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RE: ccbc-net digest: November 08, 2012
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From: David Harrison <davidlharrison1_at_att.net>
Date: Fri, 09 Nov 2012 07:18:25 -0600
I agree with Mary Ann Cappielo's remarks about meeting standards while cultivating a flavor of the past, through the use of nonfiction and historical fiction. The poems in my collection, PIRATES, are fiction based on a lot of research about the real thing. The intent is to tell young readers about the times and conditions that drove so many young men to a life of crime and almost certain early death on the high seas. The trick is to set the stage as if for a historical play and tell the story, as much as possible, through their eyes and in their voices. We have to tell the truth with enough content to help readers be there. PIRATES was selected for VOYA's Nonfiction Honor List, 2009. Presenting history to young people is a challenge worthy of our most creative efforts. I know of a class of students at Missouri State University who are studying the works, life, and times of Edgar Allen Poe this semester and plan to write a book on the subject for middle school students in the spring. Even now they are brainst orming ways to bring Poe to life for seventh graders. I suspect that their final product will not be straight reporting. It will be creatively told in ways that will awaken the interests of young people more than one hundred fifty years removed from Poe's time and place in history.
David L. Harrison Poet Laureate, Drury University http://davidlharrison.com http://davidlharrison.wordpress.com
Message-----
From: CCBC-Net digest
Sent: Friday, November 09, 2012 12:17 AM To: ccbc-net digest recipients Subject: ccbc-net digest: November 08, 2012
CCBC-NET Digest for Thursday, November 08, 2012.
1. When Is the Past History 2. Re: When Is the Past History 3. Fwd: When Is the Past History 4. When is the Past history 5. Re: When is the Past history 6. Historical Imagination
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Subject: When Is the Past History From: Megan Schliesman Date: Thu, 08 Nov 2012 09:02:59 -0600 X-Message-Number: 1
Thanks to those of you who have started off our discussion by sharing perspectives or posing questions about when the past is history in children's and young adult literature.
I find all the comments made so far have me thinking, but I'm also aware all the comments shared so far reflect how we as adults ponder this. Can anyone share perceptions of how you think children or teens view might view this question?
I recently stumbled upon something my daughter was writing for school about 9/11. My sense is that to her, this is "history" even though it happened during her lifetime. I think in part this is because she was so young she can't actually remember that day, even though she's heard me and her dad talk about it.
Perhaps another question is whether it actually matters whether children/teens consider the topic of a book "history" or "contemporary"? What does matter, of course, is to what extent any work provides the context needed for readers to make sense of a story set in the past.
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/
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Subject: Re: When Is the Past History From: Claudia Pearson Date: Thu, 08 Nov 2012 09:20:05 -0600 (GMT-06:00) X-Message-Number: 2
"... What does matter, of course, is to what extent any work provides the context needed for readers to make sense of a story set in the past."
Perfectly stated Megan.
Claudia
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Subject: Fwd: When Is the Past History From: Elsa Marston Date: Thu, 08 Nov 2012 10:07:39 -0600 X-Message-Number: 3
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Elsa Marston Date: Thu, Nov 8, 2012 at 10:02 AM Subject: Re:
When Is the Past History To: Claudia Pearson Cc: Megan Schliesman , "ccbc-net,Subscribers of"
I agree with Claudia--Megan's remark is very apt. It makes me think that maybe we should be quite fluid in trying to identify "history." To a young reader, the material culture--clothes, hair, food, things of everyday life--and possibly reference to actual historical events (Pearl Harbor, Wars of the Roses, 9/11), would indicate that a story is "historical" rather than "today," more than the relationship of the time period to the reader's age.
Interesting topic! And one I have to deal with somehow, as the novels that I wrote 20-30 years ago--and still believe in!--become less and less "today."
Elsa www.elsamarston.com
On Thu, Nov 8, 2012 at 9:20 AM, Claudia Pearson wrote:
"... What does matter, of course, is to what extent any work provides the context needed for readers to make sense of a story set in the past."
Perfectly stated Megan.
Claudia
Date: Fri, 09 Nov 2012 07:18:25 -0600
I agree with Mary Ann Cappielo's remarks about meeting standards while cultivating a flavor of the past, through the use of nonfiction and historical fiction. The poems in my collection, PIRATES, are fiction based on a lot of research about the real thing. The intent is to tell young readers about the times and conditions that drove so many young men to a life of crime and almost certain early death on the high seas. The trick is to set the stage as if for a historical play and tell the story, as much as possible, through their eyes and in their voices. We have to tell the truth with enough content to help readers be there. PIRATES was selected for VOYA's Nonfiction Honor List, 2009. Presenting history to young people is a challenge worthy of our most creative efforts. I know of a class of students at Missouri State University who are studying the works, life, and times of Edgar Allen Poe this semester and plan to write a book on the subject for middle school students in the spring. Even now they are brainst orming ways to bring Poe to life for seventh graders. I suspect that their final product will not be straight reporting. It will be creatively told in ways that will awaken the interests of young people more than one hundred fifty years removed from Poe's time and place in history.
David L. Harrison Poet Laureate, Drury University http://davidlharrison.com http://davidlharrison.wordpress.com
Message-----
From: CCBC-Net digest
Sent: Friday, November 09, 2012 12:17 AM To: ccbc-net digest recipients Subject: ccbc-net digest: November 08, 2012
CCBC-NET Digest for Thursday, November 08, 2012.
1. When Is the Past History 2. Re: When Is the Past History 3. Fwd: When Is the Past History 4. When is the Past history 5. Re: When is the Past history 6. Historical Imagination
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: When Is the Past History From: Megan Schliesman Date: Thu, 08 Nov 2012 09:02:59 -0600 X-Message-Number: 1
Thanks to those of you who have started off our discussion by sharing perspectives or posing questions about when the past is history in children's and young adult literature.
I find all the comments made so far have me thinking, but I'm also aware all the comments shared so far reflect how we as adults ponder this. Can anyone share perceptions of how you think children or teens view might view this question?
I recently stumbled upon something my daughter was writing for school about 9/11. My sense is that to her, this is "history" even though it happened during her lifetime. I think in part this is because she was so young she can't actually remember that day, even though she's heard me and her dad talk about it.
Perhaps another question is whether it actually matters whether children/teens consider the topic of a book "history" or "contemporary"? What does matter, of course, is to what extent any work provides the context needed for readers to make sense of a story set in the past.
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/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Re: When Is the Past History From: Claudia Pearson Date: Thu, 08 Nov 2012 09:20:05 -0600 (GMT-06:00) X-Message-Number: 2
"... What does matter, of course, is to what extent any work provides the context needed for readers to make sense of a story set in the past."
Perfectly stated Megan.
Claudia
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Fwd: When Is the Past History From: Elsa Marston Date: Thu, 08 Nov 2012 10:07:39 -0600 X-Message-Number: 3
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Elsa Marston Date: Thu, Nov 8, 2012 at 10:02 AM Subject: Re:
When Is the Past History To: Claudia Pearson Cc: Megan Schliesman , "ccbc-net,Subscribers of"
I agree with Claudia--Megan's remark is very apt. It makes me think that maybe we should be quite fluid in trying to identify "history." To a young reader, the material culture--clothes, hair, food, things of everyday life--and possibly reference to actual historical events (Pearl Harbor, Wars of the Roses, 9/11), would indicate that a story is "historical" rather than "today," more than the relationship of the time period to the reader's age.
Interesting topic! And one I have to deal with somehow, as the novels that I wrote 20-30 years ago--and still believe in!--become less and less "today."
Elsa www.elsamarston.com
On Thu, Nov 8, 2012 at 9:20 AM, Claudia Pearson wrote:
"... What does matter, of course, is to what extent any work provides the context needed for readers to make sense of a story set in the past."
Perfectly stated Megan.
Claudia
--- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: When is the Past history From: Rosanne Parry Date: Thu, 08 Nov 2012 08:26:23 -0800 X-Message-Number: 4 Can anyone share perceptions of how you think children or teens view might view this question? Megan Schliesman I think one of the things kids look for in books is travel. They are quite powerless in the decision about where they live and where they are allowed to go. A book offers an opportunity to "live" a life other than their own. Exotic location is one way to travel and fantasy setting is another but temporal travel provides the same escape and invitation to imagine a different life. To the extent that historical fiction offers escape, I think it hardly matters whether it's near history or ancient. To the 14 year old who is sick to death of her locker partner's Aber-zombie obsession with the minutia of her wardrobe, a book by Tracy Barrett, or Ellen Klages or Louise Erdrich is vital mental medicine. There's a smaller group of kids who happen to love history in the way that other kids love anime or paranormal romance. In my observation they've been kids who like history because they have someone in their life who loves it too and discusses history with them. Most of those kids are a little more interested in near history just because it's in the living memory of people they know. Or sometimes their interest in history is topic based. The child with many veterans in his family may devour every war book he can find. If his family is musical he might seek out books on the performing arts. Just my observation, but it seems to me that the interest in historical fiction is more driven by the people in the reader's life than some other genres. Rosanne Parry WRITTEN IN STONE, 2013 SECOND FIDDLE, 2011 HEART OF A SHEPHERD, 2009 www.rosanneparry.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: When is the Past history From: bookmarch_at_aol.com Date: Thu, 08 Nov 2012 11:44:14 -0500 (EST) X-Message-Number: 5 Speaking as a person who always loved history, I don't think this is as defined by direct family connections or proximity in time. Many of us grew up loving archaeology -- which was interesting b/c it was about the ancient world. Think of dinos, mummies -- the far, far past. I see a different connection to history: both of my parents were immigrants. Anyone who has close links to lives and experiences different from modern America knows about time, change, and the layers that build from one reality to another. Historians famously say that "the past is a foreign country" and for many of us immersion in the foreign because it is foreign is a great pleasure, whether in fiction or nonfiction. I think we overvalue kids' connection to the present and underestimate the great appeal of the long ago and far away. Dead End in Norvelt is, in so many ways, a paean to history, and glorious for being that. Marc Aronson ---Received on Fri 09 Nov 2012 07:18:25 AM CST
