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From: sully_at_sully-writer.com
Date: Sat, 19 Nov 2011 17:25:11 -0700
nt I agree with much of what you say, Ch ristine, and I'm glad you mentioned Tom Feelings's The Middle Pass age . That is certainly one of the most powerful books about slavery pu blished for young people I have ever seen and its power is indeed owed to f act that Feelings holds nothing back in his depicition of the brutality, ho rror and tragedy of slavery. Another book I find immensely powerful be cause of the honest approach to the subject is Chris Crowe's Getting Aw ay with Murder: The True Story of the Emmett Till Case . I say the more honest and "unfiltered" the approach to such subjects, the better. Edw ard T. S ullivan, Rogue Librarian Author, The Ultimate Weapon: The Race to De velop the Atomic Bomb (Holiday House, 2007) Visit my web site, http://www.sully-writer.com BR Visit my blog, Rogue Librarian: All About Books and Reading tt http://sullywriter.wordpress.com Face book Page: http://www.fac eb ook.com/sullywriter ="BO RDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 8px; FONT-FAMILY: verdana; COLOR: black; MARGIN-LEFT: 8px; FONT-SIZE: 10pt" id=replyBlockquote webmail 3D"1
-------- Original Message -------- Sub
ject : Re:
How much...? From: Christine Taylor-Butler kansascitymom_at_earthlink.net &g t; Date: Sat, November 19, 2011 4:18 pm To: ccbc-net ai ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu TY #wmQuoteWrapper {font-size:10pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;back gr ound-color:#ffffff;color:black;}
#wmQuoteWrapper p {margin:0px;}
ns-serif #wmQuoteWrapper {font-size:10p t;fo nt-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:#ffffff;color:black;}
#wmQ uo teWrapper p {margin:0px;} NT size Many writers are attempting to write con troversial subjects from a more honest vantage point. But those manuscripts aren't getting through the gatekeepers. In some cases, the characters are adjusted (or the authors learn to write) characters that are hopeful, cuddl y, or (you fill in the blanks) have a non-ambiguous feel good ending. But c hildren don't always live a reality with a happy ending. Life is messier th an that.
Children's publishing is about profits, not pursuit of trut h. So what is published isn't necessarily representative of what's being su bmitted which is why so many established authors are quietly looking at opt ions to produce some work independently. And, truth be told, I know s everal authors of award winning books that smile for the camera but don't " love" the book that was edited and published because of what was changed or stripped out. So I think it's an important distinction that a publis hed book may or may not always represent the author's intent. Said a close friend: "I was forced to write a book I didn't want to write with a charact er I didn't love anymore." But to say that in public would be political sui cide. The proof, for me, is when the only people raving about the books and recommending it to others are the adults not the children it was intended for.
On the flip side, there are some subjects that are easier to ab sorb when seen from a distance. I don't need to touch the dead body with my own hands to know a horrific crime was committed. I do think, howeve r, that the media does tend to mine the same territories ad nauseum for saf ety reasons and because they're a "sure bet" to earn out an advance. But yes - children are subjected to brutal death in Harry Potter, a horrific, bloody pregnancy in Breaking Dawn, but we can't talk about the t hings they see every day on TV.
A good example of a book that is "un filtered" in it's raw honesty is THE MIDDLE PASSAGE by the late Tom Feeling s. I couldn't get through the book in one sitting and it does require some cushion for a child to decompress those brutal images. But it knocks the me ssage out of the park.
The place for us to start is to demand more h onesty and more variety of voices at acquisitions. Publishing is the only i ndustry I've ever worked with that spends little or no time with its end-us er. Instead, we allow the voices of additional gatekeepers down the l ine to filter the material and influence what is produced. By the time the child gets their hands on the material, it may be far removed from what the author - or illustrator - intended.
Based on my work with college b ound students over the past few decades, and from countless school visits w orking with younger students for the day, I've always contended that if pub lishers actually KNEW their readers, they'd have more of them clamoring for their books without an adult putting it in their hands.......C
; PA
-----Original Message----- From: Cla
udia Pearson
man',
ze I do not understand why it is okay to w rite about vampires ripping humans apart, but not okay to write about human s doing the same thing to one another, especially when it is a truth which needs to be taught and explored with the hope that it could be prevented fr om ever happening again.
