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Post-Apocalyptic vs Pre-Apocalyptic Fiction

By on March 9, 2018   /   Articles  

I’ve blogged before about post-apocalyptic dystopian fiction. These are forward-looking horror stories that either extrapolate from present trends or presuppose some civilization-ending disaster, leading to a world that is darker and diminished from the one we recognize.

Books in this genre can help us to better appreciate the world we have and, in the best of cases, inspire us to action necessary to preserve and protect our actual future. They are prophecies that must not come true, and every time our society comes up with a fresh anxiety, the post-apocalyptic genre evolves to include it.

On a seemingly unrelated topic, I’ve been immersed in Greek mythology for the past few months for my current writing project. That’s not enough time to become an expert, but just enough to start making connections. The other day, it struck me that many stories of Greek mythology fall into a genre that’s the polar opposite of post-apocalyptic fiction. They are, if anything, pre-apocalyptic.

In the 8th Century BC, Hesiod defined five ages of mankind. He believed that he was living in the Fifth Age, and he regretted not being born instead into the Fourth Age, the Age of Heroes, where the bulk of classical Greek mythology is set.

In the works of Homer, there are constant references to how the Fourth Age heroes of the Trojan War were better, stronger, and more glorious than the Fifth Age men of living memory. The way Homer described it, three or four men of the Fifth Age would be required just to lift the weapons that Fourth Age heroes wielded to battle each other.

Hesiod and Homer were telling stories set in a past that was better than the present, before some civilization-ending disaster led to a world that’s now darker and diminished from the one that came before. They are writing about stories set on the other side of an apocalypse, but one that’s in the past instead of the future.

In stories of Greek mythology, the problems in heaven get resolved by the gods outsourcing their problems, and increasing human suffering in the process.

For example, the insubordination of Prometheus was a problem for Zeus. He couldn’t tolerate other immortals going behind his back, subverting his will, and gifting mortals with awesome new technologies like fire. Just punishing Prometheus, by having an eagle tear out his liver on a daily basis, was only a partial solution. To really fix the matter, Zeus created Pandora and her box of plagues in order to make mortal life more difficult.

The story of Pandora is the story of an apocalypse, told by people living after the fact.

Another problem for Zeus was a prophecy that Thetis would bear a son who would outshine his father. To avoid being overthrown exactly like he overthrew his father, and like his father overthrew his grandfather, Zeus breaks up with Thetis and introduces her to a mortal. The child of prophecy, Achilles, turns out to be greater than a man but less than a god, and Zeus’s kingship is saved, at the cost of a decade-long war that cost so much blood and treasure that all of human society collapsed.

The story of the Trojan War represents another apocalypse, and is also told by people living after the fact.

When archaeologists discovered Troy, the date of its destruction matched the time of the Late Bronze Age Collapse that toppled ancient civilizations like dominos from Italy to India. In the land that is now Greece, populations crashed, cities and farmland were destroyed or abandoned, technology regressed, culture regressed, skills and knowledge were lost, and writing all but disappeared.

The ensuing Dark Ages lasted for centuries. It was a post-apocalyptic time, during which the stories we know today as Greek mythology developed and spread through an oral tradition. These stories were a post-apocalyptic society’s backward look at the better, brighter times before the Late Bronze Age Collapse, and a means for which they tried to explain what happened and why.

These pre-apocalyptic stories weren’t meant for us, or for any audience at our position in civilization’s grand cycle of ebb and flow. We aren’t capable of fully relating to them. But still, something about them appeals to us.

Given the choice, any of us would rather be living in a Golden Age while reading about a post-apocalyptic age, rather than the other way around. It’s hard for us to even imagine being among a post-apocalyptic audience, hearing a tale that can only be told orally, because literacy is no longer a thing, about an actual Golden Age that has become a time of fading legends.

But maybe we need these stories as well, to remind us that history is a cycle. Unimaginable things have happened in the past, and can happen again if we ignore the warnings in our post-apocalyptic stories.

