One of the innumerable joys of parenthood is having that excuse to revisit those things that enchanted you in your distant past.
Take young adult fiction. You can’t legally read this genre as an adult without paranoia and the constant glancing over your shoulder for the literary police. I’m not sure who invented that unwritten rule that once you turn 15, your books can no longer contain sketches by E.H. Shepard or Garth Williams or plot lines that revolve around talking animals or girl detectives or robots in love, but in the infinitely wise words of elementary schoolers everywhere — they’re not my friend anymore.
Happily, once you have kids of your own, all those stodgy old rules are out the window.
You can read all the young adult fiction you want without apology, all in the name of education.
Hence my return this week to the dark planet of Camazotz — a favorite destination of mine since at least the 5th grade. Is it a young adult book? Is it a children’s book? It all depends on who you ask. I just read it again yesterday, so in the interest of saving face, I’m going with the genre that has “adult” in the title.
I owe it all to my daughter. She’s in the Marshmallow reading group, and Marshmallows are required to read “A Wrinkle in Time” this semester.
When mini-me came traipsing sadly home with the news, delivering it forlornly because, alas, it wasn’t one of Renee Russell’s Dork Diaries book, (More great reads!) I had to lock myself in the bathroom to do my happy dance because I’m the mom, and sometimes dignity is required. I did tell her not to worry about remembering to bring the book home because I still have my dog-eared copy around here someplace. It sits on the shelf next to the “Little House” series, Catherine Marshall’s “Christie,” Bronte’s “Jane Eyre,” and every Trixie Belden book ever lovingly crafted.
“The Monster at the End of This Book” and “Harry the Dirty Dog” are there too because some things are just not negotiable, literary police be damned.
And for anyone interested, a graphic novel that features the epic adventures of Meg, Calvin, Charles Wallace and their captivating journey to Camazotz was released in 2012. See A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel
There’s also a Disney movie in the works for this neglected title. Read more about it here.
Happy flashback!
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