Splendors and Glooms-First Response #2

  Like the brilliant Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Splendors and Glooms (a line from Percy Shelley's pastoral elegy Adonais written on the occasion of John Keats' death) is more than a dark story set in a particular time and place, it is a theatrical performance that demonstrates just how like marionettes we are when we experience art and then how that art releases us to retrieve ourselves.

     For me, S&G is a book about reading children's books and how we (I) go about fitting each book (consciously or not) within a genre-defined reading space. The story itself is intriguing, multi-stranded, diabolical, and expertly written. but it is my experience of reading S&G that distinguishes it from others I have read.   One book that kept coming up for me alongside S&G was The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope (1975 Newbery Honor)  My initial experience of reading S&G: (remained throughout from start to finish)  I had to recalibrate my reading pace.  I had to slow down and eventually let the story take me where it would.  I had to reexamine what my expectations are of what a children's book's "should" feel like while it's being read, and in this case it did not mean wavering between deciding whether this is a J book or a YA book,  but whether all this densely packed detail had to be there to make a compelling story.  Why, I kept asking myself, did the story need the Cassandra/Grisini nexus?  Is Cassandra redeemed because she too had been dealt a cruel blow as a child and was able to admit her own cruelty?  Is Grisini the unredeemable villain? The whole story appears to operate between and within 3 spheres: the world of adults-love, loss, power and cruelty,  the world of children-survival, resilience and friendship, and the world of magic. The marionettes epitomize both the ability to create and escape control, and the creativity inherent in those enterprises. The collision of one or more of these worlds at any given time gives this story its dramatic suspense.  There are several dramas here: the adult struggle for power is one; loss of love another; (adult loss results in cruelty to children),  survival and resilience dependent on friendship between children is yet another.  Ultimately, the reunion between these spheres of action is forged as a result of the creation and destruction of a magical talisman.  Is it the existence of this amulet and the power that it confers which keeps relationships polarized?  But there is humor and cleverness and affection.   What to make of this?

     The ending--irony?  A happy funeral.  This story on one level is about selfish conniving  adults who use children as pawns in their ongoing drama.  On another level this story is about family and how even desperate souls (adult and children) can survive to reconvene and care for eachother.  And on another level this story is about death and mourning and the rituals society provides to alleviate loss.   At the end of the book Schlitz acknowledges her indebtedness to Barry Smith who "shared his encyclopedic knowledge of Victorian burial customs"  which is a sign once again that death and ritual and theater are intertwined in this story.   Is this a Newbery contender? Of course.  Will it win?  It's up to the committee members.  I for one would give the Oscar to Parsefall for oustanding performance in an historical tragi-comedy.

Splendors and Glooms: First Response

It always excites me to read an engaging, distinguished fantasy novel for children and in my opinion, Splendors and Glooms (Candlewick Press) fits the bill.  Victorian England is the perfect setting for this magical tale of witches, fantoccini, spells, and crumbling towers.  There is a darkness that pervades the story and yet Schlitz knows when to add a touch of lightness and humor.  With all of these positive qualities, the question remains – is Splendors and Glooms distinguished enough to win the Newbery?

One thing that struck me is the way in which Schlitz respects her young readers.  Although the story deals with dark issues and some adult themes, Schlitz does not water it down.  Take for example this quote from Cassandra when she is reminiscing about her childhood: "'My mother had chosen to abandon my father and me so that she could disgrace herself with a man.'" (pg. 268)  Numerous other passages deal with themes of magic, spells, and even unrequited love.  While Schlitz does not hold back from exploring these themes, she does so in an age-appropriate manner. 

In a similar respect, each character is realistically flawed and with the exception perhaps of Grisini, demonstrates moments of both kindness and cruelty.  Even Lizzie Rose, arguably the gentlest of all the characters, displays flashes of anger:  "Lizzie Rose lunged at him.  She grabbed his jacket and shook him.  Then she seized a handful of hair and yanked."  (pg. 117)  And Cassandra, the wicked witch of the story, is perhaps not purely evil: "She wanted to tell the children that at her eleventh hour, she had done one good thing; she had released Clara from her secret, and set her free to dance." (pg. 378)  Perhaps Schlitz even goes so far as to hint at Cassandra’s redemption. (pg. 379)   

In terms of setting, Schlitz’s descriptions are always crisp and clear.  I could see the streets of London with their fog and filth, hear the clip clop of the horse’s hooves pulling the carriages along the cobblestone streets, smell the clean, fresh air as Lizzie Rose skated across the lake.  Yet I never felt bogged down with unnecessary detail.  Although the story is close to 400 pages and might have been trimmed down a bit, I rarely felt a lag in pace due to superfluous descriptive elements. 

