“The value of the myth is that it takes all the things we know and restores to them the rich significance which has been hidden by ‘the veil of familiarity’.” – CS Lewis
Or as author Gary D. Schmidt put it in his talk during Calvin University’s January Series 2022 – stories bring “recognition” of shared experience.
Check it out here: https://calvin.edu/directory/series/gary-schmidt
He read a short story about his own experience as a child during the Vietnam war era. I wonder how many dry eyes there were in the audience by the time he finished.
In Schmidt’s recent young adult/upper middle grade novel JUST LIKE THAT, I “recognized” the shared experience of grief in the first few pages. His description of a teenage boy’s funeral made it excruciatingly evident that he understands the deep pangs of loss. (His wife passed away in 2013.)
// Spoiler alert – If you want surprises, read the book first! //
Set on the Maine coast during the Vietnam War era, JUST LIKE THAT follows parallel stories of two young teens, a girl and a boy. Meryl Lee Kowalski is grieving the loss of a friend while learning to open up her heart to new friendships and experiences in life. She attends a new boarding school and struggles to fit in with a name like Kowalski. Thankfully, she meets a wise mentor – The Awful Dignity (A wonderful moniker that I will repurpose for daily life.) – who helps her navigate the trials and triumphs of life on campus.
Meanwhile, Matt Coffin, is a boy trying to escape a world of crime by hiding out on a beach near the boarding school. He can’t remember how he landed among the criminals with whom he’s lived since childhood. He only knows he wants out. Thankfully, he also meets The Awful Dignity, who helps him find a way forward. But Matt’s journey proves much more harrowing than Meryl Lee’s, for the crime world does not take kindly to runaways.
I’ve read many Gary D. Schmidt books which I’ve admired, but JUST LIKE THAT was the first that had me “on the edge of my seat”. And I especially enjoyed the nods to Charles Dickens’ OLIVER TWIST.