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Re: Non-fiction for middle-grade readers
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From: Susanna Reich <reichgolio_at_verizon.net>
Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2012 09:38:46 -0400
I've been following this discussion of nonfiction with great interest. Like Susan Goldman Rubin's "Music Was It," my biographies for middle grade and high school readers, "Clara Schumann: Piano Virtuoso" and "Painting the Wild Frontier: The Art and Adventures of George Catlin" (and even my picture book bio, "Jose! Born to Dance") show how these artists' experiences as children shape their life and work. Bios for adults usually skim over the childhood years rather quickly, but in framing stories for young readers I'm always cognizant of the reader's point of view, and of the importance of giving kids something to relate to. Hence you'll find a much greater proportion of the text focusing on the subject's early years than in bios for adults. I also try to write with a novelist's sense of narrative structure, character development, metaphor, etc., to keep the story interesting and suspenseful, while at the same time sticking to facts and never inventing dialogue. Susanna Reich
www.susannareich.com Minette's Feast: The Delicious Story of Julia Child and Her Cat (Abrams, May 2012) Painting the Wild Frontier: The Art and Adventures of George Catlin (Clarion, 2008) Penelope Bailey Takes the Stage (Marshall Cavendish, 2006) Jose! Born to Dance: The Story of Jose Limon (Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster, 2005) Clara Schumann: Piano Virtuoso (Clarion, 1999)
--- On *Tue, 3/20/12, Mary Losure / /* wrote:
I think children like to read about other children, which is why they often turn to fiction when reading for pleasure. My hope is that true stories (not fictionalized in any way, with KIDS as their main characters) may be something that children will read for pleasure -- and pick up information about the real world in the process. What do you think? Can other readers of this list think of examples of this kind of book for middle grade readers? Not historical fiction, not books "based on" a true story, but straight non-fiction that tells a story -- with a child or children as central characters-- the way a novel does?
Received on Wed 21 Mar 2012 09:38:46 AM CDT
Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2012 09:38:46 -0400
I've been following this discussion of nonfiction with great interest. Like Susan Goldman Rubin's "Music Was It," my biographies for middle grade and high school readers, "Clara Schumann: Piano Virtuoso" and "Painting the Wild Frontier: The Art and Adventures of George Catlin" (and even my picture book bio, "Jose! Born to Dance") show how these artists' experiences as children shape their life and work. Bios for adults usually skim over the childhood years rather quickly, but in framing stories for young readers I'm always cognizant of the reader's point of view, and of the importance of giving kids something to relate to. Hence you'll find a much greater proportion of the text focusing on the subject's early years than in bios for adults. I also try to write with a novelist's sense of narrative structure, character development, metaphor, etc., to keep the story interesting and suspenseful, while at the same time sticking to facts and never inventing dialogue. Susanna Reich
www.susannareich.com Minette's Feast: The Delicious Story of Julia Child and Her Cat (Abrams, May 2012) Painting the Wild Frontier: The Art and Adventures of George Catlin (Clarion, 2008) Penelope Bailey Takes the Stage (Marshall Cavendish, 2006) Jose! Born to Dance: The Story of Jose Limon (Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster, 2005) Clara Schumann: Piano Virtuoso (Clarion, 1999)
--- On *Tue, 3/20/12, Mary Losure / /* wrote:
I think children like to read about other children, which is why they often turn to fiction when reading for pleasure. My hope is that true stories (not fictionalized in any way, with KIDS as their main characters) may be something that children will read for pleasure -- and pick up information about the real world in the process. What do you think? Can other readers of this list think of examples of this kind of book for middle grade readers? Not historical fiction, not books "based on" a true story, but straight non-fiction that tells a story -- with a child or children as central characters-- the way a novel does?
Received on Wed 21 Mar 2012 09:38:46 AM CDT
