加载中…适合8岁以上孩子读，1971年纽伯瑞金奖小说《夏日天鹅》（The Summer of the Swans
(2013-04-27 07:19:37)
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分类： 纽伯瑞金奖银奖小说 |
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/97/Sswans_s-1-.jpgSummer of the Swans" TITLE="适合8岁以上孩子读，1971年纽伯瑞金奖小说《夏日天鹅》（The Summer of the Swans" />
《夏日天鹅》讲述了一对姐弟的故事。
可能是进入青春期的原因，14岁的姐姐Sara在今夏一下子对很多事情都看不顺眼。她抱怨自己的脚大，抱怨自己的胳膊太瘦，鼻子是歪的，没有姐姐Wanda漂亮，衣服也不漂亮，抱怨弟弟Charlie智力发展慢......
这些对生活的消极情绪和不满，直到弟弟在一个夜晚失踪而完全改变了。全社区的人都帮忙寻找弟弟，广播也随时广播寻找弟弟消息，弟弟在那天就像美国总统一样，成为全社区的焦点。在寻找弟弟的过程中，她以前认为是小偷并恨之入骨的Joe的帮了大忙，并一起找到了弟弟。
最后Sara发自肺腑的说：
"He is not my enemy, Wanda. He is one of
the nicest people I met."
"A person
can occasionally be mistaken."
题外话， Betsy
Byars的这本书语言使用非常贴近日常生活，可以作为小学生初中生模仿写作的范本。
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下面是国外读者写的三篇读后感
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Thursday, March 20, 2008
Summer of the Swans
The Summer of the
Swans by Betsy Byars
Sara is not enjoying her summer. She feels like she is on the other end of a teeter-totter, with a companion determined to jerk her here and there. Her family is difficult and she can’t seem to get along with them, especially her troubled brother, Charlie. It is only when Charlie gets lost while searching for the beautiful swans on the lake that Sara learns what is really important and how to deal with problems.
The conversations in this book felt tied to their time period and, at first, I didn’t think I was going to like the book. But the search for Charlie completely changed my feelings about the book. The author could have easily turned the book into a movie-of-the-week, but she stayed away from that. Instead, she used the situation to help all her characters grow.
Sara is not enjoying her summer. She feels like she is on the other end of a teeter-totter, with a companion determined to jerk her here and there. Her family is difficult and she can’t seem to get along with them, especially her troubled brother, Charlie. It is only when Charlie gets lost while searching for the beautiful swans on the lake that Sara learns what is really important and how to deal with problems.
The conversations in this book felt tied to their time period and, at first, I didn’t think I was going to like the book. But the search for Charlie completely changed my feelings about the book. The author could have easily turned the book into a movie-of-the-week, but she stayed away from that. Instead, she used the situation to help all her characters grow.
Labels:
The Summer of the Swans
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Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Summer of the Swans (and Early 70's TV)
https://xingdaili.com/browse.php?u=Vz6lhx2Fh9qrFl2rFF1zv+RDvAk2Ys8Gvm9qgIlPZ2eck6Js5zK67gSnKon3q8EYhly14FMmUrjikD/vLeotQqWe+kqilOkirq9UdsKjUcqxObc=&b=6Summer of the Swans" />I don't know why I never heard of this book as a child -
I grew up in the 70's, and this won the Newbery Award in 1971. I
think it would have been very good for me to read this story then.
One of the only children with a mental disability that I ever
encountered in grade school was a kid with Down Syndrome, who swam
in a lake near my hometown that I frequented every summer. Sadly,
my friends and I avoided Eric as much as possible. Would reading this kind of book have made a difference?
It couldn't have hurt.
I didn't start out liking Summer much. Sara, the 14 year old narrator, got on my nerves with her constant complaints about the summer, bickering with her older sister, and getting annoyed with 10 year old brother Charlie, who is non-verbal and likes routines, his wrist watch, and the swans that visit the town's lake.
But the story really grew on me. Sara reminded me a lot of Meg Murry in A Wrinkle in Time (are 13 or 14 year old girls anywhere at any time ever happy with their appearance, their friends, and their families? I know I wasn't). I thought the description from Charlie's point of view was well-done and not at all condescending, which is what I expected after reading the cover blurb.
I couldn't help mentally comparing The Summer of the Swans to Rules, by Cynthia Lord (one of this year's Newbery Honors books, which is about a big sister with an younger brother who is autistic, an amazing book), and expecting Summer to fall far short. In the end, I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't.
The TV references made me feel old, though. I don't think kids (or most adults under 40) reading The Summer of the Swans are going to feel the same stab of recognition that I did when Byars mentions the theme song from Green Acres, or the afternoon line-up of the The Newlyweds and The Dating Game. Or "that coyote in 'Road Runner' who is always getting flattened and dynamited and crushed and in the next scene is strolling along, completely normal again" (p. 95). Unless they've seen a lot of Nick at Nite or TVLand or something like that.
Unfortunately, this passage could have been written about the playground at my son's school:
I didn't start out liking Summer much. Sara, the 14 year old narrator, got on my nerves with her constant complaints about the summer, bickering with her older sister, and getting annoyed with 10 year old brother Charlie, who is non-verbal and likes routines, his wrist watch, and the swans that visit the town's lake.
But the story really grew on me. Sara reminded me a lot of Meg Murry in A Wrinkle in Time (are 13 or 14 year old girls anywhere at any time ever happy with their appearance, their friends, and their families? I know I wasn't). I thought the description from Charlie's point of view was well-done and not at all condescending, which is what I expected after reading the cover blurb.
