I LOVED this book. I thought the perspective of the young boy (12-year-old?) was spot on, maybe a little too insightful, but nevertheless correct. Human nature makes us very self-centered – not always selfish, but self-centered. When faced with a friend/co-worker/family member who is in a bad mood, who hasn’t thought, “what did I do to make them this way?” The person’s mood may have nothing to do with us (and it probably doesn’t) but that doesn’t stop us from thinking that we did something. And Holling Hoodhood is no different.This was a book about relationships – relationships between Holling and his teacher, between Holling and his sister, between Holling and the world around him. But the book also developed relationships between people in the world surrounding Holling. For example, the relationship between the lunch lady (?) and the Vietnamese girl was very touching. I cried when the lunch lady “overlooked” the girl when passing out treats (or something). I also cried when they came to terms with each other later in the book. I can’t even imagine how hard it would have been to be a young Vietnamese child in the United States during the Vietnam War.
This really sucks not to have the book in front of me. Anyway, I was quite impressed with Holling’s friend who returned the autographed baseball to – Mickey Mantle? – after the “hero” refused to sign Holling’s ball. Is that an accurate portrayal of the baseball player? Was he really that much of a jerk?
Thanks, Laurenda, for choosing this book.
2 comments:
I love that we got so much of the same stuff out of the book! Great minds, great minds. :)
I forgot about the lunch lady whose husband is killed in Vietnam and the Vietnamese refugee girl, who by the end of the book seem to have adopted each other. You also totally hit the mark with the self-centeredness of Holling. I still am like that, though. sigh.
I'm not sure about Mantle's true nature. I know he was an alcoholic...I'll look into it and see what I can find out. :)
Yeah . . . wasn't that scene with Mickey Mantle something else. I was just sick at heart :( It said so much about who should really be our heroes. I also loved the changing relationship between Mai Thi and Mrs. Bigio. This book showed such growth in the characters! Great "kid lit" (and I'm still a kid :)
KT, I hadn't thought about the lens we see things through . . . Holling's eyes. I guess like Laurenda said, we are all a little self-centered . . . we see the world as it relates to us. Great insight (even if you didn't have your book with you ;)
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