tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10890387.post8945042595093406769..comments2023-12-25T00:38:19.500-08:00Comments on Finding Wonderland: The WritingYA Weblog (archive): Deep Thoughts in B&W, Stories to "Watch" & Etc.Sarah Stevensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16534942492714970282noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10890387.post-66983560126651530462007-12-29T12:28:00.000-08:002007-12-29T12:28:00.000-08:00I've got parts of Diana Wynne Jones' Tough Guide t...I've got parts of Diana Wynne Jones' <I>Tough Guide to Fantasyland</I> burned into my brain like a series of Monty Python sketches, and what she pointed out about race seems to be so thematic of the fantasy literature I've read: the main character has brown skin with blue or green eyes. Red hair is a bonus, because of course that's exotic too. As far as class goes-- doesn't it always seem like rags to riches? One notable folktale that doesn't follow those lines is the one that Margot Zemach's <I>It Could Always Be Worse</I> is based upon: the main character complains about his lot in life, the rabbit has him pile more and more animals into his house, and then when the main character finally gets to make all of the extra animals move out, the house seems so quiet and peaceful by comparison that the main character is grateful for his lot in life.Saints and Spinnershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04733517166056974501noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10890387.post-15267467045779246752007-12-23T15:57:00.000-08:002007-12-23T15:57:00.000-08:00You do get sick of rich characters -- and it happe...You do get sick of rich characters -- and it happens in adult lit too -- how many Jimmy Choo wearing editorial assistants in New York City can there be?? -- but it's really disheartening in YA lit., because it's the attack of the pretty people times one million. You think it's not enough to have to face that everyone in your school has an iPod and a Wii but you, but it's like that even in fiction? UGH. Not everybody lives like that, and I think it's important to show that those who don't aren't all people of color on welfare, either...I really loved Prom for that.<BR/><BR/>But I am DEEPLY weirded out that someone thought Ashley was an African American...<BR/><BR/>Thanks for dropping by!tanita✿davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01671822274852087499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10890387.post-65041756520161237222007-12-23T09:54:00.000-08:002007-12-23T09:54:00.000-08:00Thanks so much for the PROM shout-out. One of the ...Thanks so much for the PROM shout-out. One of the reasons I wrote it is that the working class kids I knew were really sick of reading about rich kids, OR, on the rare occasions when working class teens were in a novel, all of their problems stemmed from their poverty, which is a crappy bias commonly found among the middle and upper classes (even writers).<BR/><BR/>My editor, Sharyn, had an interesting correspondence with an adult reader of PROM who was horrified that I wrote the book from the perspective of an African-American. Sharyn pointed out that the main character and her family are, in fact, of Irish descent, and that Ashley points this out many, many times.<BR/><BR/>The reader (can't remember if it was a teacher or librarian or a grad student) was suitably even more horrified when she realized that she had assumed I was writing about black people because I was writing about poor people.<BR/><BR/>The mind boggles.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for all the great discussions here!<BR/><BR/>Laurie Halse AndersonAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com