Appalachia

Cynthia Rylant's book, Appalachia, was more than a picturebook. Although I did enjoy the painted images, I was more focused on the text. The text was not broken up page by page, but rather it continued. The sentences did not end on each page, some continued to the next. This was not a story with a beginning, middle, and end. It did, however, tell the story of the people of Appalachia. I have never been to the "country", but I could picture the people she described: "Mamie and Boyd and Oley" and I could see the mountains that "came up so close to them and blocked their view like a person standing in a doorway". I have never seen mountains that large. I can only relate them to the few I have seen in the north, which are minute compared to the mountains of the west. The pictures were simple, not too fancy, much like I imagine the people of Appalachia to be. They look like photographs that someone took a long time ago.

I am becoming very interested in reading the descriptions of the authors and illustrators found in the back flap of the book-jackets. From this book I learned that both Cynthia Rylant and the author, Barry Moser, are from Appalachia. I now understand why this book gave me such a clear vision of what it is like there; they were describing and painting their home.

I just started thinking: if I were to write a book about where I am from, where I grew up, what images would I choose to describe? I would, of course, describe the smell and sound of the Fenway area on game days, traffic around the city, and summer nights out on the porch! The taste of Papa Gino's and Town Spa pizza! I would name the people that I see every day. I would talk about my cat, who is simple and lazy and has a lot of fur! The feeling I get when I pull down my street and see my house come into view (which is actually bringing a tear to my eye as I think about it). I may move thousands of miles away, but I will never really leave. I'm sure this is how Cynthia and Barry feel about Appalachia.