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Exploring the Scary
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From: Schmidt, Tessa M. DPI <Tessa.Schmidt_at_dpi.wi.gov>
Date: Tue, 05 Nov 2013 12:19:21 -0600
I read Doll Bones by Holly Black and felt that it was a refreshing addition to the demonized plaything canon (assuming there is such a list). The doll was genuinely creepy without ever really coming to life. There was just enough suspicion and dread conveyed to the reader to make the doll seem eerie and untrustworthy. Another fear factor element in this middle-grade novel is the way that it explored the fears and insecurities of the three friends. While the trio of pre-teen protagonists were scared of the doll, their real fear was having to let go of childhood toys and their shared imagination role-play game.
Tessa Michaelson Schmidt Public Library Youth and Special Services Consultant Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction 125 South Webster Street / PO Box 7841 Madison, WI 53707-7841 P: (608) 267-5077 F: (608) 267-9207 tessa.schmidt_at_dpi.wi.gov<mailto:tessa.schmidt_at_dpi.wi.gov> Webpage<http://pld.dpi.wi.gov/pld_ys-sn> * Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/WisDPIpubLibDev> * Twitter<https://twitter.com/#!/WisDPIpubLibDev>
From: Megan Schliesman [mailto:schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu] Sent: Tuesday, November 05, 2013 12:06 PM To: ccbc-net, Subscribers of Subject: [ccbc-net] Exploring the Scary
It's time to begin our discussion for the first half of November (pre-empted from the second half of October):
Are You Afraid of the Dark? And Other Books That Explore Scary. Lemony Snicket's "The Dark" (Little, Brown, 2013) shines the light on something that scares many children and show it's not so frightening after all. During the first part of November we invite you to share your thoughts on books that explore the things that kids and teens often find scary, whether it's titles that play with their fears in a way that's deliciously satisfying (because some readers like to be scared through the safety of a book), or, like The Dark, offers comfort that is anything but cold.
And speaking of cold comfort, one of the things I found intriguing in Holly Black's "The Coldest Girl in Coldtown" (Little, Brown, 2013) was how reality tv in this not-to-distant, vampire-laden future, is used to glamorize life in Coldtown, so that the main character Tara's little sister, on the outside, is densenstized to the fear and danger, and instead is drawn to the place, as are the brother and sister duo who dream of becoming vampires because their perceptions are so romanticized and completely disconnected from the reality of living with bloodlust.
At the other end of the spectrum (regarding both age of audience and approach), Robie Harris's new picture book, "When Lions Roar" (Orchard, 2013), looks at how one child deals with being overwhelmed when a host of things get to be too scary.
So there's a handful of examples of "exploring scary" to get us started. We'd love to hear your thoughts about these books, or other titles that approach fears, or include scary elements, in thoughful or fresh ways.
Megan
Date: Tue, 05 Nov 2013 12:19:21 -0600
I read Doll Bones by Holly Black and felt that it was a refreshing addition to the demonized plaything canon (assuming there is such a list). The doll was genuinely creepy without ever really coming to life. There was just enough suspicion and dread conveyed to the reader to make the doll seem eerie and untrustworthy. Another fear factor element in this middle-grade novel is the way that it explored the fears and insecurities of the three friends. While the trio of pre-teen protagonists were scared of the doll, their real fear was having to let go of childhood toys and their shared imagination role-play game.
Tessa Michaelson Schmidt Public Library Youth and Special Services Consultant Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction 125 South Webster Street / PO Box 7841 Madison, WI 53707-7841 P: (608) 267-5077 F: (608) 267-9207 tessa.schmidt_at_dpi.wi.gov<mailto:tessa.schmidt_at_dpi.wi.gov> Webpage<http://pld.dpi.wi.gov/pld_ys-sn> * Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/WisDPIpubLibDev> * Twitter<https://twitter.com/#!/WisDPIpubLibDev>
From: Megan Schliesman [mailto:schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu] Sent: Tuesday, November 05, 2013 12:06 PM To: ccbc-net, Subscribers of Subject: [ccbc-net] Exploring the Scary
It's time to begin our discussion for the first half of November (pre-empted from the second half of October):
Are You Afraid of the Dark? And Other Books That Explore Scary. Lemony Snicket's "The Dark" (Little, Brown, 2013) shines the light on something that scares many children and show it's not so frightening after all. During the first part of November we invite you to share your thoughts on books that explore the things that kids and teens often find scary, whether it's titles that play with their fears in a way that's deliciously satisfying (because some readers like to be scared through the safety of a book), or, like The Dark, offers comfort that is anything but cold.
And speaking of cold comfort, one of the things I found intriguing in Holly Black's "The Coldest Girl in Coldtown" (Little, Brown, 2013) was how reality tv in this not-to-distant, vampire-laden future, is used to glamorize life in Coldtown, so that the main character Tara's little sister, on the outside, is densenstized to the fear and danger, and instead is drawn to the place, as are the brother and sister duo who dream of becoming vampires because their perceptions are so romanticized and completely disconnected from the reality of living with bloodlust.
At the other end of the spectrum (regarding both age of audience and approach), Robie Harris's new picture book, "When Lions Roar" (Orchard, 2013), looks at how one child deals with being overwhelmed when a host of things get to be too scary.
So there's a handful of examples of "exploring scary" to get us started. We'd love to hear your thoughts about these books, or other titles that approach fears, or include scary elements, in thoughful or fresh ways.
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<mailto:schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu> www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/<http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/> My regular hours are T-F, 8-4:30. You are currently subscribed to ccbc-net as: tessa.schmidt_at_dpi.wi.gov<mailto:tessa.schmidt_at_dpi.wi.gov>. To post to the list, send message to... ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu<mailto:ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu> To receive messages in digest format, send a message to... ccbc-net-request_at_lists.wisc.edu<mailto:ccbc-net-request_at_lists.wisc.edu> ...and include only this command in the body of the message... set ccbc-net digest CCBC-Net Archives The CCBC-Net archives are available to all CCBC-Net listserv members. The archives are organized by month and year. A list of discussion topics (including month/year) is available at... http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ccbcnet/archives.asp To access the archives, go to... http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/ccbc-net ...and enter the following when prompted... username: ccbc-net password: Look4Posts --- You are currently subscribed to ccbc-net as: ccbc-archive_at_post.education.wisc.edu. To post to the list, send message to: ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu To receive messages in digest format, send a message to... ccbc-net-request_at_lists.wisc.edu ...and include only this command in the body of the message: set ccbc-net digest CCBC-Net Archives The CCBC-Net archives are available to all CCBC-Net listserv members. The archives are organized by month and year. A list of discussion topics (including month/year) is available at http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ccbcnet/archives.asp To access the archives, go to: http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/ccbc-net and enter the following: username: ccbc-net password: Look4PostsReceived on Tue 05 Nov 2013 12:20:08 PM CST
