CCBC-Net Archives
Girl Power
- Contemporary messages sorted: [ by date ] [ by subject ] [ by author ]
From: Susan Daugherty <susaninaruba_at_yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2011 14:37:31 -0700 (PDT)
There are so many great stories with strong girls, and I have to mention ho w much I drew strength from the old Nancy Drews in the the 50s, but my main focus here is the Breadwinner trilogy of Deborah Ellis. Parvana must be come the "man of the family" which means dressing as a boy in order to go o ut and earn enough to keep the family going. The stories kept me on the edge of my seat throughout, and I think they are true to the basically sad position of women in the Afghan society. Since there are probably no or few people writing from within the Afghan culture, it was courageous of Ell is to write about this subject; she was bound to be criticized. Perhaps the books aren't completely perfect in every way, but I think they have gre at child appeal and help the upper elementary or middle school reader quest ion the rights we all take for granted, for the most part, as Americans or Europeans. Ellis went to refugee camps and interviewed Afghan women to write as authentically as possible.
The theory about girls who must act as boys and with boys is interesting, a nd I haven't had time to consider it carefully, but thank you for raising t hat issue. These are three more books that sort of follow that pattern, I guess. Another would be O'Dell's Island of the blue dolphins. Littl e women's most interesting character is Jo too who wants to be a boy, but h er main audience is her sisters I'd argue. Hmm. Ah, I finally thought of books that celebrates strength of the traditional role: All of the W ilder books feature Laura fighting with her inner wildness and finally over coming it. She sacrifices a lot to sit and sew shirts, hating it all the time, so that Mary can go to the college for the blind. That is an unus ual theme, isn't it?
Regarding Tamora Pierce's Alanna series. I had a 7th grade girl tell me that when she was in a very uncomfortable situation, she would think of wha t Alanna would do and try to be like her. It's not often that a student shares that kind of thought with you. Wonderful!
Susan Daugherty
Received on Mon 14 Mar 2011 02:37:31 PM CDT
Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2011 14:37:31 -0700 (PDT)
There are so many great stories with strong girls, and I have to mention ho w much I drew strength from the old Nancy Drews in the the 50s, but my main focus here is the Breadwinner trilogy of Deborah Ellis. Parvana must be come the "man of the family" which means dressing as a boy in order to go o ut and earn enough to keep the family going. The stories kept me on the edge of my seat throughout, and I think they are true to the basically sad position of women in the Afghan society. Since there are probably no or few people writing from within the Afghan culture, it was courageous of Ell is to write about this subject; she was bound to be criticized. Perhaps the books aren't completely perfect in every way, but I think they have gre at child appeal and help the upper elementary or middle school reader quest ion the rights we all take for granted, for the most part, as Americans or Europeans. Ellis went to refugee camps and interviewed Afghan women to write as authentically as possible.
The theory about girls who must act as boys and with boys is interesting, a nd I haven't had time to consider it carefully, but thank you for raising t hat issue. These are three more books that sort of follow that pattern, I guess. Another would be O'Dell's Island of the blue dolphins. Littl e women's most interesting character is Jo too who wants to be a boy, but h er main audience is her sisters I'd argue. Hmm. Ah, I finally thought of books that celebrates strength of the traditional role: All of the W ilder books feature Laura fighting with her inner wildness and finally over coming it. She sacrifices a lot to sit and sew shirts, hating it all the time, so that Mary can go to the college for the blind. That is an unus ual theme, isn't it?
Regarding Tamora Pierce's Alanna series. I had a 7th grade girl tell me that when she was in a very uncomfortable situation, she would think of wha t Alanna would do and try to be like her. It's not often that a student shares that kind of thought with you. Wonderful!
Susan Daugherty
Received on Mon 14 Mar 2011 02:37:31 PM CDT