I couldn't help mentally comparing The Summer of the Swans to Rules, by Cynthia Lord (one of this year's Newbery Honors books, which is about a big sister with an younger brother who is autistic, an amazing book), and expecting Summer to fall far short. In the end, I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't.
The TV references made me feel old, though. I don't think kids (or most adults under 40) reading The Summer of the Swans are going to feel the same stab of recognition that I did when Byars mentions the theme song from Green Acres, or the afternoon line-up of the The Newlyweds and The Dating Game. Or "that coyote in 'Road Runner' who is always getting flattened and dynamited and crushed and in the next scene is strolling along, completely normal again" (p. 95). Unless they've seen a lot of Nick at Nite or TVLand or something like that.
Unfortunately, this passage could have been written about the playground at my son's school:
"Well, do you know what that nice little Gretchen Wyant did? I was standing in the bushes by the spigot, turning off the hose, and this nice little Gretchen Wyant didn't see me - all she saw was Charlie at the fence - and she said, 'How's the retard today?' only she made it sound even uglier, 'How's the reeeeetard,' like that. Nothing ever made me so mad. The best sight of my whole life was nice little Gretchen Wyant standing there in her wet Taiwan silk dress with her mouth hanging open." (p. 69)Well, there isn't a hose and you won't see any girls wearing silk dresses on the playground here. But it's pretty sad that reeeeetard is still one of the most popular insults I hear among 3rd and 4th graders (and worse, more common among many adults) almost forty years after The Summer of the Swans.
Labels:
Sandy D.'s Posts,
The Summer of the Swans
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Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Summer of the Swans
Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byars won
the Newbery Medal in 1971. I was able tell by some of the language
and clothing that it was set in the 70s. There are also some
drawings on the inside that dated it a little. However, I believe
that this is a timeless story. We see a 14 year-old girl, Sara,
caught up in the "misery" of her own life. Her feet are too big,
her arms to thin, and her nose is too crooked. All of these things
are brought into perspective when her 10 year-old mentally
handicapped brother, Charlie, goes missing. This is the story of
the day her worldview changed.
Swans is a quick and easy read. It probably took me a little over 2 hours. Faster readers could do it quicker! This story had exactly what I felt was missing when I read "Jacob Have I Loved". Both main characters really looked at the negative things in life, and both are named Sara! Sarah in Jacob Have I Loved found a way out of her circumstances but never really saw how negative she had been. It was all justifiable to her but it never was to me as a reader! Sara in Summer of the Swans really comes around and sees what is truly important in life.
None of the characters in the book are flat. Byars does an excellent job of telling the back story of Charlie, the mentally handicapped brother. I also really liked Aunt Willie, who has been taking care of them since their mother died. Her older sister Wanda is in the story for a shorter time, but I think that is what allows Sara to really respond to her brother's disappearance.
I realize I have not yet mentioned the swans! The title of the book comes from the excitement that is caused when 5 swans show up in a lake in Sara's small town.
In the final pages of the book we hear about this mental picture that she has of each of her family members on a set of stairs representing their different stages of life. I think that this represents a moment of growth for Sara and that it was a great conclusion to the story.
I couldn't help but think that this story would be very different if it was written today. Unfortunately, I don't think children would be nearly as excited to go see swans for entertainment. I also realized how corrupt my own mind was when I thought to myself that if Charlie had gone missing today that there are far more dangers that he could have encountered. But this was a simpler time, and I think that is one of the main reasons I enjoyed it so much.
Two thumps up! http://www/uc/myshow/blog/misc/gif/E___6743EN00SIGG.gifSummerof the Swans" TITLE="适合8岁以上孩子读，1971年纽伯瑞金奖小说《夏日天鹅》（The Summer of the Swans" />
http://www/uc/myshow/blog/misc/gif/E___6743EN00SIGG.gifSummer of the Swans" TITLE="适合8岁以上孩子读，1971年纽伯瑞金奖小说《夏日天鹅》（The Summer of the Swans" />
Swans is a quick and easy read. It probably took me a little over 2 hours. Faster readers could do it quicker! This story had exactly what I felt was missing when I read "Jacob Have I Loved". Both main characters really looked at the negative things in life, and both are named Sara! Sarah in Jacob Have I Loved found a way out of her circumstances but never really saw how negative she had been. It was all justifiable to her but it never was to me as a reader! Sara in Summer of the Swans really comes around and sees what is truly important in life.
None of the characters in the book are flat. Byars does an excellent job of telling the back story of Charlie, the mentally handicapped brother. I also really liked Aunt Willie, who has been taking care of them since their mother died. Her older sister Wanda is in the story for a shorter time, but I think that is what allows Sara to really respond to her brother's disappearance.
I realize I have not yet mentioned the swans! The title of the book comes from the excitement that is caused when 5 swans show up in a lake in Sara's small town.
In the final pages of the book we hear about this mental picture that she has of each of her family members on a set of stairs representing their different stages of life. I think that this represents a moment of growth for Sara and that it was a great conclusion to the story.
I couldn't help but think that this story would be very different if it was written today. Unfortunately, I don't think children would be nearly as excited to go see swans for entertainment. I also realized how corrupt my own mind was when I thought to myself that if Charlie had gone missing today that there are far more dangers that he could have encountered. But this was a simpler time, and I think that is one of the main reasons I enjoyed it so much.
Two thumps up! http://www/uc/myshow/blog/misc/gif/E___6743EN00SIGG.gifSummer
Labels:
The Summer of the Swans
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