Monday, January 31, 2005
NEXT!
Moving right along to Mr William Sleator - here are some intro websites for your viewing pleasure.
+ One of his publishers, Penguin Putnam, has an autobiography online. He splits his living time between Bangkok and Boston. That's awesome; I want to do that!
+ Here's a pretty good fansite, The Green Futures of Tycho, that's taken one of Sleator's books for a title theme. (Tycho is the name of Sleator's youngest sibling who went without an official name for two years)
+ Sleator's not-very-large Official Home Page with contact info - anyone want to call?
+ Another fansite with a little bit of everything.
Sleator's written 30+ books, but I've only read one: Oddballs which is a collection of short stories about his childhood. It is HILARIOUS. The kind of think you laugh out loud about -- and I don't do that.
+ One of his publishers, Penguin Putnam, has an autobiography online. He splits his living time between Bangkok and Boston. That's awesome; I want to do that!
+ Here's a pretty good fansite, The Green Futures of Tycho, that's taken one of Sleator's books for a title theme. (Tycho is the name of Sleator's youngest sibling who went without an official name for two years)
+ Sleator's not-very-large Official Home Page with contact info - anyone want to call?
+ Another fansite with a little bit of everything.
Sleator's written 30+ books, but I've only read one: Oddballs which is a collection of short stories about his childhood. It is HILARIOUS. The kind of think you laugh out loud about -- and I don't do that.
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Final Thoughts?
It looks like the discussion has died down regarding Hoot. If you have any parting thoughts before we put this book back on the shelf, please type them up! Next week we can post some non-spoiler thoughts about the Sleator book (and if you are having trouble getting a copy, I found two at a used book store and am happy to ship one to you).
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Florida: environment vs. urbanization (oh, and old people and hanging chads)
We all know states have stereotypes. Authors often play on these stereotypes because they a) believe them, or b) enjoy using them as satire. And I'm not going to argue that setting isn't important. I guess I'm asking, "How important is setting in Hoot? What's the deal with Florida?"
Roy is very aware that the state one is from gives that person a certain image. He wants people to think he's from Montana, even though he was born in Detroit.
A reviewer on amazon.com wrote, "[What Roy says] about his home in South Florida, which is just as applicable here in Northern Minnesota or anywhere else encroached by real estate development juggernauts: 'Ever since I was little... I've been watchin' this place disappear - the piney woods, the scrub, the creeks, the glades. Even the beaches, man - they put up these giant hotels and only goober tourists are allowed. It really sucks.' Hoot encourages concern for the environment and social conscience."
I'm not sure how much Hoot influenced my environmental ideals. I like to reach conclusions on my own instead of being hit over the head with a message. Carl Hiaasen is no Edward Bloor (Tangerine). Could Hoot be set anywhere in the United States?
Hiaasen may just be writing from what he knows. He was "born and raised in Florida" and has used the state as a setting for his other books.
Roy is very aware that the state one is from gives that person a certain image. He wants people to think he's from Montana, even though he was born in Detroit.
A reviewer on amazon.com wrote, "[What Roy says] about his home in South Florida, which is just as applicable here in Northern Minnesota or anywhere else encroached by real estate development juggernauts: 'Ever since I was little... I've been watchin' this place disappear - the piney woods, the scrub, the creeks, the glades. Even the beaches, man - they put up these giant hotels and only goober tourists are allowed. It really sucks.' Hoot encourages concern for the environment and social conscience."
I'm not sure how much Hoot influenced my environmental ideals. I like to reach conclusions on my own instead of being hit over the head with a message. Carl Hiaasen is no Edward Bloor (Tangerine). Could Hoot be set anywhere in the United States?
Hiaasen may just be writing from what he knows. He was "born and raised in Florida" and has used the state as a setting for his other books.
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
ALA Announces Award Winners
Newbery and Caldecott Awards, etc.
Clearer listing without the blah blah blah here.
Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata won the Newbery.
Honors to:
Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko
The Voice That Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights by Russell Freedman
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt
Kevin Henkes won the Caldecott for Kitten’s First Full Moon.
