treestarfae Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 Where are the books without the drama and orphaned kids? I mean modern current stories. Is it too much to ask in this day and age? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virg Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 I doubt they exist. Two reasons: EVERY family has some kind of uniqueness or "dysfunction" and you need some kind of drama for plots. There has to be a reason for writing the book and showing someone overcoming or figuring out a solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 It's not dysfunction, it's CONFLICT. Conflict is what propels the plot forward. You can't have a plot about nothing. Though there was Seinfeld... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocelotmom Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 (edited) Pretty much any Madeleine L'Engle book, if those count as modern, which they probably don't, though I don't think they're old enough to jump out as hugely old-fashioned. I'm not up on modern-modern kid lit so I can't make much in the way of more recent suggestions :). Edited April 30, 2011 by ocelotmom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treestarfae Posted April 30, 2011 Author Share Posted April 30, 2011 I found this website http://www.childrens-books-without-adult-themes.com/Default.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 It's not dysfunction, it's CONFLICT. Conflict is what propels the plot forward. You can't have a plot about nothing. Though there was Seinfeld... true Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treestarfae Posted April 30, 2011 Author Share Posted April 30, 2011 You can find conflict without dead parents and whiny dramatic people. I'm looking for a plot with an intact family not a thesaurus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 (edited) Every Dickens book ever written? ;) Or maybe The Little Princess ? The Secret Garden? ;) :D I'm just sayin' it's not a modern issue, the plot/conflict thang. Would you consider Swallows and Amazons 'modern', because they are a happy family. The Railway Children ends happily with two parents alive and vindicated. Whether that's modern or not is an issue. :) ETA: I just thought of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. 1964. :) Happy family getting into trouble. What about the Ramona books? Does Ramona whine? My girls didn't get into those, so I don't know. Edited April 30, 2011 by LibraryLover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treestarfae Posted April 30, 2011 Author Share Posted April 30, 2011 I find it hard to find contemporary work that isn't guised as self help for broken families. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 (edited) How old is the child? If on the younger side, there are many Cynthia Rylant books you might enjoy. Her Cobblestone Cousins series is sweet as can be. Rylant is also the author of the Henry and Mudge books. These are delightful, but are for young readers beginning chapter books. http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=170819 Tomie dePoala wrote The 26 Fairmont Avenue books about growing up in a loving extended family. These are very sweet, as is his Upstairs Nana, Downstairs Nana, although that is more of a picture book. http://www.amazon.com/26-Fairmount-Avenue-Tomie-dePaola/dp/039923246X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1304184658&sr=1-1 Edited May 1, 2011 by LibraryLover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 The Secret Garden has a dysfunctional family and The Little Princess has a single father with a daughter in a boarding school...so nope, those would not fit the criteria. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 (edited) The Secret Garden has a dysfunctional family and The Little Princess has a single father with a daughter in a boarding school...so nope, those would not fit the criteria. Did I not have enough :D;);)? Because I can add more. :) The SG also has an orphan, as well as a dead mother. It was her Secret Garden. :) Edited April 30, 2011 by LibraryLover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 (edited) Boxcar Children Bunnicula The Borrowers (might not fit the good children criteria...Arriety is rather naughty) The Indian in the Cupboard Encyclopedia Brown The Incredible Journey The Barn (great boy character, loving family, eta-although now I can't remember if there is a mother) What's the age of the child? That would help my brain search... Edited April 30, 2011 by LibraryLover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 Did I not have enough :D;);)? Because I can add more. :) The SG also has an orphan, as well as a dead mother. It was her Secret Garden. :) Ah, sorry, I didn't catch that *blush* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treestarfae Posted April 30, 2011 Author Share Posted April 30, 2011 Lol! I love The Cobblestone Cousins. Thank you! Our age range is tween/teen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 Bridge to Terabithia! Both families are intact and "normal" :) One is a working class family and the other is a very literary family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Cornelia Snook Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 The Penderwicks are wonderful. Of course, the mother is dead, but the family is so--functional! Love those books, and I heard that another will be released in May! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsBasil Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 Well, maybe the Saturday series by Elizabeth Enright? I loved those as a kid. It's WW2 era. The mother is dead and the kids get into trouble, but it's not broody or dark. Then There Were Five does deal with a person living with an abusive cousin though. It's not the sort of book that lingers on the emotions or thoughts of anyone though....hard to explain, but I would be OK with a young child reading them. Of course, you don't know me so you should probably pre read! ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasharowan Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 Bobbsey Twins and Hardy Boys had loving families, but I'm not sure they count as modern. Also Happy Hollisters, Trixie Belden, and the Swallows and Amazons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuntPol Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 Bridge to Terabithia! Both families are intact and "normal" :) One is a working class family and the other is a very literary family. Doesn't the girl die though? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Rat Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 The Septimus Heap series has a nice family, but it's magic so I don't know. I don't want to start another HP thread. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 All of a Kind Family--loving, intact Jewish family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrixieB Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 Bobbsey Twins and Hardy Boys had loving families, but I'm not sure they count as modern.Also Happy Hollisters, Trixie Belden, and the Swallows and Amazons. Definitely Trixie Belden! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 Doesn't the girl die though? *sigh* I didn't realise that absolutely nothing negative could happen. Sorry, I don't know of a single book (even All of a Kind Family, I believe) where someone doesn't get into SOME kind of fix or is affected by the natural events of life around them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeacherZee Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 Number the Stars by Lois Lowry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 *sigh* I didn't realise that absolutely nothing negative could happen. Sorry, I don't know of a single book (even All of a Kind Family, I believe) where someone doesn't get into SOME kind of fix or is affected by the natural events of life around them.The Moffats series is the closest quality series I can think of in which the kids don't get into horrible scrapes, but the father is dead and I'm guessing this is enough to disqualify it? Even then, I'm not sure it would qualify as modern. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 (edited) Oh wait.... The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs. The mother is dead (four or five years past), but it's such a wonderful book. ETA: And Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, if fantasy is OK. Maybe not. The heroine leaves home on a quest, but it's a quest for her family and in many ways to understand the meaning of family. Edited May 1, 2011 by nmoira changed link from Kindle edition Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 (edited) Oh wait.... The Seven Wonders of Sassafrass Springs. The mother is dead (four or five years past), but it's such a wonderful book. ETA: And Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, if fantasy is OK. Maybe not. The heroine leaves home on a quest, but it's a quest for her family and in many ways to understand the meaning of family. Ah shoot, still SOME kind of dysfunction, life circumstance, or imperfection (said with a little bit of humour). (this entire thread is reminding me of a sectarian group I'm familiar with where the biggest issues in the books for kids were "waiting patiently for pie", or the dreadful sin of "I wish I had RED slippers, but RED is a bad colour and it's sinful to desire a sinful colour", or praying for the military neighbours, because you know that military people are going to h3ll, so we have to pray that they become "real Christians". Ugh...(yes, this could turn into a rant, so I'll leave it at that). Edited May 1, 2011 by mommaduck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 Ah shoot, still SOME kind of dysfunction, life circumstance, or imperfection (said with a little bit of humour). :001_smile: Even Raggedy Ann sneaks into the larder and gets into the jam, IIRC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treestarfae Posted May 1, 2011 Author Share Posted May 1, 2011 To me it's getting redundant to see dead parents/kids and divorce in contemporary stories. I'd like to see something refreshing, like strong families in stories. It means a strong family facing outside conflict. I don't mean to rack anyone's brain over it. Surely there must be relative literature. If I come across anything I'll post it. Thanks for the answers everybody! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 (edited) Lol! I love The Cobblestone Cousins. Thank you! Our age range is tween/teen. My tween really enjoyed Artemis Fowl, so I might not be able to help with that age group. lol Missing father, depressed unavailable mother, bratty Artemis. :D But give me more parameters and I will try. Are you asking for no books with divocred parents or conflicts within families? That's not going to be easy. Tweens tend to like drama. Can there be magic? Edited May 1, 2011 by LibraryLover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 To me it's getting redundant to see dead parents/kids and divorce in contemporary stories. I'd like to see something refreshing, like strong families in stories. It means a strong family facing outside conflict. I don't mean to rack anyone's brain over it. Surely there must be relative literature. If I come across anything I'll post it. Thanks for the answers everybody!But many of us love to have our brains racked. :) It would help greatly if we knew if strong single parent families like the Moffats were OK, fantasy, etc.... or if the only criteria you are looking to avoid is conflict within the family or the absence of parents/strong guardian altogether. