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Christmas morning snow at our house. Unfortunately, conversion to YouTube made this less neat and obvious than it was on my computer, but, it's still visible. And yes, that's Scott at the very end, admiring the snowfall from under the safety of our front porch roof. (And talking to his relatives about the snowfall. I think his parents, but it may have been his aunt and uncle, I'm not sure.)
December 28th, 2007
(And yes, I know it isn't common. Alas.)
A post from Neil Gaiman's journal includes a letter sent to him and his public reply. I share the letter here:
My 12-year old daughter chose Stardust for a school book report. We purchased it in paperback at Barnes and Noble. From the packaging, it looked like an appropriate fantasy story for her age and her 6th grade teacher approved it. We were very offended to find that it had an explicit sex scene and the word "fuck" in it. The marketing of this book was misleading. Were you intending to mislead children into reading it? Why would you do this?
And my responses:
1) Since when is cover and marketing something the author controls? In most cases, as I understand it, really it's not. Talk to the publisher.
2) I have never seen Stardust listed as a children's book, only YA and adult fantasy. (And based on Neil's post, that's all it ever has been classed as.) If you do not want your daughter exposed to such things, young adult is not really the best choice. Trust me, for YA, this is mild.
3) Speaking of which, if you are so worried about what she reads, how come you don't read it first?
4) By the way, do you really think she hasn't heard that word?
5) ...also, do you let her watch prime time TV? 'Cause if so, kinda silly to pick on the book.
6) Oh, and, no comment about the violence? I realize this is a cultural thing rather than an individual, but our priorities regarding sex and violence are so fucked up. (Yes, ma'am, I did use that word. You aren't letting your daughter read this, are you?)
It may be that the 12-year-old is not ready to deal with things like that, though in our society it would surprise me, and it's certainly the parent's right to not want them to be exposed. But, if they exercise that right, it is also their responsibility to review possible sources of exposure and stop them if possible. (Again, in our society, good luck!)
Also there is this post which is the syndicated copy of the entry on LJ, and which has comments from others as well.
A post from Neil Gaiman's journal includes a letter sent to him and his public reply. I share the letter here:
My 12-year old daughter chose Stardust for a school book report. We purchased it in paperback at Barnes and Noble. From the packaging, it looked like an appropriate fantasy story for her age and her 6th grade teacher approved it. We were very offended to find that it had an explicit sex scene and the word "fuck" in it. The marketing of this book was misleading. Were you intending to mislead children into reading it? Why would you do this?
And my responses:
1) Since when is cover and marketing something the author controls? In most cases, as I understand it, really it's not. Talk to the publisher.
2) I have never seen Stardust listed as a children's book, only YA and adult fantasy. (And based on Neil's post, that's all it ever has been classed as.) If you do not want your daughter exposed to such things, young adult is not really the best choice. Trust me, for YA, this is mild.
3) Speaking of which, if you are so worried about what she reads, how come you don't read it first?
4) By the way, do you really think she hasn't heard that word?
5) ...also, do you let her watch prime time TV? 'Cause if so, kinda silly to pick on the book.
6) Oh, and, no comment about the violence? I realize this is a cultural thing rather than an individual, but our priorities regarding sex and violence are so fucked up. (Yes, ma'am, I did use that word. You aren't letting your daughter read this, are you?)
It may be that the 12-year-old is not ready to deal with things like that, though in our society it would surprise me, and it's certainly the parent's right to not want them to be exposed. But, if they exercise that right, it is also their responsibility to review possible sources of exposure and stop them if possible. (Again, in our society, good luck!)
Also there is this post which is the syndicated copy of the entry on LJ, and which has comments from others as well.
I had to run errands today. So I also did my library returns on the same round which, (not so) coincidentally, takes me past Borders. I got Voice of the Gods.
And now? Now I am ignoring it. Because Borders also had fresh shiny copies of Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs - the third Mercy Thompson novel. MINE.
I am way, way less than impressed with the cover. I've never gotten the impression from the author's descriptions that Mercy was the tattooed lady; the only tattoo I ever remember any book telling us she had was a paw-print on her stomach. She practically has sleeves of tattoos, literally, in this rendering.
But I didn't buy the book for its cover, and illogical as the image seems overall, I don't care if it turns out to be accurate or not. I just want the story, and I have that.
I think I vanish into a book again now.
And now? Now I am ignoring it. Because Borders also had fresh shiny copies of Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs - the third Mercy Thompson novel. MINE.
I am way, way less than impressed with the cover. I've never gotten the impression from the author's descriptions that Mercy was the tattooed lady; the only tattoo I ever remember any book telling us she had was a paw-print on her stomach. She practically has sleeves of tattoos, literally, in this rendering.
But I didn't buy the book for its cover, and illogical as the image seems overall, I don't care if it turns out to be accurate or not. I just want the story, and I have that.
I think I vanish into a book again now.
I have readIron Kissed through, and reread some parts. I won't say much about it because it's new out and I know several folks on my friends list read the series (and probably more than I realize) and spoilers are evil.
But...wow. I am stunned. Wow. So, so glad I grabbed this and gulped this. And just...wow.
Comments not guaranteed to be spoiler-free; if anyone else has read it and wants to discuss, feel free. I'd love to babble about my thoughts and reactions to folks I wouldn't be spoilering the book for. Even if only in vague terms. (ETA: I will not reply to non-spoiler comments with spoilers unless the commenter indicates that they've read the book and/or don't mind. No worries there. Just saying that if someone hands me a comment of such sort I will happily digress into spoilers, thus, not safe to read others' comments. If this post even gets any.)
But...wow. I am stunned. Wow. So, so glad I grabbed this and gulped this. And just...wow.
Comments not guaranteed to be spoiler-free; if anyone else has read it and wants to discuss, feel free. I'd love to babble about my thoughts and reactions to folks I wouldn't be spoilering the book for. Even if only in vague terms. (ETA: I will not reply to non-spoiler comments with spoilers unless the commenter indicates that they've read the book and/or don't mind. No worries there. Just saying that if someone hands me a comment of such sort I will happily digress into spoilers, thus, not safe to read others' comments. If this post even gets any.)