And on a less depressing note… Homeric trivia!

  • The Trojan Horse doesn’t actually appear in the Iliad. That scene happens in a separate part of the epic cycle that’s been lost to us.
  • Also not included in the Iliad, Achilles getting fatally shot in the ankle. That scene also happens in a part of the epic cycle that’s been lost to us.
  • The epic cycle included an army of women led across the plains of Troy by an Amazon queen named Penthesilia, and an African army led by King Memnon of Aethiopia. That has been lost to us as well.

So why does every adaptation of the Trojan War recreate the death of Achilles and the deployment of a giant wooden horse while completely ignoring the armies of Penthesilia and Memnon?

Discuss!

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Keeping Track with Personal Reading Records

By on February 14, 2018   /   Book Lists, For Kids, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, Op-Ed  

I recently caught up with two former students to talk about – of course – reading! One is at a new school, and I still see the other around campus and in the library, though I’m not regularly in the classroom these days.

I heard from their mothers ( both book people, so of course we’re in touch) that Kenzie and Hannah keep reading records for themselves, and I was very curious to see how – or if – they continued on where their library class with me left off some years ago.

I kept a wall behind my desk depicting my own reading life: covers showing books i’d read and those I planned to read. In addition, a couple of my classes chose to track their reading lives on another wall of the library.I love that this particular wall grew out of these readers’ desires to follow their own lives as readers.

In our recent conversations, I started out by asking the girls why they keep track of their reading. Kenzie uses her list/page count system to prove a point to others and to show that she really is as well read as she says she is, and to see how far she has come as a reader. She also uses a list of books she’s read to keep track of where she’s been. I can relate to that. I remember where I was when I dug through Bronte’s Villanelle on summer in high school, and I opened Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in the security line at Gatwick Airport. Kenzie also pointed out that she likes bonding with new friends over books they both love.

Hannah uses a journal to remember what a book was about, and to set and keep reading goals. She also finds that she can also track her taste in books.

I asked next how the readers keep track of their reading. Kenzie carries two lists. One is of books to acquire/to read. A book goes on this list when it’s recommended or when she decides to read it.  It gets crossed out when it gets added to her (physical) bookshelf.  A book goes onto the second list when she starts reading it, along with its page count. When she’s completed it, she marks it off.

Hannah makes lists of books she wants to read while she browses the library shelves, then adds them to her journal when she starts reading, with synopses, notes, and a rating system. I asked some other students about keeping track of their reading. Many of them simply try to remember what they read, except for those who are currently using their Humanities teacher’s Reading Bingo to track their reading.

I keep an occasional journal as well, noting books that inspire me in some way. Otherwise, I keep track using Goodreads and my library wishlist. If not for these tools, I would be lost.

Inspired by this conversation, I also asked my colleagues how they track their reading. They use  phone notes apps, Amazon and library wishlists, and Goodreads (many are actually on Goodreads but only a few use it, and those are mostly readers who are members of book clubs).

I asked Kenzie and Hannah how they choose their next read.  Kenzie chooses a book from a genre she’s interested in, then explores titles in that genre. A read-alike in that genre inspires her next read. Sometimes she needs a break from a certain type of book, though, like murder mysteries or books with heavier themes.

Hannah finds her next read by using eeny meeny miney mo, from 3-4 books she chooses from the shelves by turning a few pages, according to her mood, and referring to her list.

Asked how they read,  Hannah reads all in print, and Kenzie reads in print or on her phone if she’s out and about. Hannah has expressed that she is not at all an audio book lover (it is my main way to consume books these days, to be honest).

Finally I asked the girls what they’re reading now.

Favorite Genre:

Hannah: Realistic fiction and historical fiction – she feels that she learns more from them.

