Hi, Micca - I liked Lepanto but I didn't think US 13-yr-olds would be mature enough to understand and appreciate it. My wife and her mother vetoed a number of the pieces I wanted to do as too gruesome or depressing [like "Babes in the Wood" and "White Squall" (Stan Rogers) and the cauldron scene from Macbeth and "Yarn of the Nancy Bell" (W.S. Gilbert) and Reincarnation]. The school librarian said it might be better if I didn't sing the Berrymans' "A Chat With Your Mother" (The F-Word Song), so that did away with another idea.
I tore the house apart looking for the Leaving Home collection of Lake Wobegon stories by Garrison Keillor, but I didn't find it. I took along Robert McCloskey's Homer Price stories, even thought I thought them too young for the kids. Since this year is a special celebration of Dr. Seuss, the school librarian was supposed to have a Dr. Seuss book for me to read, and I chose Marvin K. Mooney, Will You Please Go Now?, but that fell through and I was left to my own devices.I did:
I hadn't realized that I knew almost every kid in that eighth grade class through various activities in the parish, and they were a very friendly and appreciative audience. I had a great time.
- Mooses Come Walking (Arlo Guthrie)
- Rindercella
- A Hanukkah story by Isaac Bashevis Singer called The Power of Light
- The Creation (James Weldon Johnson)
- Ballad of Blasphemous Bill (Robt. W. Service)
- Adventures of Isabel (Ogden Nash)
I think they liked "Rindercella" best.
-Joe-