From: mossman@sag1.ssl.berkeley.edu ()
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
Subject: RE: Young Adult
Date: 23 Jul 1992 16:35:57 GMT
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
Distribution: usa
Reply-To: mossman@sag1.ssl.berkeley.edu ()
NNTP-Posting-Host: sag1.ssl.berkeley.edu

Some comments on recently mentioned Young Adult books

What Katy Did.  I had an abdridged version sitting on my shelf for ages
because I had seen a dramitazation when I was little and liked it. Last
month I finally decided to read it. Ugh. THe most horrible piece of
moralizing drivel ever. It took place in a small town USA, probably midwest
but never specified, and I don't know the era but guessed at turn of the
century. The major plot was that Katy was the oldest of a bunch of brothers
and sister who lived with their father, an overworked country doctor, and
an aunt who was rather shrewish and didn't like kids. Katy was rambunctious
and always got into trouble, then would get the moral lecture from her
father and break into tears about never being bad again. Then, disaster
of disasters, she disobeys her aunt and the result is she gets paralysed.
SHe learns to be a good fine loving sweet invalid from an invalid cousin
and eveyone loves hers. Sorry if this was someones childhood fave but I
barely made it to the last page and was so glad it was abridged.

THe Shoes books. THese are all by Noel Streatfield. I only have Ballet,
Dancing, and Skating Shoes but I'd love to hear of any others. Brittish,
during the war and really good. I would definetely classify these as
childrens, but I love to read them. Noel Streatfield also wrote two
semi-biograhpical books called A Vicarage Family and Away from the
Vicarage, about her growing up and young adult life. While the first
could be called children, the second is not. In both she tells the
various stories of growing up but adds more of the insight of an
adult looking back. But if you like the Shoes books, they are good
reading.


I do agree that the distinction bewteen Childrens, Young Adult, and
Adult is pretty much in the eye of the publisher. Some books marked
for children shouldn't be read by anyone over 4 years old and some
are great reading no matter how old you are. I read lots of different
types of books but my favorites of books written for children in
the 30's and 40's and occasionally earlier. They stand up to so many
re-reads. My first real books were the Laura Ingalls Wilder and I
can still read them now. Other great children's re-reads:
The Oz Books by L. Frank Baum
The Saturday's, etc by Elizabeth Enright
Swallows and Amazons, et. al. by Arthur Ransome

I'm sure I'll think of others after I post this. I think these can
all be clearly called Childrens becasue they are stories about kids
and about how kids act and behave, not some lesson in child behaviour.
ALthough the Oz books are a bit out of this class, they are still about
the world from a kids point of view so often. I think that is what
makes them great reading. THe one series I loved as a kid and can't really
read now is The Chronicles of NArnia. I just can't get over the religon
which, amazingly, completely missed me when I was little. WOw, this is
much longer than I intended, I just babble when it comes to books!

Amy Mossman
Center for EUV Astrophsyics