Today was the first day of school; meetings, meetings, meetings. Seems as though education is shifting toward a therapeutic approach. By that I mean, students are assessed for strengths and weaknesses and if it is diagnosed that there is a delay, a prescriptive approach is used to teach the needed skills. This is essentially what I've been doing in speech therapy for the past twenty years. The result is... I will probably be immune to the philosophical shifts taking place. OK by me.
My room is adjacent to the library. When I perused the stacks of new books I saw the latest incarnation of every girl's favorite detective Nancy Drew. Newly-appointed supreme court justice Sandra Sotomayor was greatly influenced by Nancy Drew as a girl. So were Ruth Ginzberg, Sandra Day O'Connor and Oprah. Anyhoo... Nancy Drew in 2009 is presented as the main character in a graphic novel (aka a comic book style format). Not only that, but the visual rendering of Nancy is greatly influenced by Japanese anime. The image above is today's Nancy Drew. I really don't know what to think.
It makes me feel old and cranky to say it, but I do not like graphic novels. (I didn't like comic books much as a kid, either, so maybe it's taste and not age.) Loved Nancy Drew, do not like the graphic version of her. At all.
Posted by: barbara | September 02, 2009 at 12:08 PM
Hmmmmm.... not the vision of Nancy that was in my head when I read the books many years ago. Nancy was sposed to be a smart,level headed everyday girl that we all could relate to!!! That character isn't Nancy to me. She looks evil.
Posted by: samm | September 02, 2009 at 01:05 PM
I could not but help notice that you placed Oprah in the same company as Sotomayor, Ginsberg and O'Connor. Sort of like Earl Warren, John Marshall, Thurgood Marshall and Dr. Phil?
Posted by: Joe | September 03, 2009 at 11:24 AM
Hmmm, Nancy looks a little "hotter" than I had remembered her. More akin to Barbie. I love graphic novels but would have appreciated her not being dolled up a la anime. The portrayals of women in Manga are often not up to my feminist standards. (With quite a few notable exceptions, of course.) And while I do understand the fascination with all things Japanese, it would have been pretty cool if the editors honored her "All American" kind of background.
Eww.. that sounded lamely Nationalistic, really. I am surprised at myself.
Posted by: bitterbetty | September 04, 2009 at 10:44 AM
Not sure about the renderings of Nancy... but we can always hope that when kids read it they want to read more and maybe get into the classic Nancy Drew books (or heck, books of any type).
What grade levels does the library service?
Posted by: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=500251767 | October 05, 2009 at 10:43 AM