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Tight Times
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From: Megan Schliesman <schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu>
Date: Wed, 04 May 2011 13:39:44 -0500
Thanks to Nel and Celeste for kicking off our discussion for the first part of May: Tight Times, in which we're looking at books for children and teens that reflect the experience of kids growing up with few economic resources.
One recent book I read that struck a chord for me was Chris Lynch's terrific new novel "Angry Young Man." And the whole time I was reading "Angry Young Man" I was also thinking about "Fighting Ruben Wolfe" by Markus Zusak. The complex issues with which the teenage characters are dealing in both novels play out against the backdrop of tight times. One of the things I like so much about both books is that they offer up the reality of living in a home in which money is sparse but it is not the defining factor of everything.
I also think of Vera B. Williams's "Amber Was Brave, Essie Was Smart," which is about so much more than money but money is also at the heart of so many of their family's problems. Lack of money can have a huge impact on the physical well-being and emotional security of children, and we see both in this book, with bare cupbards, and the search for a sense of security. Ultimately, however, it is a story about the love between two sisters.
And that, ultimately, is one of the things I appreciate about the best books that illuminate the lives of characters living in tight times: they offer glimpses into, and sometimes exposes about, economic issues through the lives of characters who live and breathe on the page--who are so much more than their economic status.
Megan
Megan Schliesman, Librarian Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison 600 N. Park Street, Room 4290 Madison, WI 53706
608/262-9503 schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu
www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/
Received on Wed 04 May 2011 01:39:44 PM CDT
Date: Wed, 04 May 2011 13:39:44 -0500
Thanks to Nel and Celeste for kicking off our discussion for the first part of May: Tight Times, in which we're looking at books for children and teens that reflect the experience of kids growing up with few economic resources.
One recent book I read that struck a chord for me was Chris Lynch's terrific new novel "Angry Young Man." And the whole time I was reading "Angry Young Man" I was also thinking about "Fighting Ruben Wolfe" by Markus Zusak. The complex issues with which the teenage characters are dealing in both novels play out against the backdrop of tight times. One of the things I like so much about both books is that they offer up the reality of living in a home in which money is sparse but it is not the defining factor of everything.
I also think of Vera B. Williams's "Amber Was Brave, Essie Was Smart," which is about so much more than money but money is also at the heart of so many of their family's problems. Lack of money can have a huge impact on the physical well-being and emotional security of children, and we see both in this book, with bare cupbards, and the search for a sense of security. Ultimately, however, it is a story about the love between two sisters.
And that, ultimately, is one of the things I appreciate about the best books that illuminate the lives of characters living in tight times: they offer glimpses into, and sometimes exposes about, economic issues through the lives of characters who live and breathe on the page--who are so much more than their economic status.
Megan
Megan Schliesman, Librarian Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison 600 N. Park Street, Room 4290 Madison, WI 53706
608/262-9503 schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu
www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/
Received on Wed 04 May 2011 01:39:44 PM CDT
