I am in a quandary. I let a particular editor read my manuscript. From her professional vantage point she thought WALKING THE DOG was comical and completely relatable. However, she did not see it as a contender with books like JUNIE B. JONES and CLEMENTINE. Now, I love Junie B. and Clementine. They are a hoot! However, my book was not written to be a contender with these texts. WALKING THE DOG revolves around Fitzhugh Edmund "Big Main" Davis. He is a fat fourth grader full of tenacity and grit. He is smart but doesn't want to be perceived as anyone's "Big-Butt-Brainiac!" I wrote this book to inspire reading and academic excellence among inner-city youth who are often taunted because of their genius. The October 2008 issue of NEA TODAY reports that kids like Big Main don't raise their hands in class. They don't answer questions or they pretend to be dumb because peers often tease them and accuse them of "acting white." As a writer I decided to attack this illness with my creativity. It shouldn't hurt to be smart. Such a self-defeating psychology should not exist. How did it even get to be this way? It doesn't really matter now. I AM the antidote!
2 comments:
I can relate to that character. I grew up in an economically diverse neighborhood where some folk had two parents who worked and stressed learning, and other kids had two parents (or one) who simply fed their offspring and left it at that.
I was outcast for making good grades and reading and for having parents who would whup my butt if I failed! They said I could read an encyclopedia, but couldn't fix a bike. (Never knowing I was just conning them into doing something I didn't feel like doing)
I'm interested to see how things go...
Don't be discouraged, A.E. Your book is very important. Your concept is different and so the editor that read it must not be thinking outside the box. You WILL find the right editor...just keep on walking that dog.
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