Honors to:
The Red Book illustrated and written by Barbara Lehman
Coming on Home Soon illustrated by E.B. Lewis, written by Jacqueline Woodson
Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale illustrated and written by Mo Willems
Comments? I have lots.
The other awards are on the site - Printz, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Coretta Scott King, Sibert, etc.
Clearer listing without the blah blah blah here.
Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata won the Newbery.
Honors to:
Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko
The Voice That Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights by Russell Freedman
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt
Kevin Henkes won the Caldecott for Kitten’s First Full Moon.
Honors to:
The Red Book illustrated and written by Barbara Lehman
Coming on Home Soon illustrated by E.B. Lewis, written by Jacqueline Woodson
Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale illustrated and written by Mo Willems
Comments? I have lots.
The other awards are on the site - Printz, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Coretta Scott King, Sibert, etc.
Another big general question
This post steers anyone in another direction, although I want to thank Meera for refreshing me on Nodelman and his definition of children's literature. It's interesting to think about with Hoot, although I feel like it's more complex than the Hoot characters are. I don't even know if this book deserves a critical argument like that. But I think I'm just copping out. Anyway...
So I was intrigued by the interweaving of the narratives and perspectives. I thought it was done okay at most times, like when Roy is in the hospital waiting for Mullet Fingers (seriously, is everyone else picturing a really dirty barefooted boy with a disgusting ratty mullet for a hairdo?) and he hears a siren, so he disappears for a while, and then we see the scene where the parents drive up to the hospital with Officer Delinko and his siren wailing, and the timing and pacing and sequence all kind of come together.
But I have another question: whose book is this? And if you so quickly and automatically answered Roy's, then why all the different perspectives? And if you want to argue for Mullet Fingers (and I can't call him Napoleon either, as that conjures up Dynamite images), is that possible when we never see the story from his perspective?
So I was intrigued by the interweaving of the narratives and perspectives. I thought it was done okay at most times, like when Roy is in the hospital waiting for Mullet Fingers (seriously, is everyone else picturing a really dirty barefooted boy with a disgusting ratty mullet for a hairdo?) and he hears a siren, so he disappears for a while, and then we see the scene where the parents drive up to the hospital with Officer Delinko and his siren wailing, and the timing and pacing and sequence all kind of come together.
But I have another question: whose book is this? And if you so quickly and automatically answered Roy's, then why all the different perspectives? And if you want to argue for Mullet Fingers (and I can't call him Napoleon either, as that conjures up Dynamite images), is that possible when we never see the story from his perspective?
What Makes Children's Literature? Does Hoot Qualify? Should All Post Titles Have to Be Phrased In Questions From Now On?
Oh, Erica. You've been with us less than a week and already you've uncovered our guilty little secret -- which is the fact that "Um... what's the definition of Children's Literature, again?" is the central question of our discipline, and one that makes for hours of entertaining disagreement. One interesting "definition" comes from Perry Nodelman, who's a wicked smaht critic and who wrote a terrific article called "The Other: Orientalism, Colonialism, and Children's Literature." (It appears in the vol 17.1 -- Spring 1992 issue of the journal Children's Literature Association Quarterly, which I can't find in a full-text version in the Simmons Library database, but I have a hardcopy of it somewhere if you're interested.) Basically, he argues that Children's Literature is a body of work in which adult authors (often "unknowingly") "colonize" child readers by presenting an image of childhood that:
1) Depicts children as "the other:" i.e, everything that adults are not. This usually means children appear somewhat irrational, often passionately so, they are innocent in their motivations, close to nature, suffused with the power of the imagination, etc.
2) In doing so, satisfies adult dreams and notions about childhood without necessarily depicting a "true" image of what children are really like (is that possible, anyway?).
