plugging away

[ewein2412]

Doing our thing for SmartPop's Demigods and Monsters, which I have got an essay in. Sara and Mark have both reviewed the film The Lightning Thief here.

For a different view of things, try rachelmanija's furious and frankly baffled review of the film here (I enjoyed the review, and the comments, very much). I confess I would not have made it through the first of these books, let alone the first three, if I had not already signed up to produce the essay. The Adbooks listserv raved about Lightning Thief (as did the whole children's lit scene) and I had overly high expectations for it. I think this is yet another series that is RIGHT ON TARGET with its target audience--Sara adores these books--and I am way outside the target. I am always seriously bugged by this. It's not that I dislike the series--I just find it dull and samey. WHY??? And is my failure to connect with these hugely popular books related to my own books "missing the target"? Hmmm.

Incidentally, when I was doing a boatload of reading for the Children's Literature New England seminar in 2007, I kept notes on the required books I'd read in order to be able to review them just before the lectures. I noticed that I was always trying to find good in everything I read, some redeeming thing to say about the book that was positive, even if I didn't really like it. And I realized that in fact I was fooling myself--for me, there is no in between. I either like the book or I hate it. The reaction is polar. This is why I never give a star rating to children's books on my Goodreads reviews unless the author is dead! Best just to keep it to myself. I might meet the author some day.

Comments

[camille-is-here.livejournal.com]

And is my failure to connect with these hugely popular books related to my own books "missing the target"? Hmmm.

I keep asking myself the same question for my target audience. What part of what I am doing is sufficiently not like the others that people pick that book but not this book? And, if I could figure out what it was, and tried to do that to my taste, would that make it not like the others anyway? Some people think the answer is "your writing isn't as good, they are just better." but mostly the really popular authors are not great stylists. So the question really is, what is being read as "good" that Dan Brown has (for example) and I do not.

[estara.livejournal.com]

That's a cool triple essay, and it's fun to read your different voices. I highly applaud Sara's professional tone, even referring to you in the third person when talking about your essay. Mark was honest and to the point, you were honest and diplomatic ^^.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

I read it when it first came out, and appreciated how very perfect it was for sixth grade. But its appeal pretty much stopped there, I thought.

[zalena.livejournal.com]

There are several things I try to keep in mind as a reviewer: 1. respect for the work that went into the book, even if I don't like it. 2. Trying to imagine who would like it, and why; 3. Remembering that most children's literature is for children. My primarily function as a 'reviewer' (vs. a critic) is to let people know what it's about, who might like it, and if there is any material involved of which parents/educators need to be aware.

I am a great believer in 'gateway books,' which is to say books that get people reading regardless of their merit. You never know when something might unlock a reader's curiosity and change the course of their lives... or just turn them into readers. I think what bother me most is not CHILDREN reading books that are meant for them, but ADULTS who are unable to expand their horizons beyond HP, Dan Brown, etc.

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

I didn't connect with THE LIGHTNING THIEF either. And I had the same reaction to Garth Nix's MISTER MONDAY -- didn't even get halfway through that one.

Unlike you, I don't find a lot of books I would say I hate, but I do read a lot that leave me unmoved and vanish from my imagination very quickly. And some which I bounce off for ideological and moral reasons, even though they may be well executed in other respects (helllooo, Pullman).

On the other hand, as you may have noticed, I am positively evangelistic about books I love, and yours happen to be among them. :)

[ashfae.livejournal.com]

For me, it was all worth it for the hydra. I was way too happy about that hydra. Shiny special effects, yay! (I don't ask a lot from my escapist fantasy movies) (from the books now, that's a different story--haven't read these yet)

(I may have a hydra fetish)

"who's the target audience?" again

[lauradi7.livejournal.com]

It pops up in the last paragraph of Jo Walton's review of "Gaudy Night."
http://www.tor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=blog&id=58953