MeghanReadsForEN285

@aminach285 I totally agree, I think the moon was a symbol of peace, based on his grandmother’s story, and when his life was not at peace the moon could not be found, since he could not feel happy while looking at it. #285WLU10

i think the symbolism regarding the moon was a interesting way to show ishmael's development. the moon hiding when violence was occurring could represent the loss of his innocence, as he associates looking at the moon with being a young child #285WLU10

I think this is a really important thing for tweens to discover, that their peers may not share their life experiences, and that especially here in the West we cannot often imagine the experiences other people our age may have had in their short lives #285WLU10

A Long Way Gone is heart wrenching to read, but one thing I didn’t expect to stick with me was this: to realize that someone who went through something like this could pass through my life and I might never know, or might trivialize their experiences, is sobering (1/2) #285WLU10

@nonameforyou I completely agree. Each space she inhabited was so distinct and unique, and each was a sharp contrast from the others which made them all easy to imagine, and really represented the scope of her childhood and her experiences growing up #285WLU9 #285WLU

Woodson does a remarkable job of bringing each city from her childhood to life....as though they are characters themselves. Through poetry, the reader can picture themselves on the porch in Greenville or in her Brooklyn apartment on Herzl Street. #285WLU9

The poems that most stood out to me were the ones in which Woodson engaged with her love of writing, but I also found “Ohio behind us” to be really moving, and to speak to something about losing home that exists in many adults looking back on their childhoods #285WLU9 #285WLU

Brown Girl Dreaming was so different, both in form and content, from the other books we’ve examined. The poetry of the book was so moving, some poems reminding me of my own childhood and others opening my eyes to experiences I never imagined. #285WLU9 #285WLU

@BlazeWelling That’s so devastating: the lullaby is ongoing for as long as Bod needs his mother, and ends when he no longer needs her. I have mixed feelings about the ending / this message; I feel like it tells tweens they cannot come home once they grow up, that the lullaby is over #285WLU8

The end of Gaiman's text draws a parallel between the lullaby that Mrs. Owens sings to Bod when he first enters the graveyard. We realize that the lullaby was not complete, not until Bod leaves the graveyard do we get the end of it/his story. #285WLU8

The story from Kids of Kabul that resonated most with me is Anonymous girl. Her prison experience is eye opening, not because it shows me the way women are treated negatively by men in Kabul, but by the unexpected systems that do their best to protect young girls #285WLU8 #285WLU

@jennaajackson That said, I think you make a good point that this is left vague, as I think it poses an interesting question about the nature of children’s horror: can Gaiman still instill fear in a young reader without graphic/clear violence being explicitly explored? #285WLU7

@jennaajackson I would disagree Jenna, while not explicitly stated (I assume to protect the child audience) Gaiman does make it clear the family was killed, as Jack wiped off his “wet” blade, says where he left the family members, and their ghosts appear to Mrs. Owens in the graveyard #285WLU7

On the back of the book it says that if Bod leaves the graveyard he will be in danger from Jack who has killed his family, however in the beginning of the book Gaiman doesn't make this exactly clear "He had left the woman in her bed, the man on the bedroom floor..." (7) #285WLU7

I find the opening of The Graveyard Book so interesting: as an adult, I found the beginning upsetting, as I can imagine the violence of Bod’s family’s death, but the language is non-violent and non-frightening. It’s still scary, but it’s tween-appropriate scary #285WLU #285WLU7

@EmilySavoie3 I found myself just blown away by the degree of sexualization going on? How is it possible children were being photographed in the nude and those photos used for marketing? I agree Emily, the article seemed to almost advocate for sexually exploiting children #285WLU6 #285WLU

So she’s not just attracting a target demographic, but connecting with that demographic in a way that holds their loyalty and evolves with them beyond tweendom (as is obvious from the outpouring of nostalgic love following her re-recording of Love Story) (2/2) #285WLU #285WLU6

I can’t stop thinking, while reading the Taylor Swift article, how she not only tapped into a tween market like the author says, but she HELD that audience. Tween girls still love her, as do all of us who’ve grown up with her and her music (1/2)

I don’t want to "get" a "real job," I want to steal the Baudelaire fortune

I liked how Ella Enchanted spanned a longer time than our other texts: the story begins when she is 14, and ends when she is 16. While still young, I appreciated that time passed to allow Ella to grow and mature, though I wonder if she still qualifies as a tween #285WLU5 #285WLU

@BlazeWelling I agree, and I love how that’s made clear at the novel’s conclusion: Ella defines herself not in relation to Char, but as an individual, who happens to be married to a king but exists outside of that role #285WLU5 #285WLU

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

Self-care means bringing a creature to life using questionable science and immediately taking a nap about it

@aminach285 I agree! I actually enjoy the movie better. After seeing how it problematizes fairytale character stereotypes the book felt too conformist in its portrayal of the ogres and other creatures, though the movie couldn’t have subverted without the source conforming 🤷‍♀️ #285WLU #285WLU4

#285WLU4 i grew up with the movie version of ella enchanted and it was interesting to see the differences made in the adaptation , for example the ogres in the book were actually quite scary, but in the movie they were trivialized and were more comical

@PhTerrence Agreed. While I never really realized (based on the movie) that it’s a Cinderella retelling I think this version really builds on the source material and works to explain it and makes it stronger. #285WLU4 #285WLU

#285WLU4 Ella Enchanted a.k.a. the logical rewriting of Cinderella provides so many answers to the plot holes found in Cinderella like: "Why does she listen to her mean stepmother?" Ah, the gift of obedience. "Why does she run from the prince?" Ah, the gift of obedience.