Kenzie: Mystery

One unforgettable book:

Kenzie: Under the Egg

Hannah: All the Light We Cannot See

A book to recommend to a parent:

Hannah: The Rhyme Schemer

Kenzie: Everything she thinks is good

Here we are with a few of our favorite books.

It was a blast to ask these questions of students I’ve watched grow from early readers through their middle grade years. It is especially rewarding to celebrate the readers we all are today.

Do you keep personal reading records? Why and how?

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Who Really Wrote Your Favorite Series?

By on February 9, 2018   /   Articles, Book Lists, MUF Contributor Books  

Many books for middle-grade readers are part of a series. Often one author writes all the books in series. Other times, several authors share a series.

Some of these series name the actual author on the cover. For example, the American Girls historical series has various authors, but each one wrote a different character. Connie Porter wrote the Addy books, and Valerie Tripp wrote the Josefina stories.

Other books series are written under one pen name. The series might have many different authors, but only one name appears on each cover. The Nancy Drew books are part of a well-known series written by multiple writers. Yet all the books have only one name on the cover—Carolyn Keene.

Another series like this is Warrior Cats. The name on the cover of each book is Erin Hunter. But that is only a pen name for several different authors, such as Vicky Holmes, Kate Cary, and Cherith Baldry.

(Whitney Sanderson)

If you’re wondering why a publisher would choose to put all the books under one pen name, it’s because they can keep a series going or put out more books by adding new authors. Even if one or more of the authors leaves, the series can continue. In addition, one name is easier for readers to remember when they buy or borrow a book. Also, when the books are shelved by authors’ last names in bookstores or libraries, it means all the books in the series will stay together.

I also worked on a series like this, called Second Chance Ranch, which is written under the pen name, Kelsey Abrams. I got to see how it worked when an author needs to come up with a storyline and characters that connect to a story by other authors. It can be a challenge sharing a series.

(Laurie J. Edwards)

It helps if you get along well with your co-author. For me, it was a nice surprise to learn the name of the author who would be sharing the series with me, Whitney Sanderson. I already knew her, so I could tell we’d work well together.

(Whitney Sanderson)

The publisher had some ideas about what they’d like to see in the series. They chose the series name and the pen name. Then they told us the books would be about a family in Dewberry, Texas, who rescued animals. The Ramirez family had a mom, dad, and two daughters, Abby (10) and Natalie (12). They also had two adopted twin daughters, Grace and Emily (9).

Whitney chose to write about the two oldest girls, and I took the twins. Once we had that information, we had to create personalities for the girls we were writing about and come up with interesting story ideas that involved rescuing animals. We also had to develop the world they lived in – their schools, house, barn, community, and pets.

Because all four sisters appear in every book, their personalities and likes/dislikes and hobbies needed to stay the same in all the books. We also needed to keep track of what animals were on the ranch. We created a shared document, called a “bible,” where we wrote down all the information about our characters and added new animals the family adopted.

(Laurie J. Edwards)

If Whitney wrote that they decorated their house in Southwestern style, I needed to be sure I didn’t change the furniture style in my book. If I wrote Emily liked to paint and Grace played soccer, Whitney made sure to use those details in her books. Because Emily and Abby dislike spicy food, but Natalie adores fiery hot dishes, we kept that consistent in all the books.

Our bible grew as we added information about the parents, the girls’ friends and classmates, their neighbors, and community events. By the time our first four books came out in January 2018, we felt like we knew each other’s characters. Now we’re busy writing four more books (two each, one about each sister) that will come out in Fall 2018. With every book we write, we note new facts, and our bible grows and grows. We learn so many new facts about our characters as we put them in new and difficult situations.

Is your favorite series written by one author or several? Here’s one way you can tell. Look on the copyright page. Often the authors real name can be found there. Sometimes it says, “Special thanks to…” That is the name of the actual author. Once in a while, you’ll find the real author’s name on the title page under the pen name. It might say, “Text by…” That’s another indication of the real writer’s name. Search for clues in your favorite series. What did you find?

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