Opinions and Opossums
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- ¥1,100
発行者による作品情報
A School Library Journal Best Book
Agnes has been raised to keep her opinions to herself, but how do you keep silent when you’re full of burning questions?
Agnes has been encouraged not to question authority by her mom—but that’s especially hard in religion class, where it bugs her that so much gets blamed on Eve and that God’s always pictured one way. Fortunately, Agnes’ anthropologist neighbor, Gracy, gets Agnes thinking after they rescue an opossum together. Playing dead didn’t serve the opossum well, so maybe it’s time for Agnes to start thinking for herself. And when Agnes learns that some cultures picture God as a female, she feels freed to think—and write—about things from new perspectives. As she and her best friend, Mo, encourage each other to get out of their comfort zone at school as the quiet kids, they quickly find it’s sorta cool seeing people react when they learn you are very much full of thought-provoking opinions. Ann Braden has written a fast-paced, funny novel that will resonate with anyone who’s ever been afraid to say what they think or question the status quo.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
When older neighbor Gracy nearly hits an opossum with a pouch full of young at the start of this slim, feminist-leaning novel by Braden (Flight of the Puffin), 12-year-old Agnes learns that a play-dead instinct "isn't great if your predator is a line of traffic ready to run you over." Expected by her widowed mother to attend confirmation classes and sign a pledge that she believes in God, Agnes identifies with the opossum's inability to stand up for herself. Is her worry about "opopinions," or "Other People's Opinions," undermining her faith in herself? Questions about finding and speaking her own truth begin consuming Agnes, who understands that her mother usually yields to those in traditional positions of power. Inspiration and guidance come via a Beyoncé documentary featuring Maya Angelou ("Tell the truth. To yourself first"), and from Gracy's teachings about archeology, anthropology, history, and poetry, as Agnes works to understand women's underreported, vital roles throughout history, and the importance of perspective in accounts of the past. Underdeveloped characters and message-heavy prose undercut this empowering novel's solidly constructed arc, which is told via a first-person voice and quirky "The Opinion of an Opossum" interstitials. Protagonists present as white. Ages 10–up.