My only fault may be with the ending.

  (Spoiler alert!) 


 How did Clara know that the stone would be destroyed if she ran onto the ice?  Cassandra never considered this in all of her attempts to rid herself of the stone?  And was it plausible that Clara's parents would so quickly agree to taking in orphans?  At the end, everything fell into place quickly, perhaps too quickly for my liking, and yet at the same time, I felt that a happy ending was appropriate. 

So what are your thoughts?  Is it distinguished?  If so, is it in your top three?

Moving on

Invigorated by our trip to KidLitCon, ready or not, we're moving on!



On June 30, we posted our preliminary reading list of seven possible Newbery Medal contenders. Since July, we've been discussing these seven books and winners of the past.

In August, we posted a Survey Monkey link to allow voting for your top three choices.  A #1 vote was worth 3 points, a #2 vote was worth 2 points, a #3 vote was worth 1 point.  The results of our (somewhat limited) sample are as follows:

1. Lions of Little Rock
2. May B.
3. Wonder

Hopefully you'll see one of your favorites there!
(Because the number of votes was few, we're willing to revisit other first round titles at a later time.)

Thanks to everyone who participated in reading our Round 1 choices - great books all!

Round 2:

Here are our proposals for the next round (alphabetically by title):
 

• The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There by Catherynne M. Valente (keeping in mind that this book is a sequel and will only be eligible if it has merit as a stand-alone)
• The Great Unexpected by Sharon Creech
• Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz
• Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin
• Your suggestions!

Others that we are pondering, but not agreed upon are:

• Liar and Spy by Rebecca Stead
• No Crystal Stair by Vaunda Nelson
• Palace of Stone by Shannon Hale
• (We'd like to add a nonfiction title, but have not agreed on which one(s) to choose - Bomb? Temple Grandin?)

So, what do you think?  Are you up to the task?  What suggestions do you have for our second list?

From Blueberries to Cramberries--NJ reads kidlit

Gloves off.  Summer's over.   It's time to read, ponder, reread and duke it out.  Heavy Medal is in full Newbery mode and we here in NJ--while blueberries are a distant memory-must too gear up for our cranberry season--our Fall revival.  Here are my picks from our last round:  Lions of Little Rock, The Mighty Miss Malone, and Crow.  Here are the titles I propose we read for our second round: The Great Unexpected by Sharon Creech,  Splendors and Glooms by Amy Schlitz, No Crystal Stair by Vaunda Nelson,  The Girl who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There (out in October) by Catherynne M. Valente, Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin, and Palace of Stone by Shannon Hale.  Should we include Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead?  The Horn Book announced its Boston Globe-Horn Book winners in several categories at ALA annual and will be awarding them this weekend.  Take a look at the Heavy Medal interview with Thom Barthelmess who chaired the awards this year and who has served on The Newbery committee.  So what have you read?  What are you reading?  Children's literature needs your voice Jersey Girls and boys.  You might not pump your own gas but you power your vehicle. 

The Feisty Girls

Who is your favorite feisty Newbery girl? There is Karana (Island of the Blue Dolphins, 1961 Newbery award winner) who survives the death of her family, hunts wild creatures, provides shelter for herself, and lives on an island without human companionship after the death of her brother.  Caddie Woodlawn (1936 Newbery award winner) is the pioneer story of a young girl who runs wild with her brothers as she resists the traditional ladylike role that her mother and older sister envision for her. Garnet in Thimble Summer (1939 Newbery Award winner) is an independent young girl who does chores with her brother on the family farm, hitchhikes to a town miles away from home, and dreams of owning a farm someday. Marly in Miracles on Maple Hill (1957 Newbery award winner) manages to convince a traditional 1950s school truant officer that girls should also be included in collecting sap during an educational maple sugaring event. There was an outcry during the 1970s for children's literature to contain more positive portrayals of females and less stereotyping of both genders. While many of the feisty Newbery girls engaged in traditional activities such as washing dishes and helping mother in the kitchen, they also possessed an independent spirit, a sense of self-worth, and were active adventurers in contrast to other female characters portrayed in children's Literature before 1970.  How do these characters compare to the female protagonists in the Newbery award winning books published in the past twenty years?