Although there are other ways I like to think about defining Children's Literature, I think this is a fun way to look at Hoot (maybe because I am really disliking it at the moment, and am pleased by the opportunity to describe its flaws as hostile acts of colonization). Some aspects of it fit fairly obviously into Nodelman's definition, most notably the environmental crusade that irks Erica (here we have kids understanding the meaning and importance of nature, and Mullet Boy seems almost like a "noble savage" character who has a Dickonesque* way with animals). Roy also strikes me as a "perfect" child in a lot of ways -- funny, smart, responsible, loving, brave, blah blah boring blah.
I have more to say but it is 1:30am and I should sleep. More tomorrow when I actually finish listening to Hoot. ;-) (By the way, the narrator on the audiobook is ghastly. Maybe I'd feel differently if I'd had a more traditional experience of the book.)
P.S. I don't think you have to hate a book to apply Nodelman's ideas to it, and some of my favourite books seem to do the "colonizing" he describes.
P.P.S. Why yes, I did have all that citation information just laying around in my head. Why do you ask?
*Secret Garden
1) Depicts children as "the other:" i.e, everything that adults are not. This usually means children appear somewhat irrational, often passionately so, they are innocent in their motivations, close to nature, suffused with the power of the imagination, etc.
2) In doing so, satisfies adult dreams and notions about childhood without necessarily depicting a "true" image of what children are really like (is that possible, anyway?).
Although there are other ways I like to think about defining Children's Literature, I think this is a fun way to look at Hoot (maybe because I am really disliking it at the moment, and am pleased by the opportunity to describe its flaws as hostile acts of colonization). Some aspects of it fit fairly obviously into Nodelman's definition, most notably the environmental crusade that irks Erica (here we have kids understanding the meaning and importance of nature, and Mullet Boy seems almost like a "noble savage" character who has a Dickonesque* way with animals). Roy also strikes me as a "perfect" child in a lot of ways -- funny, smart, responsible, loving, brave, blah blah boring blah.
I have more to say but it is 1:30am and I should sleep. More tomorrow when I actually finish listening to Hoot. ;-) (By the way, the narrator on the audiobook is ghastly. Maybe I'd feel differently if I'd had a more traditional experience of the book.)
P.S. I don't think you have to hate a book to apply Nodelman's ideas to it, and some of my favourite books seem to do the "colonizing" he describes.
P.P.S. Why yes, I did have all that citation information just laying around in my head. Why do you ask?
*Secret Garden
Sunday, January 16, 2005
Hello? Is this thing on?
Lookit, losers, it's January 16, TWO WHOLE DAYS after our discussion was supposed to start, and now your favorite JoBiv, the girl who does not even own a computer, has to start the discussion? C'mon! Sigh... I should start with one of my famous JoBiv vs. Bloomers statements. Here are a few likely ones.
"I noticed, while I was reading, that Joycian telescoping you talked about before." (Then someone interrupts me to prove or disprove.)
"I know we don't usually talk about authorial intent, but I think this book might warrant that kind of questioning..." (Then someone interrupts me to prove or disprove.)
"I wanted to plunge head-first into this book, but couldn't help but get distracted by the..."
(Then someone interrupts me to prove or disprove... YES, before I get to say what distracted me.)
Does anyone here want to interrupt? I knew you did! Go for it!
(P.S. - Joycian telescoping doesn't really apply here, so you non-Children's Lit types should not feel like you're outside of The Loop. Hopefully the rest of us will never have to explain it to you.)
"I noticed, while I was reading, that Joycian telescoping you talked about before." (Then someone interrupts me to prove or disprove.)
"I know we don't usually talk about authorial intent, but I think this book might warrant that kind of questioning..." (Then someone interrupts me to prove or disprove.)
"I wanted to plunge head-first into this book, but couldn't help but get distracted by the..."
(Then someone interrupts me to prove or disprove... YES, before I get to say what distracted me.)
Does anyone here want to interrupt? I knew you did! Go for it!
(P.S. - Joycian telescoping doesn't really apply here, so you non-Children's Lit types should not feel like you're outside of The Loop. Hopefully the rest of us will never have to explain it to you.)
Thursday, January 13, 2005
Why I'm the newest hedgehog
10) Meera told me I had to make new friends, since my current cohort is too old for me.
9) Oprah books depress me, and I've already read all of Jane Austen.
