“When Jesus Laughed: Historical Fiction: Religion, Readers and Reality”
When writing historical fiction the writer almost inevitably deals with religion. Readers read such work in a variety of ways—joy, shock, confusion—but mostly in the context of their own religious experience. Is there a message in the text? Is the text the message? Is there any message? Whose is it, anyway? Does it matter what the writer thinks?
Avi is the author of more than sixty books for children and young adults, including the Newbery Honor books The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (currently being cast as a film by writer-director Danny Devito) and Nothing But the Truth and the Newbery Medal-winner Crispin: the Cross of Lead. His books often engage American and European history, and they frequently deal with the place of religious institutions, beliefs, and ideas in those histories.
This event is cosponsored by the Center for the Study of Children’s Literature at Simmons College, and has been organized with the cooperation of the Program in Literacy and Language Education in the Boston University School of Education.