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Re: Friendship in Children's and Young Adult Literature
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From: kellymilnerh_at_aol.com
Date: Fri, 04 May 2012 16:07:37 -0400 (EDT)
Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher is the best friendship novel for YA audiences that I've ever read. The friendship is between a girl an d her pig, but for children's fiction, I'd have to pick Charlotte's Web.
Kelly
Writer, Kelly Milner Halls kellymilnerh_at_aol.com www.wondersofweird.com www.kellymilnerhalls-ya.com
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From: Barthelmess, Thom To: Megan Schliesman ; ccbc-net, Subscribers of Sent: Fri, May 4, 2012 11:18 am Subject: RE:
Friendship in Children's and Young Adult Literature
One of my favorite stories of friendship is Lynne Rae Perkins's All Alone i n the Universe, the sort of pre-companion to her Newbery-winning Criss Cross. I l ove it not only because it is a beautiful portrait of the unpredictable and shi fting allegiances of young friendship but because it is about nothing more than t hat. There are lots of books in which friendship plays an important role in the
handling of a more difficult problem. But losing a best friend because that 's how childhood works, that strikes me as a rare theme. Also, this is one of my favorite audiobooks of all time (side note to Hope Davis: please narrate mo re), though I think it's only available in audiocassette.
Jerry Spinelli's Crash takes an incredibly unlikely friendship and makes it
utterly believable. The premise--agressive jock and bullied nerd become friends--seems too nutritious to be credible, yet Spinelli more than pulls it off. It is tender and fresh and affirming.
Finally, I'm compelled to mention Adam Rapp's new verse novel, The Children and the Wolves, in part because it is haunting me, and in part because it gives us a very different picture of young friendship. Here, the relationships between the three young central characters (I don't know if they can fairly be called
protagonists) who kidnap and hold hostage a four year old girl, are nasty a nd co-dependent, yet they are tied together by toxic bonds that are the sort o f friendship that grows up in the absence of love and care. The book fascinat es (and horrifies) me in lots of ways, but the picture of the underside of friendship is visceral and chilling.
Happy Friday! Thom
________________________________
From: Megan Schliesman
Sent: Friday, May 04, 2012 8:38 AM To: ccbc-net, Subscribers of Subject:
Friendship in Children's and Young Adult Literature
It's time to start our discussion for the first part of May: BFF: Friendsh ip in Children’s and Young Adult Literature.
Friendship is an enduring theme in books for youth. From tales of kindred
spirits (e.g., Bridge to Terabithia) to group dynamics (e.g., Harry Potter ), the ins and outs, ups and downs of friendship have been richly explored. W hen it comes to realistic, memorable portrayals of friendship in books for chil dren and teens, what titles stand out to you, and why?
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/
Date: Fri, 04 May 2012 16:07:37 -0400 (EDT)
Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher is the best friendship novel for YA audiences that I've ever read. The friendship is between a girl an d her pig, but for children's fiction, I'd have to pick Charlotte's Web.
Kelly
Writer, Kelly Milner Halls kellymilnerh_at_aol.com www.wondersofweird.com www.kellymilnerhalls-ya.com
Message-----
From: Barthelmess, Thom To: Megan Schliesman ; ccbc-net, Subscribers of Sent: Fri, May 4, 2012 11:18 am Subject: RE:
Friendship in Children's and Young Adult Literature
One of my favorite stories of friendship is Lynne Rae Perkins's All Alone i n the Universe, the sort of pre-companion to her Newbery-winning Criss Cross. I l ove it not only because it is a beautiful portrait of the unpredictable and shi fting allegiances of young friendship but because it is about nothing more than t hat. There are lots of books in which friendship plays an important role in the
handling of a more difficult problem. But losing a best friend because that 's how childhood works, that strikes me as a rare theme. Also, this is one of my favorite audiobooks of all time (side note to Hope Davis: please narrate mo re), though I think it's only available in audiocassette.
Jerry Spinelli's Crash takes an incredibly unlikely friendship and makes it
utterly believable. The premise--agressive jock and bullied nerd become friends--seems too nutritious to be credible, yet Spinelli more than pulls it off. It is tender and fresh and affirming.
Finally, I'm compelled to mention Adam Rapp's new verse novel, The Children and the Wolves, in part because it is haunting me, and in part because it gives us a very different picture of young friendship. Here, the relationships between the three young central characters (I don't know if they can fairly be called
protagonists) who kidnap and hold hostage a four year old girl, are nasty a nd co-dependent, yet they are tied together by toxic bonds that are the sort o f friendship that grows up in the absence of love and care. The book fascinat es (and horrifies) me in lots of ways, but the picture of the underside of friendship is visceral and chilling.
Happy Friday! Thom
________________________________
From: Megan Schliesman
Sent: Friday, May 04, 2012 8:38 AM To: ccbc-net, Subscribers of Subject:
Friendship in Children's and Young Adult Literature
It's time to start our discussion for the first part of May: BFF: Friendsh ip in Children’s and Young Adult Literature.
Friendship is an enduring theme in books for youth. From tales of kindred
spirits (e.g., Bridge to Terabithia) to group dynamics (e.g., Harry Potter ), the ins and outs, ups and downs of friendship have been richly explored. W hen it comes to realistic, memorable portrayals of friendship in books for chil dren and teens, what titles stand out to you, and why?
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 Fri 04 May 2012 04:07:37 PM CDT