8) I don't get enough mental stimulation at school.
7) I've already watched The West Wing seasons 1-3, and Gilmore Girls is on winter recess.
6) Though she was intimidating on first impression (wearing all black and huddled in the corner of Jenn's room at the beginning of college), Meera is actually quite huggable, and has good taste in people.
5) I am convinced that it might help me uncover the role of the SSU processome protein Utp6 in 18S rRNA biogenesis.
4) I have an explainable fascination with Owen.
3) I don't have nearly enough blogging experience.
2) Meera waved a knife at me because I was talking too much about dancing.
1) The cover of Hoot is blue, and that is my favorite color.
9) Oprah books depress me, and I've already read all of Jane Austen.
8) I don't get enough mental stimulation at school.
7) I've already watched The West Wing seasons 1-3, and Gilmore Girls is on winter recess.
6) Though she was intimidating on first impression (wearing all black and huddled in the corner of Jenn's room at the beginning of college), Meera is actually quite huggable, and has good taste in people.
5) I am convinced that it might help me uncover the role of the SSU processome protein Utp6 in 18S rRNA biogenesis.
4) I have an explainable fascination with Owen.
3) I don't have nearly enough blogging experience.
2) Meera waved a knife at me because I was talking too much about dancing.
1) The cover of Hoot is blue, and that is my favorite color.
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
and we are without
You may notice that the Chatterbox thing has been AWOL for the last two days - the site is down and I don't know when or if it will be back. So I am off to find another.
Saturday, January 08, 2005
Vote for our February Book
It is set up so you can vote every 24 hours; if you really want a particular book, take advantage of that fact.
Wednesday, January 05, 2005
February Book Ideas!
We haven't started discussion on our January text (how academic sounding!) but it would be good to decide on February so we have time to track it down. Here are a few suggestions I came up with; they are linked to Amazon so you can read about them if you've never heard of them before.
Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff
House of Stairs by William Sleator
Stand Tall by Joan Bauer
Please post or comment in support of/crapping on these or with other suggestions by Friday. I'll set up a poll this weekend and we can vote on what we want.
Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff
House of Stairs by William Sleator
Stand Tall by Joan Bauer
Please post or comment in support of/crapping on these or with other suggestions by Friday. I'll set up a poll this weekend and we can vote on what we want.
Monday, January 03, 2005
His Dark Materials Movie
The Film This could be a very good thing or a very bad one.
I don't know how much I agree with Pullman's last paragraph:
Is there a WRONG way? This isn't Harry Potter, you know.
I also want to discuss The War on Words but my brain is full.
I don't know how much I agree with Pullman's last paragraph:
But to understand that requires the sort of sophistication that you find in bright eleven-year-olds; it may be beyond the reach of some adults. There are more ways than one of telling the story of Lyra and Will, as anyone knows who's been lucky enough to see Nicholas Hytner's wonderful production at the National Theatre in London. That telling differs from the books in some details, but the script, by Nicholas Wright, is faithful to the spirit of the story as it rethinks it in terms of the stage; and I have every confidence that New Line, and whoever ends up directing the films, will be just as faithful when they rethink it in terms of the screen.
Is there a WRONG way? This isn't Harry Potter, you know.
I also want to discuss The War on Words but my brain is full.
Sunday, January 02, 2005
The Hedgehogiest Rumpus I Ever Did See
Happy New Year! Whoohooo! Yay! Yippee!
I can't tell you how hard it has been to keep myself away from Hoot until this very day. I knew I would rush through it if I didn't, and then my comments would not be fresh and exciting, but mostly bullshit, which was how I got through most YA Touchstone discussions. But we'll have none of that, thank you!
Are y'all as excited as I am??? I knew you were!!
I can't tell you how hard it has been to keep myself away from Hoot until this very day. I knew I would rush through it if I didn't, and then my comments would not be fresh and exciting, but mostly bullshit, which was how I got through most YA Touchstone discussions. But we'll have none of that, thank you!
Are y'all as excited as I am??? I knew you were!!
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