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 Boxcar Children Children in Boxcar Children are orphans... But Happy Hollisters, All of a Kind Family, Trixie Belden and besides the Moffats Enright wrote Gone Away Lake and its sequel - parents alive and well there (though the kids are off all day on their own with no supervision - but I think that was common back then). There's also the Little House books... Little Women as well. Someone else mentioned the Ramona books? She's bratty but I think well-meaning and the family's intact. One reason I think you see so many orphans and kids in boarding school in children's books is that it gives more opportunity for the kids to be the main agents in both the action and the resolution of the plot. The orphan/boarding school thing is in no way new - most classic children's stories have parents that are absent in some way, even if not dead. Pippi, Heidi, Anne of Green Gables, Secret Garden, Little Princess, Peter Pan, Wizard of Oz, Black Stallion, ... the list goes on and on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twoforjoy Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 To me it's getting redundant to see dead parents/kids and divorce in contemporary stories. I'd like to see something refreshing, like strong families in stories. It means a strong family facing outside conflict. I don't mean to rack anyone's brain over it. Surely there must be relative literature. If I come across anything I'll post it. Thanks for the answers everybody! I really don't think this is anything new, as mentioned. It's very difficult for me to think of ANY classic children's story or book that includes a happy, intact family. Fairy tales? All dysfunctional/broken families. Dickens? Orphans abound. Huck Finn had a terribly dysfunctional family. Jane Eyre was an orphan. Or, in many stories, the parents just aren't a presence at all. My son actually asked me about this the other night. He was reading Harry Potter, and he'd recently finished The Guardians of Ga'Hoole series, and he noticed how much the two plots were similar: orphaned child goes off to a boarding school, etc. We started talking about how many other books we've read or he's read have the same plot, including most of the older stories we read, and why that might be. Our conclusion was that it's really hard for kids to go off and have adventures when their parents are around, because parents tend to put a stop to that kind of thing, and a book without adventures is no fun at all. ;) Re: The Boxcar Children, they're orphans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinder Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 My tween really enjoyed Artemis Fowl, so I might not be able to help with that age group. lol Missing father, depressed unavailable mother, bratty Artemis. :D True, but for Artemis his family is very important. He sets out on his adventures in order to restore his family. And later he also realizes how important his bodyguard is to him, although he treats him as just a servant for a good part of the story. We love AF too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinder Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 All of a Kind Family--loving, intact Jewish family. My ds's found them annoying. Ds1 was particularly bothered that the girls ate crackers in bed (can't remember all the details of this incident) and didn't get in trouble. He has a very strong sense of right and wrong, though, so that may color his opinion. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 (edited) The Moffats series is the closest quality series I can think of in which the kids don't get into horrible scrapes, but the father is dead and I'm guessing this is enough to disqualify it? Even then, I'm not sure it would qualify as modern. I was going to say, I thought the mother was dead, but then I realized that was the Melendies in Enright's The Saturdays. Milly-Molly-Mandy has a loving, extended family. Not good if you don't want "the village" to raise your child though, as she lives with an aunt, uncle, and grandparents. Bunchy (by the same author) lives with her grandmother. (Hard to find.) Eve Garnett's Family from One End Street has two parents. Poor but reasonably happy family. Hard to find outside the UK but I'm sure you can manage it. There are some reasonably happy families (and a lot of old people getting married via matchmaking by animals) in Dick King-Smith's books. Sophie books are about a girl and her family. Paddington was adopted into a loving family. How about Eager's Half Magic? (Widowed mother alert.) Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH? Also a widowed (mouse) mother but loving kids. The Moomintroll books have a loving family of sorts. I hate crumbs in the bed, but I don't consider it a moral wrong. I disliked the "my life is nothing without a son" business in the All of a Kind Family. **These books are probably all too young for you, save the Eager books and maybe the Moomintroll. They are rather unconventional, but then, they are moomintrolls. Edited May 1, 2011 by stripe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treestarfae Posted May 1, 2011 Author Share Posted May 1, 2011 It's hard to find family adventure! Geez are families that boring :tongue_smilie: I'm sifting through these lists- http://personal.strath.ac.uk/t.furniss/childrenlit/children_contemporary.html http://www.mindspring.com/~stct42/edu/cont_his.html http://www.faqs.org/childhood/Ch-Co/Children-s-Literature.html Thanks for all the titles everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 I just remembered - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. A fantastically loving family. Also - Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry The Watsons Go To Birmingham Books by Nancy Farmer such as The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm Regional Books by Lois Lenski? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 (edited) The Boxcar children are orphans. :blush: I think I was thinking about nice, non whiney children and for that moment forgot the nice children were orphans. :tongue_smilie: Silly moi. I thought of Ibbotson's The Secret of Platform 13. The king and queen are in a loving marragie, but their little prince gets kidnapped. They do work to get him back. ;) Edited May 1, 2011 by LibraryLover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deniseibase Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 Is fantasy ok? There's a big, warm, loving family in The Dark Is Rising (minor squabbles between the children), but strong fantasy themes. There's also a loving family in the Tiffany Aching series (starts with The Wee Free Men), a certain amount of 'my dad and I don't understand each other, and baby brother is annoying', but her dad defies village tradition to defend Tiffany, and she risks life and limb to save her brother from the faery queen, and then later almost dies trying to save him in a magical blizzard. Shirley Jackson's Life Among the Savages and the follow up book, Raising Demons, are not only about an intact, loving family, but also have some of the most hilarious stories ever - try sections of these for read-alouds, if you don't have everyone in the family rolling on the floor laughing when Sally tries to use magic to unstick the refrigerator I will eat my hat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 The only book I can think of is Swiss Family Robinson, but that's not modern. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treestarfae Posted May 1, 2011 Author Share Posted May 1, 2011 MacGregor Family Adventure series looks good! http://www.amazon.com/Cayman-Gold-Treasure-Devils-Grotto/dp/1589809750/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 (edited) I really don't think this is anything new, as mentioned. It's very difficult for me to think of ANY classic children's story or book that includes a happy, intact family. Fairy tales? All dysfunctional/broken families. Dickens? Orphans abound. Huck Finn had a terribly dysfunctional family. Jane Eyre was an orphan. Or, in many stories, the parents just aren't a presence at all. My son actually asked me about this the other night. He was reading Harry Potter, and he'd recently finished The Guardians of Ga'Hoole series, and he noticed how much the two plots were similar: orphaned child goes off to a boarding school, etc. We started talking about how many other books we've read or he's read have the same plot, including most of the older stories we read, and why that might be. Our conclusion was that it's really hard for kids to go off and have adventures when their parents are around, because parents tend to put a stop to that kind of thing, and a book without adventures is no fun at all. ;) Re: The Boxcar Children, they're orphans. It's because the hero has to break away from what is normal, to leave his life and step out into his hero's journey. He has nothing to keep him from the journey, and normally, he is pushed into it, not willing to go, but unable to go back because there is nothing to go back, to. Classic plot. If he has something to go back to, why would he go? If everything is good and wonderful, why embark on a journey that will bring trial and testing? If nothing is wrong, if everything is hunky dorey, where's the story? where is the overcoming of the hero/heroine? See? Edited May 2, 2011 by justamouse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caitilin Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 The Penderwicks are wonderful. Of course, the mother is dead, but the family is so--functional! Love those books, and I heard that another will be released in May! These are truly lovely books, and in the second one, dad remarries a woman the daughters all love, so they are once again an "intact" family. I agree with pps who said that even in books where the family is "intact" that the parents play little to no role in the actual action of the stories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treestarfae Posted May 1, 2011 Author Share Posted May 1, 2011 These books are great from this author http://www.richardtrout.com/ I dig this program too http://www.jason.org/public/whatis/start.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsBasil Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 I am enjoying racking my brain, even though I'm not sure how helpful I'm being. There's all the prequels to the Little House books. The father is absent(I don't remember why), but Journey to Jo'burg has a loving family, strong brother and sister, and takes in place in the 80s in Sout Africa during apartheid-the family is black. There's dysfunction, but it's external. I read it when I was about 10 and loved it. Oops, I just your link to Richard Trout-tis is probably not what you're looking for. Sorry! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nrg Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorensen is one of my all-time favorite books. It is about a family working together to help the father heal after WW2. It's about real family relationships and growth and change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Cornelia Snook Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 Ooh, I just read Miracles on Maple Hill last fall, and loved it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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