Tuesday, March 3, 2009
What makes Judy Blundell's book worthy of the National Book Award?
I thought that What I Saw and how I lied was well-written for the YA age group and that the story was compelling. Considering it's worthiness for the award, I would say that it was probably judged based on the way the story was constructed-- as a fairly dark coming -of-age story that has historical merit as well as romantic intrigue. I really enjoyed this book, especially because it was a little more adult in its content. Who wouldn't?! On a serious note, the message that the book sends isn't about just doing the right thing all the time, and it doesn't present clear, cut-and-dry situations that get resolved at the end. By the end of the book, there are still so many questions (as we saw in class). Evie learns so much and grows up a lot, but has to make an extremely difficult decision which is not necessarily the right or moral thing to do. Like we said in class, it shows how complicated life and relationships can be, while creating an intriguing and well-constructed story in a very interesting time period. I think it was well-deserving of the award.
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Johanna,
ReplyDeleteI laughed at your statement about enjoying the book because of its more adult-themed content. I, too, love a bit of a scandal and I thought Peter was an intriguing character. I liked the contrast between his relationships with Beverly and Evie. I also tried to place myself into the mindset of a teenager and I could see how a naive Evie could misinterpret all the information prior to the hurricane because she was so infatuated with Peter.
I do think it is important to note -- as you touched on -- the complexity of the issues and how Evie comes to grips with that. These are very mature issues that even most adults don't have to deal with, yet Evie realizing the severity and the seriousness of the events transforms her into a less doe-eyed character. She's now seen things that others have not and that makes her wiser (and sadder).
I just now thought about her assessment of Ruthie Kalman at the beginning -- looks and tragedy, how lucky! Well, now that Evie possessed looks (of which Evie is sure after her mother admits that she tried to keep her plain as a mode of protection) and tragedy (as Mrs. Grayson points out, Evie has suffered loss -- of Peter, her naivety, and the admiration of her parents). The grass is not so green on the other side.
Kati