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Poverty Context in Kid Lit
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From: Angie Miles <readingam_at_prodigy.net>
Date: Mon, 16 May 2011 18:59:27 -0700 (PDT)
Hi all
I'm about to post two new(er) novels in the recommended read-aloud area o f my website and I realize that each of these books goes right to the heart of our initial assignment here... identifying books that reflect current e conomic hardships as we talk about poverty in kids' lit.
In Camille McPhee Fell Under the Bus, Kristen Tracy portrays a family that is coming apart at the seams BECAUSE of economics... the father's "tightwad " ways and the mother's inability to manage her spending impulses. Lack or "the hole" as it's called in family discussions is part of the conte xt of Camille's day-to-day life.
In the newest novel from Gennifer Choldenko (Al Capone Does My Shirts), we' re knocked flat right out of the gate as a family is losing their home to f oreclosure. You feel instant and intense agony for the children, fin ding out suddenly and having to throw their lives into a single suitcase ea ch and start over again with a barely-known relative many miles away. Talk about speaking to the current economic times!
I do believe that the current economic climate and the overwhelming numbers of foreclosures and other problems have put these issues squarely on the m inds and in the pages of many contemporary authors.
BUT.... to touch on what a previous post indicated regarding context vs. co ncept... I believe that virtually every novel... every picture book... is a bout relationships. The stories are about our relationships with others and with ourselves. Only rarely is the poverty itself so palpable that i t is practically a character in the story. Typically, it is merely conte xtual, helping to reveal and to accentuate the relationships in the story. It was the best of times... it was the worst of times... but that is si mply the context for the true tale. Fiction is how we explore the our hu manity. Contexts provide a backdrop... a tool, a window, an apparatus fo r helping us to see what is real.
Best Angie Miles www.happyreading.org
Received on Mon 16 May 2011 06:59:27 PM CDT
Date: Mon, 16 May 2011 18:59:27 -0700 (PDT)
Hi all
I'm about to post two new(er) novels in the recommended read-aloud area o f my website and I realize that each of these books goes right to the heart of our initial assignment here... identifying books that reflect current e conomic hardships as we talk about poverty in kids' lit.
In Camille McPhee Fell Under the Bus, Kristen Tracy portrays a family that is coming apart at the seams BECAUSE of economics... the father's "tightwad " ways and the mother's inability to manage her spending impulses. Lack or "the hole" as it's called in family discussions is part of the conte xt of Camille's day-to-day life.
In the newest novel from Gennifer Choldenko (Al Capone Does My Shirts), we' re knocked flat right out of the gate as a family is losing their home to f oreclosure. You feel instant and intense agony for the children, fin ding out suddenly and having to throw their lives into a single suitcase ea ch and start over again with a barely-known relative many miles away. Talk about speaking to the current economic times!
I do believe that the current economic climate and the overwhelming numbers of foreclosures and other problems have put these issues squarely on the m inds and in the pages of many contemporary authors.
BUT.... to touch on what a previous post indicated regarding context vs. co ncept... I believe that virtually every novel... every picture book... is a bout relationships. The stories are about our relationships with others and with ourselves. Only rarely is the poverty itself so palpable that i t is practically a character in the story. Typically, it is merely conte xtual, helping to reveal and to accentuate the relationships in the story. It was the best of times... it was the worst of times... but that is si mply the context for the true tale. Fiction is how we explore the our hu manity. Contexts provide a backdrop... a tool, a window, an apparatus fo r helping us to see what is real.
Best Angie Miles www.happyreading.org
Received on Mon 16 May 2011 06:59:27 PM CDT
