美国国家公共电台 NPR Where Author Jacqueline Woodson Would Like To Take Young People's Literature In 2018

 

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

At the Library of Congress today, Gene¹ Luen Yang officially ended his tenure² as national ambassador for young people's literature and handed the baton³ to Jacqueline Woodson. She is the sixth children's book author to hold the position. And for the next two years, she will be encouraging children and teenagers to read and to read more. NPR's Lynn Neary talked to the two writers about the job.

LYNN NEARY, BYLINE⁴: Gene Luen Yang admits that when he became ambassador two years ago, he was a little disappointed. He thought the job would come with a few more perks⁵.

GENE LUEN YANG: Yeah. I thought there would be a crown and maybe, like, a helicopter of some kind, but none of that happened.

NEARY: As she takes on the job, Jacqueline Woodson has no illusions about the perks. But if anything, she has higher expectations.

JACQUELINE WOODSON: My hope is that by that time I'm no longer national ambassador I'll have changed the world.

NEARY: OK. So the national ambassador for young people's literature may not be the most powerful position in the nation's capital, but Yang says it has rewards of a different kind.

YANG: At a very fundamental level, I got to go to all these different places. I got to hear voices. You know, I got to hear the voices of kids.

NEARY: Each ambassador gets to choose his or her own mission. For example, Jon Scieszka, who held the position first, was particularly interested in encouraging young boys to read. Yang, an award-winning graphic⁶ novelist, challenged kids to step out of their comfort zones and read about different kinds of people, unfamiliar⁷ topics or new types of books.

YANG: The nation is getting more diverse. And that is reflected in the material that draws the kids in. And I mean diversity in every sense of the word, not just cultural diversity, but also diversity of format⁸. You know, I think kids today are more open to more different kinds of stories than kids in the past.

NEARY: Yang is thrilled to be handing over the job to Jacqueline Woodson, winner of numerous awards, including the National Book Award for her memoir⁹, "Brown Girl Dreaming."

WOODSON: I get to decide my own vision in the end about the work I want to do, how I want to do it, what rooms I want to walk into, what people I feel have not had the kind of access that they should have - mainly underserved people, people in rural communities, incarcerated¹⁰ people - and really point my energies in those directions.

NEARY: Woodson says she'd love to get rid of labels like struggling reader or advanced reader and encourage young people to concentrate more on how a book makes them feel or think.

WOODSON: Labeling is not the best way to get young people to deeply engage in reading. I mean, at the end of the day, you take the qualifier away and they're a reader. Childhood, young adulthood¹¹ is fluid. And it's very easy to get labeled very young and have to carry something through your childhood and into your adulthood that is not necessarily who you are.

NEARY: Woodson has come up with her own mathematical equation to spark conversation about literature.

WOODSON: Reading equals hope times change. So of course it's that play on words, but it's also the fact that we come to books looking for the hope in them. And when we close a book, we're a different person than when we first opened that book. And reading begins a conversation. And my hope is that we can start having these conversations that literature triggers around the country.

NEARY: Woodson sees the job ahead of her as a continuum of the work that her predecessors¹² have started. Looking back on his own tenure, Gene Luen Yang says the national conversation Woodson hopes for is already underway.

YANG: I think that human storytelling is this long conversation about what it means to exist, what it means to live, how to live a good life. And I think being ambassador has just reinforced the importance of that conversation in my mind.

NEARY: Like her predecessors, Jacqueline Woodson will be traveling all over the country to meet with young people. No helicopters or private planes will be involved. Lynn Neary, NPR News, Washington.

(SOUNDBITE OF JACK WILKINS' "RED CLAY")

1 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

2 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

3 baton   

n.乐队用指挥杖

参考例句：

• With the baton the conductor was beating time.乐队指挥用指挥棒打拍子。
• The conductor waved his baton,and the band started up.指挥挥动指挥棒，乐队开始演奏起来。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 perks   

额外津贴，附带福利，外快( perk的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Perks offered by the firm include a car and free health insurance. 公司给予的额外待遇包括一辆汽车和免费健康保险。
• Are there any perks that go with your job? 你的工作有什么津贴吗？

6 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

7 unfamiliar   

adj.陌生的，不熟悉的

参考例句：

• I am unfamiliar with the place and the people here.我在这儿人地生疏。
• The man seemed unfamiliar to me.这人很面生。

8 format   

n.设计，版式；[计算机]格式，DOS命令:格式化(磁盘)，用于空盘或使用过的磁盘建立新空盘来存储数据；v.使格式化，设计，安排

参考例句：

• Please format this floppy disc.请将这张软盘格式化。
• The format of the figure is very tasteful.该图表的格式很雅致。

9 memoir   

n.[pl.]回忆录，自传；记事录

参考例句：

• He has just published a memoir in honour of his captain.他刚刚出了一本传记来纪念他的队长。
• In her memoir,the actress wrote about the bittersweet memories of her first love.在那个女演员的自传中，她写到了自己苦乐掺半的初恋。

10 incarcerated   

钳闭的

参考例句：

• They were incarcerated for the duration of the war. 战争期间，他们被关在狱中。 来自辞典例句
• I don't want to worry them by being incarcerated. 我不想让他们知道我被拘禁的事情。 来自电影对白

11 adulthood   

n.成年，成人期

参考例句：

• Some infantile actions survive into adulthood.某些婴儿期的行为一直保持到成年期。
• Few people nowadays are able to maintain friendships into adulthood.如今很少有人能将友谊维持到成年。

12 predecessors   

n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Will new plan be any more acceptable than its predecessors? 新计划比原先的计划更能令人满意吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》