We had a small group last nite -- ony six people, but as usual, we
had a great discussions. It doesn't matter if our group is small or large...we
still have fun!!
We all agreed that Alice Schertle is a gifted poetic genius, and
that the text of Very Hairy Bear was wonderful and practically
flawless. We had quite a discussion regarding the illustrations, however, and a
few of us felt that they just didn't meet the high quality of the text. As for
the novel, only four people had read it, and they all agreed that it was an
adult book rather than a YA, but that high school kids could learn a lot about
WWII and the Japanese-American Internment and other issues that were prevalent
at that time. All pretty much agreed that there were some contrived situations
and scenes, but when asked if those of us who had not read it should do so, they
said 'yes.'
