Sabtu, 08 September 2012

Courage and Determination in Children's Books

Per ardua ad astra ("Through adversity to the stars" or "Through struggle to the stars") this congratulatory encouragement was sent to me from a friend recently for an accomplishment that I have to admit I was proud of. I believe this phrase would be a great mantra, the Royal Air force and a few other organizations use it so why not the rest of us!

We have many challenges to face here in this world we live in, so we should face them with the attitude of courage and determination. Having said all that I have some children's books that do just that! They have heroes (or heroines) that face challenges with courage and determination sometimes they don't know they are being courageous or determined but they are.

· Michelle Paver's series Wolf Brother is one big adventure and has both a hero and a heroin that has much courage and determination. This is one of my all time favorite book series!

· Jenny Nimmo's Charlie Bone series is also great for adventure and challenges. This hero has some magical gifts that help him along with some friends who have some magical gifts as well.

· Michael Buckley's Sisters Grimm is a good adventure with loads of challenges, okay one of the heroin's whines a lot but it's still really good. I love the fact that he uses old fairy tales and legends to populate the town the girls live in.

· Rick Riodan's Percy Jackson series is also great for adventure. Bringing those Greek Gods down a peg or two is always good!

· The American Girl series (by various writers) is so cool! They always have great adventures that could have really happened. These girls are good examples of courage and determination! Sorry but I can't pick a favorite because every time I think I have a favorite I find another!

· J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series almost goes without saying! And yes the books are way better than the movies!

With so many children's literary agents and publishers calling for horror manuscripts I'm afraid we may miss out on some really great adventures. I hear so much from agents who only want horror till it makes me wonder if that's all that's going to be available to children in the future? So I'm glad we have some good ones already out there to enjoy! I'm not completely against horror but we do need a balance.

I love to read good children's literature! I especially love to read great adventure whether it is magical or not. I also like to have many choices to pick from, if we have only horror printed in the future I will be re-reading a lot of my old favorites till the agents and publishers wise up.

Happy reading! I hope you find many great adventures and examples of courage and determination that will inspire you in your own lives!

Julie L. Worthington is a writer of fantasy adventure and science-fiction middle-grade and young adult books along with short stories. She is passionate about children's literature both old and new. To find out more or to read some of her work go to http://www.julieworthington.com

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