Before you hang anyone by their confederate flag, Evil, here's a little reality check from inside the world of publishing.
First, the story your daughter brought home from the library may not be the story the author intended. By the time a book hits the shelves it's been touched and shaped by SO MANY people. Your agent has a say, your editor, copy editor, the marketing department at the publishing house -- sometimes even the suits at the big box book stores -- all get to make their "suggestions".
In theory, Ms. Friedman could have written a scathing expose on the atrocities of slavery and then some bean counter could have come along and said, "Dood. That's a little harsh for our target demographic, dontcha think? I mean, we're aiming this book at four to eight year olds. Could you tone it down a little? Maybe lose most of the slave-y thing?"
And then Ms. Friedman, who had stupidly quit her day job - thinking writing for kids would make her rich (hahahahahahahahaha) - might have been all like *gulp* "But um, slavery is the whole reason the Civil War was fought."
And then Beancounter could have said, "Yeah, whatever. Do you want to sell a book or don't you?"
Second, midlist and lower writers don't usually get much input into their book's design. The illustrator is chosen by the publisher. If Ms. Friedman had really done her research, she would have known that Gen. Lee was not a giant, nor was Gen. Grant a midget. She probably cringed when she saw that illustration too.
Third, don't put too much stock in reviews you read on a writer's or publisher's website. Sometimes they only tell a part of the story. For example, though I couldn't find the original reviews for Silent Witness, here's what School Library Journal had to say about one of Ms. Friedman's more recent novels:
FRIEDMAN, Robin The Importance of Wings 170p. CIP. Charlesbridge July 2009. RTE $15.95. ISBN 978-1-58089-330-5. LC 2008025326.
Gr 5-8–When Roxanne’s mother returns to Israel to care for an ailing relative, the 13-year-old and her younger sister are left to fend for themselves. They eat cold cereal and canned mushrooms for dinner every night or buy hotdogs from the neighbors, and spend their afternoons and evenings watching television while their father works late nights as a cab driver in Manhattan. But when Liat moves into the “cursed house” next door, Roxanne slowly discovers that her obsession to become all-American might not be as important as she once thought. Confident and unconcerned with what others think, Liat is proud to retain her Israeli name (Roxanne has changed hers from Ravit) and is not embarrassed by her father’s clothes, thick accent, wildly decorated car, or outrageous girlfriend. The fact that Liat’s house does turn out to be cursed–a mysterious house fire forces the family to return to Israel–
seems a bit far-fetched, but it does add drama to the story.
Roxanne’s fixation with television quickly becomes tiresome, and today’s readers might not relate to all of the aspects of 1980s culture sprinkled throughout the narrative, such as the coveted “winged” hairstyle. Despite these weaknesses, this is a readable coming-of-age story that captures many universal aspects of the contemporary immigrant experience coupled with middle school angst, first crushes, and the importance of finding one’s own wings.
And here's the "pull quote" found on her website:
“
[A] readable coming-of-age story that captures many universal aspects of the contemporary immigrant experience coupled with middle school angst, first crushes, and the importance of finding one’s own wings.”
Finally, I'm not sure you didn't come to the book with your own bias in place, E. You say this is the most egregious passage in the book?
On April 9, 1865, Lula was playing with her rag doll in the parlor.
General Lee, towering at nearly six feet tall, arrived in a spotless uniform, sash, sword, and shined boots. General Grant arrived half an hour later wearing a slouch hat, common soldier’s coat, and muddy boots. Lula fled the room, leaving her rag doll on the horsehair sofa.
In my reading, I think an almost 6 foot tall man would have certainly been towering to a four year old girl. And I find his spotless uniform, sash, sword and shined books to be kind of affectatious compared with Grant's straight from the battlefield, no nonsense attire.
Do I think it is okay to pretend that slavery didn't happen? No. As a matter of fact, I don't. But I also don't think this was a book that pretended to be about that subject. Instead, I think it was meant to be a representation of the effect of war on one small child. Take your daughter to the library and help her pick out other books about the Civil War if you think she some balance.
Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco sounds like it might be a really good one!
Re: Biased Children's Book: The Silent Witness
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Originally Posted by HoosierHelen
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