Norma Klein (1938–1989)
Author of Sunshine
About the Author
Series
Works by Norma Klein
Associated Works
Wrestling with Zion: Progressive Jewish-American Responses to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (2003) — Contributor — 73 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1938-05-13
- Date of death
- 1989-04-25
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- New York, New York, USA
- Place of death
- New York, New York, USA
- Places of residence
- New York, New York, USA
- Education
- Barnard College (B.A., Russian, 1960)
Columbia University (M.A. ∙ Slavic Languages ∙ 1963) - Occupations
- children's book author
- Short biography
- Norma Klein, the daughter of a psychoanalyst, attended progressive schools before studying at Barnard College, Cornell, and Columbia. She originally wanted to become an artist, but said she decided to become a writer when she was unable to find books written about the kinds of people she knew, or who held her interest. Along with Judy Blume, she became one of the early pioneers of young adult literature in America with her realistic novels and short stories. She attributed her portrayal of alternative lifestyles, such as the single-parent family in Mom, the Wolf Man and Me (1972) or the lesbian mother and her partner in Breaking Up (1980), to her liberal upbringing in New York City. Her works dealt openly with other controversial issues as well, such as racism, divorce, abortion, and death, which may explain why Publisher's Weekly listed her as one of the most frequently censored authors in America. She died after a short illness. Her papers are housed at the University of Minnesota.
Members
Discussions
somewhat explicit YA books in Name that Book (March 2012)
Reviews
Hiding by Norma Klein
I started out hating this 1976 YA novel and wondering what on earth was going on with Norma Klein when she wrote it, since she was a total genius. Then, about a third of the way through, the book won me over. It's a stream-of-consciousness story about an 18 year old ballet student whose boyfriend is a choreographer at her school. He's an absolute monster (but that's not the main character's assessment) and she starts cracking up.
I've owned this book for ages. I don't remember when I read it, but I know that I loved ballet when I was quite young, and I read this at some point then. (Or, I at least looked at all the pictures. I no longer remember which.) I suppose I should re-read it now as an adult, since I've kept it on my bookshelf all these years.
I don't remember seeing this on Banned Books lists and that surprises me. I wasn't too comfortable with a 14 year-old girl feeling 'behind' because she hadn't touched a boy's penis yet, or smoking pot with her mom, or hearing her family say shit and even fuck as if they're innocent as darn. And it's the kids' business whether or not mom and dad are doing it with other people? And this was a loving, relatively healthy and sane family, not dysfunctional.
And it was written in 1982? Did we still need YA novels that were written just to shock? Weren't we ready to focus on the characters and the story, instead of just on what we could get media attention for?
I guess I could forgive all that, but when Dad tells Mom that her friend Ogden was considered a 'laughingstock' for being patient with his mentally ill wife, and nobody except Mom, not even the author, seems to support Ogden, well, yuck.
Just so you know, there's more, though. Big sis is having an affair with her college professor, and though she's a feminist one of her friends is marrying, which is seen as betrayal. And her other best friend is gay. And Grandma in the City plays tennis better than our heroine. And is rich. And is living with a friend who has no income, and even buying him a $25,000 cello bow. And there's a poetry reading in the city. And the teens have jobs but Mom doesn't. And Dad sells his novel, which is actually pretty much a memoir.
Klein just felt she had to hit every button. She's not a bad writer, but this could have been richer and more intense if it were focused on real character development over a reasonably busy summer, instead of written with a shotgun approach.
Seriously, I'm glad this is obsolete. I can see some girls might have thrilled to it, but I wouldn't have even when I was a teen.… (more)
And it was written in 1982? Did we still need YA novels that were written just to shock? Weren't we ready to focus on the characters and the story, instead of just on what we could get media attention for?
I guess I could forgive all that, but when Dad tells Mom that her friend Ogden was considered a 'laughingstock' for being patient with his mentally ill wife, and nobody except Mom, not even the author, seems to support Ogden, well, yuck.
Just so you know, there's more, though. Big sis is having an affair with her college professor, and though she's a feminist one of her friends is marrying, which is seen as betrayal. And her other best friend is gay. And Grandma in the City plays tennis better than our heroine. And is rich. And is living with a friend who has no income, and even buying him a $25,000 cello bow. And there's a poetry reading in the city. And the teens have jobs but Mom doesn't. And Dad sells his novel, which is actually pretty much a memoir.
Klein just felt she had to hit every button. She's not a bad writer, but this could have been richer and more intense if it were focused on real character development over a reasonably busy summer, instead of written with a shotgun approach.
Seriously, I'm glad this is obsolete. I can see some girls might have thrilled to it, but I wouldn't have even when I was a teen.… (more)
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- Works
- 67
- Also by
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- Members
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- Popularity
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- Rating
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- Reviews
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- 247
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