Danielle Kane

@EmilySavoie3 I agree Emily! I think this is important to round out what we have learned in this course. The tween culture we have been looking at is different universally and the novels we have read do not represent what it means to be a tween everywhere #285WLU10

That we have discussed in the cultural aspects of this course is not universal. This memoir highlights that so many tweens in the world are experiencing real life hardships not just trying to escape fictional evil uncles or curses from fairies. 2/2 #285WLU10

With the other books we have read thus far detailing tweens in middle-high class majority westernized families it is eye opening to read a story straight from a real tween experience in a tragic situation. This memoir helped me to remember that the tween experience 1/2 #285WLU10

@JacobLasby I was thinking the same thing! This would be a more manageable form for tweens who find novels daunting, I know that when I was younger I would have liked to read something like this for a change. It is fun to read something in a different format than we are used to. #285WLU9

Brown Girl Dreaming is a really interesting tween text. I imagine that the segmented poems would be appealing to tweens who wouldn’t want to read long stretches of novel and can instead pick small sections to read at a time #285WLU9

Poetry can be a difficult form of writing which makes it an interesting choice for a tween novel. It is such a unique form for this audience and I think that gives us a different way to understand and follow Jaqueline's life growing up that we wouldn't get through prose #285WLU9

@ChrisXu_ This is a good way to view Bod's ghost parents! This would suggest all important adult characters in our lives are like ghosts trapped in the graveyard, they will not always be able to protect us from the world outside and we eventually go into the world on our own! #285WLU8

In the graveyard Bod is named Nobody and is seen and interacts with those in the graveyard. But, when Bod goes to school he is referred to as somebody and is not noticed. This switch from Nobody to somebody is an interesting way to show a divide between the two worlds #285WLU8

@BlazeWelling This is a good point! I can think of some films like Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, that do the same thing. Try to familiarize youth with such a scary concept like death in a less frightful way. Books and films are a safe environment for them to learn about something so daunting

There's a really interesting reversal within Gaiman's book Death appears to be the sphere of comfort for the tween figure, whereas the world beyond the graveyard poses more risk. It seems like this could be an attempt to present death as less ominous to the tween reader. #285WLU7

The Graveyard Book is filled with ambiguous information that we must try to figure out with clues we are given. Like, what is Silas? or Why is Jack so bent on killing Bod and his family? These mysteries are an interesting aspect that holds the engagement of the reader. #285WLU7

@Courtney_D_Reid Taylor Swift is rare in the tween music industry because she didn't go the usual breakout many others did. Like Miley Cyrus showing her darker sexier side. Swift sees her decision to avoid this as an artistic one not moral and is seen as a role model figure as a result.#285WLU6

The New Yorker article details how Taylor Swift came to be so important in the Tween market. I find it interesting that they discuss the role of her songs as stories of her life. The tweens not only get to connect to her but they also see themselves in her music. #285WLU6

@BlazeWelling I agree! It is an interesting change from stereotypical fairy tales. Ella is such a strong character and defiant of restrictions put on her by her curse. We see that this defiance and control stays even after the curse is broken. #285WLU5

Ella rejects the title of “princess,”& is regarded for her linguistic abilities/help with Mandy. I think this strongly conveys why Ella is a proto-feminist figure within the novel. She is effectively defined by her skills and not her female obedience/husbands rank #285WLU5

I like the use of letters and journal entries in the novel to help tell the story. The epistolary aspects give us a peek inside the other characters and information that would not be available from a first persons point of view in other circumstances. #285WLU5

@BlazeWelling Good Question! That is hard to wrap my head around. It would be going against the gift/curse to either follow or not follow the command. Maybe its the answer to the problem no one thought of?

It’s interesting to analyze the limits of Ella’s obedience. If someone commanded her to never be obedient again, would it break the curse? #285WLU3

I love Ella's creative rebellion towards her curse. It is interesting when she notes Lucinda's "gift" may have caused her to be a rebel or maybe she was just born that way. I wonder if she would still be a rebel if she hadn't been cursed. #285WLU4

@BlazeWelling Hi Blaze, I read these too and watched the movie but a long time ago. It was a very different experience reading them now and picking up things I hadn't noticed as a child. #285WLU3

Since rereading Lemony Snicket’s text, it makes me think about my tween-aged self and how these books were so fascinating to me. It’s interesting to read a book and see how different you interpret it at various stages of your life. Did anyone else read these books? #285WLU3

I found it very interesting while reading Lemony Snicket's book that there is such a focus on words and teaching new words and their meanings to the reader. There is a large didactic element in this book, bringing new language into tweens' vocabularies. #285WLU3

Harriet The Spy seems to be funny and have similarities to other popular recent tween literature that I remember reading in school. However, I can see how something written like this could be seen as radical in the 60's when it was published. #285WLU2

@Courtney_D_Reid I agree with you Courtney. It is interesting to see the view of parents uninvolved in a novel written for a youth audience at this time. #285WLU2

@KaitEN285 I found it very interesting as well to see the representation of mental disorders in a piece of tween literature. It is interesting to see them from a child's (Harriet) perspective as a first exposure to it.

I was very happy to see the representation of mental disorders so soon within the book from Ole Golly's mother. Harriet and sport's reactions were a clear insight as to how children view people who are different than them. #285WLU1