Contact: Clayton Bess
I'm already on Chapter 3, even though I don't like to read on the computer; it makes my eyes feel teary; but you are so DAMN GOOD! I love the way you get into his head and into his voice, and the bit with the art and that he's writing this story. In a way it reminds me of the best of your other book The Mayday Rampage. I can't wait to read it all.Marilyn Reynolds Author of Telling, Too Soon For Jeff, Shut Up and many other books in the Hamilton High Series
Later:
I figured out the problem with my printer and printed up a copy of A Ghost In Silence and just finished reading it. I like it a lot. I like the unconventional structure, even the errata at the end, and the pictures, and certainly Dillon's voice. He's a great character, along with all the others, distinctive and very familiar, too. That's the thing that's so good; we know them, and yet, it is quite a different story. It is both blatant (faggot!) and subtle. Subtle, because you only deal with two aspects of being gay, the one being tolerance, the other the personal freedom to love.
I can see this as a terrific spring board for discussion, though I don't know how I, personally, would handle the many questions that arise, questions from the child reader who wants to know what all the fuss is about. It's very simple to say we must be free to love whom we can, whom we wish. But beyond that, what happens when social implications are invoked? What about marriage? Children? Families? Then there are questions of origin: how does a person know when he/she is gay? Is it anybody's business? Why or why not? Is it purely personal? What about HIV? Is this a special concern? I'm not asking any questions you haven't heard and thought about before, I'm just wondering how one would deal with them with children age 10, about the age of your protagonist and, I think, readers from 10 to 12. Is that the age you had in mind?
You know I love your writing. You know I wish it didn't take so long to produce a book, because I want to see more.
Dear Nancy,
A few days back I was having lunch with another writer-friend. I'd just given him a copy of Shut Up and he was immediately drawn to your blurb on the book jacket. That got us talking about my experience of reading the manuscript to your students, etc. He, Bob Locke, expressed interest in perhaps sharing some of his new book with your students and I promised to send information your way.
Bob is a wonderful writer whose books are first of all good stories, but also stories that exemplify the importance of social justice and tolerance. Although his books are generally for a slightly younger audience than my books, I think there is much in the stories that would be thought-provoking and entertaining for your high school students. Bob is particularly interested in students' responses to his newestbook A Ghost in Silence which I loved reading.
What a poignant and wonderful story! The characters all seemed very real to me, and the dialogue was the way people really talk. The art work added a lot of authenticity too. Your story seemed like a story a lot of people have really lived.
When I was reading it, I did wonder about “God’s beans,” but I enjoyed the image of green beans, somehow...so I had to laugh at myself when Dill explains what he’s learned that was meant. The other erratum I caught and understood...Well, not “reeking.” When I read that word, I was so engaged in the story that I missed the misunderstanding.
I taught seventh grade English for seventeen years and high school for six more, but now I’ve been retired for a long time. If I were still involved in school, I’d want to use your book and make a space for the challenges I’d face as a result. I’d hope to be as clear as Kenny and as wise as Gramma Rose, even though I’m probably not nearly as articulate as they are under pressure...but I’d want to be.
Thanks for living out loud and for sharing your book on line. I’ll bookmark your web site and do my best to share it in useful directions.
Contact: Clayton Bess
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