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Re: Social Justice & Class in Children's & Y.A. Books
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From: Aangel <aangel_at_aol.com>
Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2011 15:06:45 -0500 (EST)
If folks are heading to NCTE, Jessica Powers, Lyn Lachman and I (Ann Angel) will be presenting a panel on social justice issues in children's literatu re on Saturday at 4:30 pm. We'd love to have you in the audience to continu e this great discussion! Ann Angel
Message-----
From: Annette Goldsmith To: 'CCBC -Net' Sent: Wed, Nov 16, 2011 1:06 pm Subject:
Social Justice & Class in Children's & Y.A. Books
Sorry, I know I’m a day late, but I’ve just rea d through th e whole discussion and did not want you all to miss the fine YA novel Heck Superhero by Martine Leavitt (Red Deer Press, 2004 – publishe d in t he U.S. by Front Street), in which a 13 year old named Heck (short for Hect or) has to deal with sudden homelessness and the disappearance of his mothe r. Here’s a small taste: when Heck, a talented artist, is tol d by h is art teacher that art is not about making a perfect copy but rather about bringing himself to the drawing, “…Heck felt l ike someone had just added an extra room to his brain. That’s when he kne w that reality was just clay, something you could mold, or paint, or change by do ing Good Deeds.” Heck has comic book superhero pretensions an d find s it increasingly difficult to reconcile what he wants to accomplish (Good Deeds) with his increasing isolation from the people who might help him. Re d Deer Press is another Canadian small press that oft en publishes books wit h social justice themes, and clearly this book was a good fit for Front Str eet’s YA list.
I also want to second Ginny Moore Kruse’s admiration for "I K now He re" by Laurel Croza, illustrated by Matt James (Groundwood, 2010), which in October won yet another award, the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, one of the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Awards. An early po ster i n the discussion asked about characters who live in trailers, and this book is about one such tiny community in northeastern Saskatchewan. The father ’s construction job (he has been building a dam) is ending an d the family prepares to move to the big city – Toronto.
Thanks for the great discussion, everyone!
Annette
Annette Goldsmith, PhD Residence: Los Angeles, CA Guest Faculty, University of Washington Information School Visiting Scholar, University of Southern California School of Social Work & USC Libraries Member, 2011-2012 Schneider Family Book Award Jury, American Library Associ ation State Ambassador, California, United States Board on Books for Young People (USBBY)
*** Please delete my old account (ayg_at_comcast.net) from your address book a
nd replace it with agoldsmith.fsu_at_gmail.com ***
Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2011 15:06:45 -0500 (EST)
If folks are heading to NCTE, Jessica Powers, Lyn Lachman and I (Ann Angel) will be presenting a panel on social justice issues in children's literatu re on Saturday at 4:30 pm. We'd love to have you in the audience to continu e this great discussion! Ann Angel
Message-----
From: Annette Goldsmith To: 'CCBC -Net' Sent: Wed, Nov 16, 2011 1:06 pm Subject:
Social Justice & Class in Children's & Y.A. Books
Sorry, I know I’m a day late, but I’ve just rea d through th e whole discussion and did not want you all to miss the fine YA novel Heck Superhero by Martine Leavitt (Red Deer Press, 2004 – publishe d in t he U.S. by Front Street), in which a 13 year old named Heck (short for Hect or) has to deal with sudden homelessness and the disappearance of his mothe r. Here’s a small taste: when Heck, a talented artist, is tol d by h is art teacher that art is not about making a perfect copy but rather about bringing himself to the drawing, “…Heck felt l ike someone had just added an extra room to his brain. That’s when he kne w that reality was just clay, something you could mold, or paint, or change by do ing Good Deeds.” Heck has comic book superhero pretensions an d find s it increasingly difficult to reconcile what he wants to accomplish (Good Deeds) with his increasing isolation from the people who might help him. Re d Deer Press is another Canadian small press that oft en publishes books wit h social justice themes, and clearly this book was a good fit for Front Str eet’s YA list.
I also want to second Ginny Moore Kruse’s admiration for "I K now He re" by Laurel Croza, illustrated by Matt James (Groundwood, 2010), which in October won yet another award, the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, one of the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Awards. An early po ster i n the discussion asked about characters who live in trailers, and this book is about one such tiny community in northeastern Saskatchewan. The father ’s construction job (he has been building a dam) is ending an d the family prepares to move to the big city – Toronto.
Thanks for the great discussion, everyone!
Annette
Annette Goldsmith, PhD Residence: Los Angeles, CA Guest Faculty, University of Washington Information School Visiting Scholar, University of Southern California School of Social Work & USC Libraries Member, 2011-2012 Schneider Family Book Award Jury, American Library Associ ation State Ambassador, California, United States Board on Books for Young People (USBBY)
*** Please delete my old account (ayg_at_comcast.net) from your address book a
nd replace it with agoldsmith.fsu_at_gmail.com ***
---Received on Wed 16 Nov 2011 03:06:45 PM CST
