Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Things Are Tough on Saturn, Too

Kids have such imaginations... today I read a story by one of my students which took place on the rings of Saturn. The main character's father lost his job, and even though her mother was still working, her income wasn't enough to pay all the bills, and the family was afraid they would lose their home. So the parents sat the kids down and told them that they were going to have to move. How about Earth? the kids asked. They had been there on vacation and thought it was nice. No, that planet's too expensive, their folks said. They were going to have to move to the planet Juvy, way out of the solar system. That was the only place they could afford. The kids were understandably upset about losing their home, their school, and their friends. The main character went for a walk on the beach to think things through, and only then did she realize how beautiful this place was and how much she would miss it. As she was walking, she found a bottle that happened to contain a genie, but since she damaged the bottle trying to get it open, she only got a single wish. She thought long and hard about all she wanted, but in the end, she wished for both her parents to have jobs they liked where ever they moved, and she knew that they would be happy as long as they were together.

It was a pretty heart-wrenching tale, and considering the author is eleven, you have to wonder where she gets her material.

6 comments:

  1. Isn't is always interesting to see the work of our younger authors and wonder how or where they generate their ideas. Makes you think about what is going on with their home life or what TV shows they are watching. Thanks for sharing this tale!

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  2. Sounds like a future Hugo award winner to me!

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  3. I'm happy to know there's a good beach on Saturn.

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  4. This is an author who knows about the important things in life.

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  5. The selflessness that is reflected in this story continues to grow my faith in adolescents everywhere. I'm glad this student had the opportunity to share this story with you!

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  6. Wow. This is heartbreaking. I know that a lot of things get filtered from the older generation to the younger, but this astute child seems to have picked up on the most difficult parts of the recession. You don't say, but I'm guessing she's experiencing it, or has extrapolated the details of the situation from the news or friends.

    I've been listening to the news shows a lot lately while I've been working in my study, and the stats on the disruption for the current generation are staggering in many ways. I hope we can recover somehow.

    Elizabeth

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