I too read Susan Patron's response in the Houston Chronicle and thought she had a
well thought out response.
The body part mentioned in Lucky didn't bother me as much as I once again felt that
the Newbery wasn't of interest or developmental level of my elementary children.
When I think "children's literature" I think quality literature that is written for
children. I guess I think of elementary children.
Maybe the Newbery committee has a different audience in mind than I do when they
think "children's literature." The subject matter in Lucky seems to be for a more
mature audience although the protagonist is only 10. However, the protagonist
being 10 might be a deterrent to more mature readers. It's hard to think of
"children's literature" being for readers in their mid to late teens, but some of
the Newbery's definitely target that audience.
Perhaps we need to have a discussion about the target audience of the Newbery. It
seems that children might be too broad a term, or the Newbery encompasses too wide
a spectrum of ages. Since there are Young Adult awards, I would like to see an
award for younger children's literature.
I hesitate to promote the Newbery because there are a lot of them that are beyond
the developmental scope and interest of my students. However, others are just
delightful and right on target.
Just my thoughts....
Jan Cole
LMS
Horace Mann Elementary
Duncan, OK
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