A Spider and a Pig: Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White. 1952.
Similar in voice to Babbitt’s Tuck Everlasting, White’s is written in a pleasantly distant third person with an air of mystery, like the story that is unfolding is Very Important. Some things of note:
- It opens with dialogue, which pulls the reader in immediately. Uncommon for the times, I think?
- It confronts death quite realistically and without squeamishness. Yes, pigs become bacon and Christmas ham. Yet one pig will be spared.
- A strong sense of sentimentality runs throughout. Sort of like Charlotte’s character herself.
Total aside: I played Fern in my fourth grade production of Charlotte's Web. I had to sing to a stuffed pig, and during dress rehearsal I went missing for a few minutes, so the Green-Room-Nazi-Mom kept a strict eye on me. She made me miss an entrance during the performance because she didn't believe me when I said I needed to be on stage. Funny what odd details make an impression.
I also had to kiss Wilbur (Jon VanDop, whom I loved desperately) on his sweet little head at the end. I'm so glad he wasn't turned into bacon!
I go through phases where I don’t want to read fantasy, no matter how well-reviewed it is. Unfortunately I was in one of those phases when I picked up Last Star Burning by Caitlin Sangster The opening I read reluctantly, my will rebelling. But it didn’t rebel long.
The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm is a truly fascinating sci-fi set in Africa. Talk about fabulous worldbuilding! It’s surprisingly accessible and gives us only a little “weirdness” at a time so we have time to acclimate.
In honor of a very special day, I thought I'd revive this old post about a book I found, um, intriguing, with some interesting asides...
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Rebecca has been writing since childhood, her first book about a kitten published between homemade cardboard covers in second grade. Although she studied religion and philosophy in university, she continued writing, earning an MFA from Hamline University and publishing multiple picture books (no longer with homemade covers) and a collection of poetry with a variety of New York and independent publishers. She has also published a wide array of fiction, essays, and poetry in magazines and journals and photographs for Getty Images. She balances writing with homeschooling the younger of her six children, launching her young adults, church activities, and overseeing a small flock of chickens in rural West Michigan.
I don’t know that I’ve ever read YA horror before so I wasn’t sure what to expect. What I found in The Devils You Know by MC Atwood was rather odd—Scooby-Doo meets The Breakfast Club with a little funhouse thrown in for kicks.