Pageant (Mass Market Paperback)

by Kathryn Lasky (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal
Grade 7 Up Between 1960 and 1963, when Sarah Benjamin is in eighth to tenth grade at a conservative Christian school, the Jewish girl grows from an eager innocent to a slightly disillusioned young woman, prepared to use her outrage to initiate changein her own life and in the world around her. Readers familiar with the Kennedy era may see some reflections of Sarah's transformation in the national consciousness of the time, which is a major focus of the book. Structured in four parts, each introduced by Sarah's participation in the school's annual Christmas pageant (always as a shepherd), the story takes Sarah from her initial excitement at the pros- pect of Kennedy's election and its promise of new possibilities to the traumatic events in her life during the weekend of his assassination. Along the way, she deals with a prickly relationship with her aunt; disappointing introductions to romantic love; and a growing inability to accomodate herself to the narrowness of her surroundings, most specifically her stuffy school. All of this is managed with wit, a fine attention to the concrete detail of the times (although Person to Person is confused with You Are There), and some good characterizations. The teachers at her school, however, rarely emerge as anything other than cardboard dictators. The structure and writing of the book is smooth to the point of slickness, and, although the story is autobiographical, events seem to be stage-managed to coincide with national attitudes. Older children might enjoy it, but it's hard to believe that anyone's life could end up as an extended metaphor for the New Frontier.Christine Behrmann, New York Public Library
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description
Sarah Benjamin, a Jewish teenager on the brink of Kennedy's New Frontier, wonders if she can endure four more years of Stuart Hall, Indianapolis's most exclusive, very Christian, and impossibly stuffy school for girls. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 223 pages
• Publisher: Laurel-Leaf Books by Dell Books (August 1, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440201616
• ISBN-13: 978-0440201618
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,853,894 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Book for all times, June 12, 2001

By A Customer

Pageant was on of the first books I read when I moved from children's books to (gasp) the juvenile fiction section in the library. It was full of raw opinions and controversial teenage issues, seen through the eyes of a Jewish teenager. This is by far one of the better books I have read, seing as I have read it more than twenty times! Pageant is humorous and easy to relate to, as well as thought provoking. I would recommend it to anyone over the age of twelve, and then I would recommend that they keep the book somewhere close by for the second, third, and fourth time he or she wants to read it.