Guest Post: Catherine Ryan Hyde Author of Jumpstart the World
Posted on Thursday, October 28th, 2010 by the1stdaughter
As you can probably tell by my review of Jumpstart the World, Catherine Ryan Hyde is one of my absolute favorite authors. Her writing is incredibly emotional and inspiring. So, when I had the opportunity to have her guest post about her favorite childhood book I jumped at the chance. Take a look at her selection, I think you’ll most likely remember it from your own childhood and learn something new about it in the process.
Maybe it’s because Jumpstart the World is one of my Young Adult titles. But I initially found myself wanting to approach this blog post through the books I read as a teen, rather than as a child. That seemed to be where all the “influence” was hiding.
Then I thought carefully about the influence I was referring to, and the books I felt provided it. These include such YA classics as Flowers for Algernon, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Bless the Beasts and Children. Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon. Of Mice and Men. What they all have in common is the outcast character (or characters). The “loser,” cast out of the mainstream, shunned, misunderstood, unwanted.
That’s what got me writing the kind of novels I write today.
Then I stopped to think about my very favorite kid’s book. The Sneetches, by Dr. Seuss. Hmm. Let’s see…
It’s a story about a whole subset of Sneetches who are not allowed to attend frankfurter roasts, whose children can’t join in ball games. Because they’re different. They don’t have stars on their bellies. And of course everybody who’s anybody among Sneetches has a star. Those who don’t are a lesser class, deserving of no consideration. Shunned for what we can all see is a ridiculously arbitrary reason.
But maybe we see it so clearly because we’re not Sneetches. The LGBT community feels our rights are denied for arbitrary reasons as well. But that’s harder for some people in this country…world…to see. I wonder if Sneetches would consider such prejudice pointless and silly.
In any case, it’s quite clear to me that my favorite childhood book set me off on a path toward acceptance and equality. Did I opt for that path because I loved the book so much? Or did I love the book because my feet were already planted on a path to equality? Hard to say. A sort of chicken-or-egg question. And maybe it’s not important to say, anyway.
What matters is this: The Sneetches and I found each other.
I read it as a child. And read it. And read it.
In high school, when we were given an assignment to memorize a work of poetry and recite it to the class, I memorized The Sneetches. Hey, that’s a poem! It rhymes and everything. And guess what? Everybody enjoyed hearing my poem the most.
And I can still recite it. All the way through.
About three years ago, at an evening talent show at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference, I had a friend announce that I would be doing a costumed recital of “a literary classic that informed and influenced my subsequent work” (or words to that effect). Then the lights went down, I entered the auditorium in a Sneetch suit (yes, you read that correctly—a Sneetch suit) and recited The Sneetches by heart.
I guess that’s enough to make a case for the influence the piece had on me. And I’m guessing that anyone who’s read my work will see the point I’m trying to make.
It’s simply this: We’re all just people. That’s really the most important thing I’m trying to say in every novel I write. Scratch the surface of the person you find so inferior, so threatening, so different. You’ll find a person who wants what you want, feels what you feel. We all want to be safe and happy, and we want our families and loved ones to be safe and happy. And we all want to be accepted for who and what we are. And I really think that’s fair enough.
We just have to be willing to return the favor for others. Whether or not they have stars.
“Thank you so much Catherine! I loved the story and especially the costume! It’s amazing to me, the power of a single book, especially when we discover it in our youth and it’s apparent that The Sneetches was that for you.”
Please stop by The Teen {Book} Scene for more details and other tour stop locations!
Thank you so much to the author, Catherine Ryan Hyde, for providing a copy of her book for review and giveaway!
Purchasing products by clicking through the links in this post will provide us a modest commission through our affiliate relationship with IndieBound.
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