Friday, December 2, 2016

Beginning ~ with his hair and eyes

Seeing Past Z: Nurturing the Imagination in a Fast-Forward World ~ by Beth Kephart, 2004, memoir
This is what he looks like:  dark lustrous hair and big curious eyes, cinnamon or chocolate eyes, eyes like phosphorescence.
That's the first sentence of the first paragraph, but I much prefer the first sentence of the second paragraph.
The night he was conceived, it rained.
That sentence made me smile.  I have liked Beth Kephart's writing for years.  Although I got this book from the library once before, I had to return it before I got around to reading it.  Here's what it's about:
Kids today seem to be under more competitive pressure than ever, while studies show that reading, writing, and the arts in schools are suffering.  Is there any place for imagination in kids' lives anymore?  In a dog-eat-dog world, why dream things that aren't there?  Through personal stories, Beth Kephart resoundingly affirms the imagination as the heart of our ability to empathize with others, to appreciate the world, and to envision possibilities for the future.  The star of her story is once again her son, Jeremy (as in her National Book Award-nominated A Slant of Sun), now fourteen years old ― a child who at first resists storytelling, preferring more objective and orderly pursuits, but later leads a neighborhood book club/writing group and aspires to follow Steven Spielberg into moviemaking.


Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Fridays.  Click here for today's Mister Linky.

3 comments:

Sandra Nachlinger said...

I don't read many memoirs, but this sounds like a good one. I encourage my granddaughter to create and always have crayons, paper, glue, scissors, and bits and pieces of lace and ribbon available whenever she spends the day at our house. We have a large collection of books, too. Fun for both of us! By the way, I prefer the first sentence of the second paragraph too!
My Friday post features THE LAST ANNIVERSARY.

Kathy Martin said...

This sounds interesting. I've never read anything by the author. I am reading Enemy Games by Marcella Burnard from my TBR mountain this week. Happy reading!

Helen's Book Blog said...

I haven't read anything by her before, I don't think. But I like the idea of thinking about imagination. There is so much pressure on kids/teens today that I do worry that they don't have time to relax, enjoy nature, and just have fun