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Surprisingly UNscary
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From: Megan Schliesman <schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu>
Date: Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:19:45 -0500
Crstyal's post about "The Skeleton Man" by Joseph Bruchac, which she found scarier than she expected in spite of the "creepy" title, made me think of two books that I had an opposite reaction to: I was expecting tension or fear, and ended up not finding it.
The first is Patricia Reilly Giff's novel "Eleven." I like so much about this book in which a boy discovers a mystery about his own past. Its exploration of both family and friendship is marvelous. Really, there is nothing disappointing except . . . the cover. It shows two children from behind, standing in an attic that is dimly lit by a single bulb. It speaks, perhaps, to the sense of mystery in the story, but it seemed so much more ominous than the narrative proved to be.
The second is Kate Thompson's "Creature of the Night." This novel set in Ireland has an ominous title and somewhat eery cover image and the story itself suggests a murder (off-stage) at the hands of one of the fabled (or not) little people. But personally, I never felt a sense of forboding that the title and cover or even that plot element suggested. On the other hand, what I did find reading it was a tremendously rich story of a teen boy on a path of self-destruction who is lucky enough to find people who see his promise and are willing to give him more than one chance to make new choices.
BUT, when KT Horning read the book, she had a very different response. She did find that element of the plot eery and the sense of forboding was strong for her. (We occasionally did point/counterpoint book talks about it., both of us admiring it, but for different reasons. )
So I'm mentioning it in the first part of October because, for me, it doesn't fit into the scope of the y.a. discussion the second part of the month--it's wasn't scary or suspenseful. But I suspect KT would disagree.
And this points to the subjective response that is so much a part of any literary experience--what we find scary, or funny, or compelling,can so often be a matter of taste.
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 Tue 04 Oct 2011 01:19:45 PM CDT
Date: Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:19:45 -0500
Crstyal's post about "The Skeleton Man" by Joseph Bruchac, which she found scarier than she expected in spite of the "creepy" title, made me think of two books that I had an opposite reaction to: I was expecting tension or fear, and ended up not finding it.
The first is Patricia Reilly Giff's novel "Eleven." I like so much about this book in which a boy discovers a mystery about his own past. Its exploration of both family and friendship is marvelous. Really, there is nothing disappointing except . . . the cover. It shows two children from behind, standing in an attic that is dimly lit by a single bulb. It speaks, perhaps, to the sense of mystery in the story, but it seemed so much more ominous than the narrative proved to be.
The second is Kate Thompson's "Creature of the Night." This novel set in Ireland has an ominous title and somewhat eery cover image and the story itself suggests a murder (off-stage) at the hands of one of the fabled (or not) little people. But personally, I never felt a sense of forboding that the title and cover or even that plot element suggested. On the other hand, what I did find reading it was a tremendously rich story of a teen boy on a path of self-destruction who is lucky enough to find people who see his promise and are willing to give him more than one chance to make new choices.
BUT, when KT Horning read the book, she had a very different response. She did find that element of the plot eery and the sense of forboding was strong for her. (We occasionally did point/counterpoint book talks about it., both of us admiring it, but for different reasons. )
So I'm mentioning it in the first part of October because, for me, it doesn't fit into the scope of the y.a. discussion the second part of the month--it's wasn't scary or suspenseful. But I suspect KT would disagree.
And this points to the subjective response that is so much a part of any literary experience--what we find scary, or funny, or compelling,can so often be a matter of taste.
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 Tue 04 Oct 2011 01:19:45 PM CDT
