If you read the one- and two-star reviews on Amazon, the litany of adult voices rise in a chorus of indignation: she’s too immature and she pronounces words incorrectly! She’s a brat! She headbutts other kids! And backtalks adults! She’s thoughtless, disrespectful, and negative! She’s offensive and her sense of humor isn’t funny! She’s inappropriate and vulgar! They denounce Junie B.’s use of the words “dumb” and “stupid.” They gripe about her sassiness and disrespectful behavior towards adults. They think she is too offensive for their children. Jones, who has a proclivity for violence and rude language. ![]() She should not have to work harder and drive herself into obscurity to fulfill the needs of a world that believes her worthiness and value is tied to the “ cultural excellence” (Elena Ferrante, Vanity Fair) of men.Īdults often bemoan the exploits of Junie B. A woman’s value should not be determined by extraordinary abilities and accomplishments. Women can be loud and messy and dumb and rude and thoughtless. I never saw such capacity, and taste, and application, and elegance, as you describe, united.” Like Elizabeth Bennet says when faced with the virtues of an “accomplished woman”: “I never saw such a woman. She wasn’t very smart or witty or cute, and her ordinariness and her penchant for trouble excluded (or shielded) her from the category of exceptionalism that women and girls in literature (and life) are so often expected to epitomize. In Jia Tolentino’s marvelous new book Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self- Delusion she writes that “If you were a girl, and you were imagining your life through literature, you would go from innocence in childhood to sadness in adolescence to bitterness in adulthood-at which point, if you hadn’t killed yourself already, you would simply disappear.” But imagining myself through the life of Junie B. Her behavior, her attitude, felt authentic and funny. seemed extraordinary to me she could yell and talk back and fight without facing serious consequences. was learning to fix toilets and spying on teachers and hiding under her principal’s desk, I was wearing a uniform and praying with a rosary and learning to be a “good Catholic.” Junie B. Jones is a Millennial, and if the math is right-she was six in 1992, and I was also six in 1992-Junie B. ![]() I was six when it was released, but it took a few years for the popularity of Barbara Park’s heroine to reach my very book- strict ( Captain Underpants Are You There God, It’s Me, Margaret and Harry Potter were all banned) Catholic school, so I didn’t actually read the books until I was older. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus was published in 1992. Jones is a chapter book series by Barbara Park about a kindergartener who is quick with a wisecrack, uses bad language, and has a propensity for trouble.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |