What I’ve Been Reading

Go Set a Watchman

Posted by Sarah L. Thomson on Mar 6, 2020 in American History, Race, What I've Been Reading | 0 comments

I wrote this a while ago, after reading Go Set a Watchman. It just seemed like something it might be worthwhile to share.

So Harper Lee, who wrote a book about white people and racism, wrote another book about white people and racism. I don’t know why we’re all so surprised.

Okay, yes, I do know. It’s a gut punch to know that Atticus, the kind, protective, wise, gentle father figure to white America, will smile and nod while listening to a speech so full of racist vile it makes his daughter vomit. It’s horrible to hear Atticus, our Atticus, declare the Warren Supreme Court and the NAACP his mortal enemies, to talk with gentle and genteel horror about black children sitting in his school and black voters taking over his government.

But it shouldn’t shock us, if we look back honestly at To Kill a Mockingbird.

We were all lulled into thinking that this is the definitive book about racism in America. And what does it tell us? That one man, armed with kindness, good manners, and legal training, can overcome racism in his small Southern town.

Except he can’t.

What does Atticus actually do in To Kill a Mockingbird? Remember? He doesn’t get Tom Robinson acquitted. He makes the jury take a little longer to decide. He makes them think about it. And he counts that as a victory.

What I’ve Been Reading–The Best Christmas Book Ever

Posted by Sarah L. Thomson on Dec 20, 2019 in What I've Been Reading | 0 comments

Every year the Christmas books come out for display. Every year I re-read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.

Really, there’s nothing like it. The understated humor, the clear-eyed child narrator who sees very flaw of the adult world with precision and affection, the marvelous transgressive awfulness of the Herdmans (“the worst kids in the history of the world”), and most of all, the dead-on depiction of the Christmas pageant as it goes in every church, every year, world without end.

There was the usual big mess all over the place–baby angels getting poked in the eye by other baby angels’ wings and grumpy shepherds stumbling over their bathrobes. The spotlight swooped back and forth and up and down till it made you sick at your stomach to look at it, and, as usual, whoever was playing the piano pitched “Away in a Manger” so high we could hardly hear it, let along sing it. My father says “Away in a Manger” always starts out sound like a closetful of mice.

I even find some strange enjoyment in the fact that (like the Grinch) the Herdmans are content in their own awfulness. Clearly this family is in dire straits–overworked single mother, no father, little money–but they don’t seem to care. Nobody seems to care–not their teachers or social workers or any adults in the community. But the kids, seen through another kid’s eyes, are fine, and it’s because they are so powerful. They do what they want, say what they want, and get what they want–no matter what, no matter how.

Yet the Herdmans are not one-dimensional either–they care for each other, they care for the baby Jesus, and they’re ready to fight to see right done. Even if they do shove pussy willow buds down people’s ears and smoke cigars in the ladies’ room at church.

Long live the Herdmans!

Thankful For…

Posted by Sarah L. Thomson on Nov 28, 2019 in Children's Literature, Inspiration, What I've Been Reading | 0 comments

Readers.
Readers who take a chance with a new book they might just like.
Readers who cling to dogeared favorites with covers worn shabby and soft.
Readers who cry when a favorite characters dies.
Readers who cry when the dog dies. (That’s me.)
Readers who can’t wait for the next book in the sequel.
Readers who make my job possible.
Readers who will turn into the next generation of writers.

Thank you.

What I’ve Been Reading

Posted by Sarah L. Thomson on Oct 18, 2019 in What I've Been Reading | 0 comments

I mean, now I have to go read everything else Meg Medina ever wrote. Because–well, it’s so hard to write about perfection without gushing. But she doesn’t put a foot wrong. Every emotion real and powerful without being overdone, and in a novel that touches on class, race, friendship, family, illness, loss, and growing up, that’s truly something.

When you’re a writer, there’s a fine line between work that is so good it’s inspirational and work that just makes you want to go bury your head in a sandbank and never try to write another word because why bother when it’s already been done so well? This book sits right on that line.