Graeme Tobias

@BaverstockJulia I agree, I feel like this story paints a more honest picture of the transformation from child to young adult than a lot of other tween novels that we've read in the course. What do you think motivated the author to write the narrative this way? #285WLU7

This is the first coming of age story I’ve read in which you get to see the character actually growing up. As Bod ages, the reader can understand and see his character transformation from young boy to young adult #285WLU7

This may be a hot take but I feel like this novel is what "A Series of Unfortunate Events" wishes it was. It delves deeper into the gothic style and offers a more blunt perspective on the notion of death, for example. Although it represents it in a more positive way. #258WLU7

@JacobLasby Interesting; do you feel like you had a more unadulterated childhood because you grew up with - at least a little - less exposure to targeted advertising? #285WLU6

It’s easier to say limit a child’s exposure to marketing than actually put it into practice. I was raised without a tv for the majority of my childhood and still had lots of exposure to ads even without the commercials my peers experienced #285WLU6

2/2. towards children & adults. I wonder what her take would be on things like psychologically engineered video games intended to be attractive to children, and the predatory way in which game devs prey on children with freemium business models and microtransactions. #285WLU6

1/2. Linn's arguments towards marketing to children struck me as precocious for 2008. This piece was published shortly after the first iPhone was released. I wonder what her opinions would be now as smartphone apps have completely changed the world in terms of marketing #285WLU6

@Ramez_EN285 So much potential for interesting loopholes like this. I think it would be fascinating to see the author explore these types of concepts in a more mature context. #285WLU4

Commanding Ella to choose if she wants to obey an order or not would render the curse useless. By obeying this command she wouldn't be breaking the curse, but she would have the freedom to obey or disobey future commands. #285WLU4

Trying to figure out the limits of Ella’s obedience curse is like trying to figure out time travel after watching Back to The Future. I want to poke holes in everything but then I’m reminded I’m reading a children’s book that’s meant for fun not fact #285WLU4

@graemeRLtobias Great post! Couldn’t agree more!

School discussion posts are just a bunch of people pretending to agree with each other in the most vapid way possible. Absolutely nauseating to read replies like “I totally agree!!! Great post!!” Just watching everyone suck each other off to get marks makes me wanna vom

The detailed descriptions of Olaf’s long disgusting fingers stroking Violet’s face made me recoil even though I knew it was coming.Lemony does a great job of creating a child’s worst nightmare; both in appearance and motives.Did the book scare you when you were younger? #285WLU3

@MeganCruzEN285 I thought the same thing,but I reminded myself that if I were a child reading the book it would’ve been very helpful to read definitions of words that would’ve been challenging at that age. You’re right,he does it in such a way that fails to be annoying even as an adult #285WLU3

Reading the text you think that the explanation of wordS/phases would be annoying to read and make it seem like the reader isn't the brightest yet lemony does it in a way where it is charming. Was anyone annoyed by the explanation of words/phases? #285WLU3

Reading that Harriet had no idea her mother liked math gives insight into just how big of a hole is left in her life without Golly. Golly was filling the role of mother, caretaker, and tutor all at once. Harriet knew more about an employee of her parents than of them #285WLU2

@Setarehkhaniza3 V true. I think the portrayal of a unique young person is important in YA lit. Children's sense of self is typically formed from the media and fiction they consume, so having a character to point to that rebels from the status quo and embraces their own path is valuable #285WLU1

It was very interesting to observe how Harriet goes through many experiences to teach readers about life consequences and confidence. I really liked how she portrayed being unique and doing things she wanted to do despite if it fit into the “norm” standards. #285WLU1

I strongly identify with Mrs. Plumber’s idea of the “secret of life”. If you never leave your bed, you can’t be responsible for anything 🤷🏼‍♂️. Harriet would disagree, precocious insight from an 11 year old. #285WLU1

@EmilySavoie3 steer away from making moral judgments based on appearance, and certainly has encouraged children to refrain from doing so as well. #285WLU2

@EmilySavoie3 1/2 Something that stuck out to me while reading the book was that there's quite an emphasis on Harriet's disgust for overweight and ugly adults. I think that if this were written in 2021 there would be much less mention of these topics as society has largely tried to... #285WLU2