Week Five: Witches and Women in Genre


Aunt Maria was a fun and interesting read. It was very mature for being a book written for the younger audience. Books can be written for the younger audience with the intention of trying to interest a grownup but keep important issues relatable to the younger generation in order to try and give them understating. You see this often with racial issues in kid’s movies and books. For example, I just watch the new Disney Channel movie called Zombies. The zombies were segregated from the humans and treated poorly. As an adult, I recognized instantly what the movie was about, but to a kid it brings a complex and mature topic down to their level. This can be done very well or very poorly. I personally don’t think Zombies did a good job at all. But I feel that Aunt Maria did it very well.

In this book, they took on the topic of divorce and sexism issues just to name a few. These are things that kids must deal with, but I think we can all agree are very complex in nature. How do you make this understandable to a kid? You make an immersive story that that brings that kids in and guides them along. You take them on a journey. Sometimes the best way to understand your situation is to see it through someone else’s eyes.

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