The Newbery Committee

Newbery committee members must be fair and objective in their selection of a winner, and by all assumptions, they are just that.  However, the committee is made up of people - people with likes and dislikes, favorite authors, preferred genres, etc.  While I am without a doubt that these individuals try hard to keep their biases at bay, a part of me still wants to know: 

     What do they enjoy reading? 

     Do they like humor, fantasy, historical fiction?

     Who are their favorite authors? 

I can’t help but wonder, is it possible to predict anything about the Newbery winner by learning about the committee members?

In a 2011 article for The Oregonian, Molly Young interviewed Stephen Engelfried, youth services librarian at Wilsonville Public Library and chair of the 2013 Newbery committee.  At the time of the article, Engelfried said that he was reading and enjoying Amelia Lost, Candace Fleming’s biography of Amelia Earhart.  He also said that his favorite series is The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander, a fantasy series.  With this in mind, is it safe to presume that 2012 books such as The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There by Catherynne M. Valente and the semi fictional biography No Crystal Stair by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson may interest Engelfried?

I do not wish to oversimplify the Newbery selection process or suggest that the committee plays favorites.  But I do find it interesting to learn about the committee members and their personal preferences. 

What are your thoughts?  If you were on the Newbery committee, would you be able to put aside any favoritism and be completely objective in your selection?    

Good librarian / Bad librarian

Mr. Powell raised an eyebrow. "I'm a librarian," he said. "I always know what I'm talking about. 

What librarian didn't love that line from Gary Schmidt's, Okay for Now (Clarion 2011)?  Librarians are accustomed to playing bit parts or major roles in children's fiction. Sometimes, a wonderful librarian is featured in book based on a true story, like Penguin Group's, Ron's Big Mission (2009), by Corinne Naden and Rose Blue.  In it, a young African American boy, Ron McNair, challenges his public library's policy of refusing to issue lending cards to African Americans. The librarian realizes that the policy is wrong and untenable, and she issues him a library card. That boy grows up to become a future NASA astronaut. An inspiring story for young boys, aspiring astronauts, African Americans, and librarians.

In library school, we study our profession's Code of Ethics.  As a group, we like to think of ourselves as champions of the right of all people to have access to information.  That is why we are not surprised to find ourselves featured positively in books. 

That is why I find the variety of librarian appearances in Glory Be (Scholastic), The Mighty Miss Malone (Lamb/Random), and The Lions of Little Rock (Penguin) so striking.

One book features a librarian willing to take a stand against 1960s segregationists in Mississippi, ensuring that the library will remain open and available to all residents.  In another, the local librarian delivers a purposeful or perhaps unwitting insult, describing boxer, Joe Louis, as a credit to his race and inferring that the well-read and intelligent protagonist of the story is also somehow an anomaly among her race.  And finally, one book describes a librarian that simply refuses to acknowledge the African Americans seeking service in her library.  Of course, we knew it all along;  librarians, like the professionals in any other field, are individuals, encompassing the entire range of human dispositions - good, bad, and everything in between.

Thanks to Augusta Scattergood, Christopher Paul Curtis and Kristin Levine for pointing out the opportunity for professional librarians to shape history. That our predecessors did not always influence history in a positive manner should be a wake up call for all of us.  May we all appear positively in the historical fiction books of the future.

Excerpts from the Code of Ethics of the American Library Association:

I.  We provide the highest level of service to all library users through appropriate and usefully organized resources; equitable service policies; equitable access; and accurate, unbiased, and courteous responses to all requests.

VII. We distinguish between our personal convictions and professional duties and do not allow our personal beliefs to interfere with fair representation of the aims of our institutions or the provision of access to their information resources.

Adopted at the 1939 Midwinter Meeting by the ALA Council; amended June 30, 1981; June 28, 1995; and January 22, 2008.



Clip art licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com