美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Ghosts' Takes On A Tough Topic For Children

'Ghosts' Takes On A Tough Topic For Children 

play pause stop mute unmute max volume 00:0000:00repeat repeat off Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser¹ to a recent version or update your Flash plugin. RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: 

All of us here at WEEKEND EDITION read a lot of books. There is one person on our staff, though, who reads way more books than anyone else. She is mildly obsessed² with all things literary. And she's here to talk about one book in particular that has caught her eye, which is a big deal because seriously, she has about a hundred books on her desk right now.

Her name is Barrie Hardymon. She is our books editor. She is in the studio with me now.

Hi, Barrie.

BARRIE HARDYMON, BYLINE³: Hi. Yes, I crawled out from underneath⁴ my pile of books to join you.

MARTIN: I'm glad you made it safely. You have brought in a graphic⁵ novel. What you got?

HARDYMON: It's called "Ghosts." It's by Raina Telgemeier, and I just love it. It's for about 8-year-olds to 12-years-old so that sort of middle-school age. It's about two sisters, Cat and Maya. Cat is the older sister, and Maya is the younger sister. And they have to move to northern California for Maya's health - she has cystic fibrosis. And they moved to this town called Bahia de la Luna. And there, they encounter ghosts. Partly they encounter it in the form of the Dia de los Muertos, which is the Day of the Dead...

MARTIN: Yeah.

HARDYMON: ...This Mexican-American celebration where people commune with ghosts and commune with the dead. And partly they are communing with death in their own way because they know that Maya is unlikely to get better. Both sisters cope with the idea of loss in different ways. I sat down with Raina Telgemeier, and this is how she described their relationship to loss to me.

RAINA TELGEMEIER: I think Cat has more in common with me. She's got the anxiety. She's got the fear. And she would rather avoid this uncomfortable topic than face it head on. But Maya, who, of course, is dealing⁶ with this in her own being, she wants to understand. She wants to get closer to it so that she doesn't have to be afraid. And then she ends up kind of dragging Cat along for that ride.

And, you know, Maya's just this unputdownable spirit. She's just lively, and she's got all the life in her. And I love her character so much. And she's not based on one specific person, but she's based on a lot of kids that I've met. And I had a cousin who passed away when she was 13 of cancer a few years ago, and she was the same kind of kid. And I think the character of Maya certainly takes a few cues from this person.

HARDYMON: So this is a book for young people - kids - but about serious stuff.

TELGEMEIER: Yeah. But when you see this book, you will see how much exuberance⁷ and how much life comes off the pages, which is one of the things about a graphic novel.

MARTIN: So tell me more about that because this is a graphic novel. This sounds like a compelling story in and of itself that would be worthwhile for young people to pick up.

HARDYMON: Yes.

MARTIN: What do the pictures do in a story like this?

HARDYMON: Here's the thing. When you get to a more complicated subject - when you are actually looking at the pictures of Maya, who has a breathing tube, who is exhibiting a difference - when children can see how middle schoolers are acting⁸ toward each other, they can see the expressions of hurt or of shame, I think that's really important, particularly in a story like this, which is about empathy. I actually asked Raina about this. And she told me that it was her experience with a really, really difficult thing when she was a middle schooler that helped her shape this story.

TELGEMEIER: I was 11 years old, and I was just racing⁹ some friends home one evening. And I tripped and fell and knocked out my two front permanent teeth and then had to get them put back in and then taken back out. And I had braces¹⁰, and I had surgeries and headgear. I had false teeth for a little while. And middle school's not an easy time for anybody. And I was already sort of a shy kid and self-conscious. But it just made me want to retreat forever, but I didn't have that option. And I think it definitely gave me a lot more empathy for people that are going through experiences where they feel different.

HARDYMON: Telgemeier actually wrote this wonderful memoir¹¹. It's called "Smile." It's also a comic about her experience going through this, and it's - this is one I really would recommend for adults and children alike.

MARTIN: All right, I want to get back to the ghosts...

HARDYMON: Yes.

MARTIN: ...Because this is a book about young people grappling with the idea of loss. And they're in this place where the spirit world is very present. It's a graphic novel, so I need to know what the ghosts look like.

HARDYMON: Right. They're not scary.

MARTIN: They're like the Casper?

HARDYMON: No. But they're also - not that Caspar is not a good-looking ghost - but they're artistic¹². They're beautiful. They kind of - they're friendly and approachable in this way of looking kind of like balloon animals. But as the children - as Cat and Maya get to know them better, you can see their skeletons come through.

But I asked her about how she came up with that imagery going from the sort of the balloon to the skeleton.

TELGEMEIER: I've always had a fondness for skeletons. And it probably goes back to the old Disney cartoon, "The Skeleton Dance," the old Silly Symphonies from the 1930s where they're dancing and there's, like, a cute song that plays. And there's nothing scary about that. And I've - you know, I think most people probably have some sort of fear of death, including myself. And so the idea of making it not but something jovial¹³ has always appealed to me.

HARDYMON: And that whole idea of being approachable and lovely, it really suffuses¹⁴ the book. And it's a way to open up a conversation that could be hard about death and loss with even really young kids.

MARTIN: Well, I am so glad you came in to tell me about this book, and I hope you do it again. I hear you're going to, right?

HARDYMON: I am.

MARTIN: Barrie Hardymon, she's our books editor.

Thanks so much, Barrie. We'll see you next time.

HARDYMON: Thank you.

1 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

2 obsessed   

adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的

参考例句：

• He's obsessed by computers. 他迷上了电脑。
• The fear of death obsessed him throughout his old life. 他晚年一直受着死亡恐惧的困扰。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

5 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

6 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

7 exuberance   

n.丰富；繁荣

参考例句：

• Her burst of exuberance and her brightness overwhelmed me.她勃发的热情和阳光的性格征服了我。
• The sheer exuberance of the sculpture was exhilarating.那尊雕塑表现出的勃勃生机让人振奋。

8 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

9 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

10 braces   

n.吊带，背带；托架( brace的名词复数 )；箍子；括弧；（儿童）牙箍v.支住( brace的第三人称单数 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来

参考例句：

• The table is shaky because the braces are loose. 这张桌子摇摇晃晃，因为支架全松了。
• You don't need braces if you're wearing a belt! 要系腰带，就用不着吊带了。

11 memoir   

n.[pl.]回忆录，自传；记事录

参考例句：

• He has just published a memoir in honour of his captain.他刚刚出了一本传记来纪念他的队长。
• In her memoir,the actress wrote about the bittersweet memories of her first love.在那个女演员的自传中，她写到了自己苦乐掺半的初恋。

12 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

13 jovial   

adj.快乐的，好交际的

参考例句：

• He seemed jovial,but his eyes avoided ours.他显得很高兴，但他的眼光却避开了我们的眼光。
• Grandma was plump and jovial.祖母身材圆胖，整天乐呵呵的。

14 suffuses   

v.（指颜色、水气等）弥漫于，布满( suffuse的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• A rosy glow that suffuses snow-covered mountain peaks at a clear day. 她困恼的最顶点出现在一个覆盖著冰雪的纽西兰山上一时的无力感。 来自互联网