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From: Robin K.
reality discussion
I agree with both of you - it was such a let down at the end of the story for Amanda to want to become an "ordinary" girl. And the setting wasn't very appealing, either. Too prosaic. I like fantasy/fairy-tale settings much better, at least for Robin's writing style. But I don't think the moral of the story was to leave childish things behind. It seemed to me that it would be unfair, and bad for her, to use the box to solve her personal problems because it's cheating, somehow. She needs to learn to solve her problems herself, not retreat from them by letting the box solve them temporarily. I'm sorry, that's a bit muddled, but you get the idea.
An author who does write very well in a down-to-earth way is Cynthia Voight, at least in her early books, like Dicey's Song and Homecoming. I was reading Come a Stranger on the streetcar today and it was so good, I just had to mention her. She and Robin are very different, but I highly recommend her Dicey-related books (the ones I mentioned, plus A Solitary Blue and some others which I don't know so well). She won a Newbery Medal, for Dicey's Song, I think. Enjoy!
Robin.
kortrigr@echo-on.net
Sunday, June 29, 1997 at 00:57:45 (EDT)