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[CCBC-Net] "Hidden messages" -- ON MY HONOR
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From: Shpatron at aol.com <Shpatron>
Date: Sun, 26 Jul 2009 13:14:20 EDT
Nancy, this is beautifully articulated. Thank you.
Susan
In a message dated 7/26/2009 10:04:42 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, wflood at hotmail.com writes:
This past week Marion Dane Bauer gave an emotionally moving talk at the Vermont College MFA residency in which she referred to On My Honor and her journey of writing from the heart. A major thread of her talk was that the needs of the writer continue to surface in each story she tells. Yes, the poignant moral agony of the main character in On My Honor is a universal challenge to any of us, regardless of age. But Marion spoke of another deeper theme of "return to family." I had forgotten from my own re-reading several years ago that one conflict in On My Honor is the boy's desire to have his father stand firm and say "no" to the whole adventure of biking to the cliffs. Instead the father lets the boy go with his friend. Then the shame and guilt of the secret of "what happened" becomes a huge "disconnect" from family for the boy. When the boy finally tells his dad, at bedtime in his own bed, he asks his dad, "can you sit with me until I fall asleep?" The dad replies, yes.
This book speaks to each reader as readers bring to the story their own needs, secrets, fears and hopes. That is the magic of story. Not that we manipulate what we want the reader to believe, but that we offer a connection
to others, a sharing of being a human being figuring out this journey of life.
Nancy
author of Navajo Year, Walk Through Many Seasons, A Children's Choice and Arizona Book of the Year
Sand to Stone, the Life Cycle of Sandstone
> Date: Sat, 25 Jul 2009 14:18:17 -0500
> From: elsa.marston at gmail.com
> To: ccbc-net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu
> Subject: [CCBC-Net] "Hidden messages" -- ON MY HONOR
>
> I have to comment on this book by Marian Dane Bauer. I read it in an
auto
> mechanic's waiting room, and found myself weeping by the end (in part, I
> must admit, because the boy on the paperback cover reminded me so much
of my
> son at that age, and I couldn't help wondering how he would have behaved
in
> such a situation--and how I could have saved him from unhappiness!).
>
> As I recall, it is indeed an open-ended treatment of a very basic,
> all-ages, dilemma: How do you choose between withholding
information-- or
> even lying-- in order to save your skin, and telling the truth and
suffering
> the consequences? The boy in the story does finally tell the truth, not
> surprisingly, but I think the description of what he goes through until
he
> reaches that decision is extremely moving--beautifully handled by a
> master-writer. The background assumptions about families, behavior,
etc.,
> to my mind, are just what we need to know in order to appreciate what
this
> particular child is experiencing as he finds himself deeper and deeper in
> moral agony, rather than a "sneaky" injection of "what should be."
>
> Elsa
> www.elsamarston.com
> _______________________________________________
> CCBC-Net mailing list
> CCBC-Net at lists.education.wisc.edu
> Visit this link to read archives or to unsubscribe...
> http://lists.education.wisc.edu/mailman/listinfo/ccbc-net
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Received on Sun 26 Jul 2009 12:14:20 PM CDT
Date: Sun, 26 Jul 2009 13:14:20 EDT
Nancy, this is beautifully articulated. Thank you.
Susan
In a message dated 7/26/2009 10:04:42 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, wflood at hotmail.com writes:
This past week Marion Dane Bauer gave an emotionally moving talk at the Vermont College MFA residency in which she referred to On My Honor and her journey of writing from the heart. A major thread of her talk was that the needs of the writer continue to surface in each story she tells. Yes, the poignant moral agony of the main character in On My Honor is a universal challenge to any of us, regardless of age. But Marion spoke of another deeper theme of "return to family." I had forgotten from my own re-reading several years ago that one conflict in On My Honor is the boy's desire to have his father stand firm and say "no" to the whole adventure of biking to the cliffs. Instead the father lets the boy go with his friend. Then the shame and guilt of the secret of "what happened" becomes a huge "disconnect" from family for the boy. When the boy finally tells his dad, at bedtime in his own bed, he asks his dad, "can you sit with me until I fall asleep?" The dad replies, yes.
This book speaks to each reader as readers bring to the story their own needs, secrets, fears and hopes. That is the magic of story. Not that we manipulate what we want the reader to believe, but that we offer a connection
to others, a sharing of being a human being figuring out this journey of life.
Nancy
author of Navajo Year, Walk Through Many Seasons, A Children's Choice and Arizona Book of the Year
Sand to Stone, the Life Cycle of Sandstone
> Date: Sat, 25 Jul 2009 14:18:17 -0500
> From: elsa.marston at gmail.com
> To: ccbc-net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu
> Subject: [CCBC-Net] "Hidden messages" -- ON MY HONOR
>
> I have to comment on this book by Marian Dane Bauer. I read it in an
auto
> mechanic's waiting room, and found myself weeping by the end (in part, I
> must admit, because the boy on the paperback cover reminded me so much
of my
> son at that age, and I couldn't help wondering how he would have behaved
in
> such a situation--and how I could have saved him from unhappiness!).
>
> As I recall, it is indeed an open-ended treatment of a very basic,
> all-ages, dilemma: How do you choose between withholding
information-- or
> even lying-- in order to save your skin, and telling the truth and
suffering
> the consequences? The boy in the story does finally tell the truth, not
> surprisingly, but I think the description of what he goes through until
he
> reaches that decision is extremely moving--beautifully handled by a
> master-writer. The background assumptions about families, behavior,
etc.,
> to my mind, are just what we need to know in order to appreciate what
this
> particular child is experiencing as he finds himself deeper and deeper in
> moral agony, rather than a "sneaky" injection of "what should be."
>
> Elsa
> www.elsamarston.com
> _______________________________________________
> CCBC-Net mailing list
> CCBC-Net at lists.education.wisc.edu
> Visit this link to read archives or to unsubscribe...
> http://lists.education.wisc.edu/mailman/listinfo/ccbc-net
_________________________________________________________________ Windows Live? Hotmail?: Celebrate the moment with your favorite sports pics. Check it out. http://www.windowslive.com/Online/Hotmail/Campaign/QuickAdd?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_W L_QA_HM_sports_photos_072009&cat=sports
_______________________________________________ CCBC-Net mailing list CCBC-Net at lists.education.wisc.edu Visit this link to read archives or to unsubscribe... http://lists.education.wisc.edu/mailman/listinfo/ccbc-net
**************An Excellent Credit Score is 750. See Yours in Just 2 Easy Steps!
(http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1221323048x1201367271/aol?redir=http://www.freecreditreport.com/pm/default.aspx?sc=668072&hmpgID=62&bcd=Jul yExcfooterNO62)
Received on Sun 26 Jul 2009 12:14:20 PM CDT
