Okay, going to break my rule of never responding to book reviews.
After a nice review for Short and Scary in The Sunday Age, Young Lit section several weeks ago, I was surprised to see a review in today's Sat Age.
The readership for the anthology was years 8 - 14. There is no mention of this in the review which is flanked by adult titles such as The Woman Who Shot Mussolini and 35 Arguments for the Existence of God.
The idea for the short series was a mentoring program, matching established authors and illustrators with emerging talent, both young and old. There is no mention of this in the critique either. (Although there was mention of one contributor's poem as mediocre will probably have the 16 year old author running for cover.)
Feedback from teachers and readers about the short series has been positive. It is a smorgasbord of stories and poetry that young readers can dip into. That's what makes it work for young readers. Perhaps the reviewer is better suited to reviewing adult books...?
author & editor — life is one big story
7 comments:
Good for you responding to the review, Karen. Any review is good publicity, I guess, but surely it must be written within the context of why and for whom it was written. I could be biased, of course, but I thought it turned out pretty good.
Hi Sheryl - nice to hear from you.
And if Corn Dolly Dead wasn't scary, I don't know what is!
Hmm. Was kinda hoping they had something negative to say about my story. Disappointing.
- Amy
I will say something negative if you like, but only if you become one of my blog followers...
Now I'm going to have to be interesting.
Hi Karen - I too was disappointed that the review didn't mention the mentoring aspect of the collection either.
I know how motivated the kids involved have been since - all seeking out more writing experiences and some following up authors at SWF presenations. I hope others involved have been inspired too - even those who missed the cut!
Hi Linda
sorry missed this response
until now.
I thought the review kind of missed the point
and a little mean-spirited.
So glad to hear the kids were inspired
to write more.
S'what it is all about...
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