When I started writing for children one of the questions, orconcerns I had was if I should have my characters kill people. Monsters areokay, but people? What about criminals? Maybe. But is any of it appropriatesubject material? I ask these questions as if children don’t see and experiencedreaded awfulness all around them. My internal conflict is somewhat comical andI do laugh at myself over it.
When I expressed my overall cognitive dissonance to achildren’s writer that I highly respect, she said that children were capable ofhandling difficult subject matter and gave me some examples. Her wisdom causedme to reconsider my perspective and that enabled me to expand my point of view.Of course that’s always the mark of a good mentor/teacher.
Continuing to ponder the subject, I free floated over to ExtremelyLoud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. Now mind you, it’s oneof the best books I’ve ever read. And I saw the movie, which I felt compressedthe story line into an impossibly small space.
The plot is about nine-year-old Oskar Schell dealing in hisown way with the aftermath of 9-11 in which his father died. He believes his father has left him akey that may be a clue to finding the 6th Borough of New York, whichhas disappeared. Oskar, who is brilliant in his own way, sets about findingwhat the key opens, which he hopes reveals a secret message from his dad justfor him. But because he is so highly intelligent, he also understands that hisadventure is to really find more time with his father. More importantly hisquest is to make sense of the 9-11 tragedy, which he’s desperate to do.
The book is excellent and I believe the author truly givesus a unique perspective on how at least one small child tries to explain theunexplainable. But as I cried through both the book and the squished up movie,I ask myself if this topic is one about which a children’s book should bewritten? I have no firm answer.
Children did deal, and continue to deal with 9-11 in real life, so why not in abook? Would you pick such a book off the shelf and have your fifth grader readit? Please leave a comment and tell me what you think.
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