& nb sp;
---
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Received on Sat 19 Nov 2011 05:25:11 PM CST
Date: Sat, 19 Nov 2011 17:25:11 -0700
nt I agree with much of what you say, Ch ristine, and I'm glad you mentioned Tom Feelings's The Middle Pass age . That is certainly one of the most powerful books about slavery pu blished for young people I have ever seen and its power is indeed owed to f act that Feelings holds nothing back in his depicition of the brutality, ho rror and tragedy of slavery. Another book I find immensely powerful be cause of the honest approach to the subject is Chris Crowe's Getting Aw ay with Murder: The True Story of the Emmett Till Case . I say the more honest and "unfiltered" the approach to such subjects, the better. Edw ard T. S ullivan, Rogue Librarian Author, The Ultimate Weapon: The Race to De velop the Atomic Bomb (Holiday House, 2007) Visit my web site, http://www.sully-writer.com BR Visit my blog, Rogue Librarian: All About Books and Reading tt http://sullywriter.wordpress.com Face book Page: http://www.fac eb ook.com/sullywriter ="BO RDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 8px; FONT-FAMILY: verdana; COLOR: black; MARGIN-LEFT: 8px; FONT-SIZE: 10pt" id=replyBlockquote webmail 3D"1
-------- Original Message -------- Sub
ject : Re:
How much...? From: Christine Taylor-Butler kansascitymom_at_earthlink.net &g t; Date: Sat, November 19, 2011 4:18 pm To: ccbc-net ai ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu TY #wmQuoteWrapper {font-size:10pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;back gr ound-color:#ffffff;color:black;}
#wmQuoteWrapper p {margin:0px;}
ns-serif #wmQuoteWrapper {font-size:10p t;fo nt-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:#ffffff;color:black;}
#wmQ uo teWrapper p {margin:0px;} NT size Many writers are attempting to write con troversial subjects from a more honest vantage point. But those manuscripts aren't getting through the gatekeepers. In some cases, the characters are adjusted (or the authors learn to write) characters that are hopeful, cuddl y, or (you fill in the blanks) have a non-ambiguous feel good ending. But c hildren don't always live a reality with a happy ending. Life is messier th an that.
Children's publishing is about profits, not pursuit of trut h. So what is published isn't necessarily representative of what's being su bmitted which is why so many established authors are quietly looking at opt ions to produce some work independently. And, truth be told, I know s everal authors of award winning books that smile for the camera but don't " love" the book that was edited and published because of what was changed or stripped out. So I think it's an important distinction that a publis hed book may or may not always represent the author's intent. Said a close friend: "I was forced to write a book I didn't want to write with a charact er I didn't love anymore." But to say that in public would be political sui cide. The proof, for me, is when the only people raving about the books and recommending it to others are the adults not the children it was intended for.
On the flip side, there are some subjects that are easier to ab sorb when seen from a distance. I don't need to touch the dead body with my own hands to know a horrific crime was committed. I do think, howeve r, that the media does tend to mine the same territories ad nauseum for saf ety reasons and because they're a "sure bet" to earn out an advance. But yes - children are subjected to brutal death in Harry Potter, a horrific, bloody pregnancy in Breaking Dawn, but we can't talk about the t hings they see every day on TV.
A good example of a book that is "un filtered" in it's raw honesty is THE MIDDLE PASSAGE by the late Tom Feeling s. I couldn't get through the book in one sitting and it does require some cushion for a child to decompress those brutal images. But it knocks the me ssage out of the park.
The place for us to start is to demand more h onesty and more variety of voices at acquisitions. Publishing is the only i ndustry I've ever worked with that spends little or no time with its end-us er. Instead, we allow the voices of additional gatekeepers down the l ine to filter the material and influence what is produced. By the time the child gets their hands on the material, it may be far removed from what the author - or illustrator - intended.
Based on my work with college b ound students over the past few decades, and from countless school visits w orking with younger students for the day, I've always contended that if pub lishers actually KNEW their readers, they'd have more of them clamoring for their books without an adult putting it in their hands.......C
; PA
-----Original Message----- From: Cla
udia Pearson
man',
ze I do not understand why it is okay to w rite about vampires ripping humans apart, but not okay to write about human s doing the same thing to one another, especially when it is a truth which needs to be taught and explored with the hope that it could be prevented fr om ever happening again.
& nb sp;
---
You are currently subscribed to ccbc-
net as: sully_at_sul ly-w riter.com .
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The CCBC-Net archives are available to all CC BC-Net listserv members. The archives are organized by month and year. A li st of discussion topics (including month/year) is available at Dm oz-txt-link-freetext href="http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ccbcnet/a rc hi ves.asp
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Received on Sat 19 Nov 2011 05:25:11 PM CST
