The Phoenix Award of the Children's Literature Association: 1995-1999 (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Phoenix Award of the Children's Literature Association: 1995-1999 Ruth Anne Thompson (bio) The Phoenix Award of the Children's Literature Association: 1995-1999. Edited by Alethea Helbig and Agnes Perkins. Latham, MD: Scarecrow, 2001 The pleasures of this volume are those of a good dinner party: old friends and new, good conversation, a variety of perspectives and interesting things to talk about. First, however, some context is needed. The Phoenix Award is given to the author (or the estate of an author) of a children's book of high literary quality that was published in English twenty years earlier that did not win a major award at the time of its original publication. Two previous volumes in this series have already appeared, the first covering the awards from 1985 through 1989, and the second, from 1990 through 1994. Every year at the Children's Literature Conference, the Phoenix award committee presents the choices of both the award winner and any honorable mentions books. The task is daunting, the possibilities are extensive, and the final decision, as with any such award, is sometimes contentious. But this volume of papers, edited for publication, does credit to the work of the editors and their committees and enables readers to revisit old favorites and to discover new ones. In addition, the book contains brief summaries of each work, a biography of the author, and a list of his/her other works. This makes the volume a fine reference tool, but it is also more than that. There are transcripts of the authors' acceptance speeches, usually delivered at the annual conference banquet in person or by a representative. The opportunity to hear about the genesis of each work and to see into the mind and feelings of its author is a particularly strong and effective aspect of this book. The essays about other works by the award-winning authors are useful in extending the context and characteristics of each author and offer a wider perspective than the single celebratory analysis. This volume covers the awards to Laurence Yep's Dragonwings (1995 winner), Alan Garner's The Stone Book (1996), Robert Cormier's I Am the Cheese (1997), Jill Paton Walsh's A Chance Child (1998), and E. L. Konigsburg's Throwing Shadows (1999). The honor books also receive critical treatment: Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt (1995), Abel's Island by William Steig (1996), Beauty by Robin McKinley (1998), and The Devil in Vienna by Doris Orgel (1998), and The Disappearance by Rosa Guy (1999) and Words by Heart by Ouida Sebestyen (1999). The themes that appear in these works—multiculturalism, child abuse, immortality, myth—have a relevance that echoes as clearly now as when they first appeared, validating the appropriateness of their selection. As significant as the themes is the quality of literary craftsmanship that distinguishes them. Adrienne Kertzer's perceptive essay focuses on the nature of translation in Yep's Dragonwings. Her analysis of the story of Chinese immigrants in California at the turn of the century revolves around the ways in which communication moves beyond the particularities of language. The struggle of Moon Shadow to adapt to the alien American culture parallels the struggle to find equivalents for words and concepts that cannot be literally translated. The [End Page 215] universal desire for flight dominates Moon Shadow's father as he dreams of his former life as a dragon. But he must learn that science and machinery are not the solution to escape to a greater and purer realm. In another essay that examines the way in which language functions, Lisa Rowe Fraustino's discussion of the bleak vision of Cormier's I Am the Cheese explores the ways that lying is a protection for Adam in his intense isolation and self doubt. Particularly valuable is her summary of critical and reader responses to the novel. Reading this in light of Cormier's statement of intent in writing the book gives the reader a solid base on which to rest a response to the problematic theme and ending. In Garner's The Stone Book, Linnea Hendrickson sees the celebration of craftsmanship and the synthesis of the dichotomies of...