Braided Lives [antikvár]

Introduction Peoplebecomeavidreaders when they findpersonalmeaning in literature. We read with conviction, commitment, and motivation those works that reflect our own experiences or histories or speak to us in ways that are real and true. The stories and poems in this volume attest to the surprise and wonder of finding these connections between literature and life. As the storyteller in James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues" discovers, "Fór while the tale of how we suffer and how we are delighted and how we may triumph is never new, it always must be heard." Braided Lives amplifies over forty different voices, bringing their distinctive sounds and stories to high school readers. It is the result of a collaboration between the Minnesota Council of Teachers of English and the Minnesota Humanities Commission. Both organizations share a mission of promoting the study of literature as part of the humanities and of contributing to quality education for all Minnesotans. Both alsó agree that the multiplicity of American ^ views, beliefs, and histories is a story that always must be heard. The kind of anthology that Minnesota teachers wanted for their students did not exist. So teachers had to invent it. We dreamed of a strikingly beautiful collection of stories and poems that would reveal the abundance and diversity of American writing. We wanted 9