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From
the issue issue of The Horn Book Magazine Letters to the Editor This is a note to thank you for maintaining the high standard of excellence in quality regarding your book reviews. I value your stringent adherence to quality, and your reviewers’ targeted comments (popular or not) in this time of pressure from advertisers and competitors, whether directly or indirectly. For many years now, I have primarily utilized online resources for the book selection choices I order. I have had the opportunity to compare, on an ongoing basis, your reviews with those of other sources. Your reviewers consistently raise important points and comments regarding books that often make the difference in my decision to purchase, and have helped me avoid some titles that would not have maximized the best use of my always limited book budget. This year, with new people to train, my time was even more limited in book ordering. I found myself immediately heading to your reviews, when available, for titles I was considering. I felt you should know that your efforts are noticed and appreciated! Phyllis SimonBay Shore, New York
After reading Lelac Almagor’s article, “And Stay Out of Trouble: Narratives for Black Urban Children,” my heart is heavy and my spirit very shaken. Her piece puts our children in trouble’s way. Professionally, I’m in the business of planting seeds and being a vision of possibilities for young people. I’m most passionate and committed to the engagement of young people in my work and life, walking with them for over thirty years. My relationships with them are deep and real. Their destiny is my destiny; it’s very personal. Six years ago, I was blessed to experience the power of Sharon G. Flake’s book The Skin I’m In. I presented the book to a group of middle school girls I was working with, addressing issues of self-esteem and identity. They all had read the book, commenting, “I gave my friend that book, because she wanted to hurt herself. That’s my favorite book, it helped me love my dark skin and who I am. I only read Sharon Flake’s books. I can really relate to Maleeka. This book needs to be a movie…I love The Skin I’m In.” I heard these expressions and experienced the emotion for years, from youth and adults representing every ethnic and social economic background, male and female. The authenticity and relevance of this literary work inspired the Lovin’ the Skin I’m In movement. Through the work of Lovin’, lives have been transformed, and some saved. Kiri Davis, director and producer of A Girl Like Me, which addresses standards of beauty forced on young black women and re-creates the 1940s black doll/white doll experiment, credits the book’s influence on the making of her internationally acclaimed and award-winning film. The Lovin’ movement has impacted thousands, all beginning with the power of a book about black urban children, by a black author. Like me, for Flake and the other visionary authors highlighted in Ms. Almagor’s article, it’s about keeping it real…It’s real personal. Robin P. Hickman
Lelac Almagor responds: I share Ms. Hickman’s passion for books that engage young readers and enrich their lives. I also share her high regard for the appeal of The Skin I’m In, one of our classroom favorites, of which I buy several copies each year; yet I find some elements of its ideology troubling. I hope we can agree that questioning a particular pattern in a book, or in a body of literature, is a long way from denying children access to it. Quite the contrary: noticing, thinking, wondering — how does this book deepen or extend or differ from what I believe about the world? — is exactly what both my students and I do when we read the books that matter to us most. |
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