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[CCBC-Net] What book has changed your life?
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From: Santangelo, Michael <M.Santangelo>
Date: Tue, 23 May 2006 16:31:57 -0400
This one is easy for me. It was Zilpha Keatley Snyder's The Egypt Game. Prior to reading it, I had never developed such an affinity for a book. I read it at least five times in the course of one year, and was upset every time I finished it; I wanted the story to go on forever. The characters felt so real to me that I would hold imaginary conversations with them in my bedroom. They did not need magic powers, wealth, or superhuman abilities. They were just real.
Zilpha Keatley Snyder portrayed children using their imaginations to create their own special worlds, and she showed children developing interests outside of sports (most of which I hated), music lessons (which my mother refused to pay for), and school (I was picked on). The idea of children actively pursuing independent activities without adults, and being so passionate and devoted in these activities, was so revolutionary to me. To find passions in life and go about them on your own, regardless of what is happening at school, at home, or, now, at work, was a new concept to my young mind.
It was also the first time I read about an interracial relationship-Melanie and April's friendship. I grew in an all white town, and the only African Americans I knew were the ones on television, the director of the library, and my aunt's boyfriend. Yet, the friendship was never false. Zilpha created Melanie and April as real characters, and neither was there as an exotic sidekick to the other.
Looking at The Egypt Game as an adult, I still think it is a wonderful book and it still has meaning to me. The writing is so crisp and clear. The characters still feel real. I still want to have imaginary conversations with each of them. And, to this day, when I walk past vacant lots in my Brooklyn neighborhood, I still think of the elaborate "Egyptian" ceremonies the characters created in an abandoned space.
--Michael Santangelo
Michael Santangelo
Children's Materials Specialist
Office of Materials Selection
Brooklyn Public Library
Grand Army Plaza
Brooklyn, NY 11238
718-230-2746
m.santangelo at brooklynpubliclibrary.org
Received on Tue 23 May 2006 03:31:57 PM CDT
Date: Tue, 23 May 2006 16:31:57 -0400
This one is easy for me. It was Zilpha Keatley Snyder's The Egypt Game. Prior to reading it, I had never developed such an affinity for a book. I read it at least five times in the course of one year, and was upset every time I finished it; I wanted the story to go on forever. The characters felt so real to me that I would hold imaginary conversations with them in my bedroom. They did not need magic powers, wealth, or superhuman abilities. They were just real.
Zilpha Keatley Snyder portrayed children using their imaginations to create their own special worlds, and she showed children developing interests outside of sports (most of which I hated), music lessons (which my mother refused to pay for), and school (I was picked on). The idea of children actively pursuing independent activities without adults, and being so passionate and devoted in these activities, was so revolutionary to me. To find passions in life and go about them on your own, regardless of what is happening at school, at home, or, now, at work, was a new concept to my young mind.
It was also the first time I read about an interracial relationship-Melanie and April's friendship. I grew in an all white town, and the only African Americans I knew were the ones on television, the director of the library, and my aunt's boyfriend. Yet, the friendship was never false. Zilpha created Melanie and April as real characters, and neither was there as an exotic sidekick to the other.
Looking at The Egypt Game as an adult, I still think it is a wonderful book and it still has meaning to me. The writing is so crisp and clear. The characters still feel real. I still want to have imaginary conversations with each of them. And, to this day, when I walk past vacant lots in my Brooklyn neighborhood, I still think of the elaborate "Egyptian" ceremonies the characters created in an abandoned space.
--Michael Santangelo
Michael Santangelo
Children's Materials Specialist
Office of Materials Selection
Brooklyn Public Library
Grand Army Plaza
Brooklyn, NY 11238
718-230-2746
m.santangelo at brooklynpubliclibrary.org
Received on Tue 23 May 2006 03:31:57 PM CDT
