what the heck is magical realism? magical realism in ya
TRANSCRIPT
What the heck is Magical Realism?
YA booktalk for middle and high school students
From Merriam-Webster Online:
Definition of magic realism
1 : painting in a meticulously realistic style of imaginary or fantastic scenes or images
2 : a literary genre or style associated especially with Latin America that incorporates fantastic or mythical elements into otherwise realistic fiction —called also magical realism
In short, magical realism is…ODD eerie
creepy
Magical realism in picture books:
Magical Realism in classic literature:
*Many consider One Hundred Years of Solitude to be the most defining book in the magical realism genre.
Magical Realism in classic
literature for children and
teens
Tuck Everlasting
If you had a choice, would you choose to
live forever?
The Indian in the Cupboard• Toy Indian comes to
life when the key is turned in the cupboard• Widely-criticized (and
sometimes challenged) for racial stereotypes
The Secret Garden
A spoiled, not-so-nice little girl goes to live
with an uncle she has never met after the
deaths of her parents.
Magical Realism in today’s YA literature…
Bone GapBeautiful small town girl goes missing. No
one is worried about it—people get tripped
up in Bone Gap all the time—and two
brothers get involved in the mystery.
The Cure for Dreaming• Oregon, 1900• Olivia’s father convinces
a stage mesmerist to hypnotize the rebellion out of Olivia• Instead, he gives Olivia
the ability to see people’s true natures
The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender
Ava is normal in every way…except she is
born with the wings of a bird.
Every DayA is a soul that wakes
up in the body of a different person, every single day.
Places No One KnowsAn overachiever girl
falls asleep one night and dreams herself
into an underachieving, loser
boy’s room.
The Accident Season17-year old Cara fears the end of October, a time when her cursed
family becomes so accident prone that
people die every year.
Wake17-year old Janie
unwillingly gets sucked into the dreams of
others.
First book in the Dream Catcher trilogy.
Devil and the Bluebird
Blue Riley meets the devil, loses her voice, and fights to save the soul of her runaway
sister.
The Darkest Part of the Forest
Hazel and her brother Ben live at the edge of a fae-infested wood and
whisper their secrets to a horned boy sleeping in a glass coffin in the
woods.
The Nest
Steve ponders making a bargain with a wasp that promises to heal
his newborn baby brother…with a sting.