or cliquish (as was much the case in my own school) -- strong, physical, intelligent young women who were engaged with the natural world.
Most of the YA I read was either classics or in fantasy, or perfectly awful, so I have little of non-fantastical YA fiction to report from my adolescent years. I made up for that later! :)
Maia
Received on Tue 23 May 2006 11:50:40 AM CDT
