Supercool blogger, Dawn, sent me a link to The Crow's Nest. The agent posted about a writing assignment she gave in a Master's Program. She included a bunch of questions for students to use as the "base rock" for writing for young adults. One of them was:
In what way did your upbringing seem totally different than that of your peers?
I grew up in a tiny town in NJ during the 70's and 80's and for a looong time, I was the only kid in school with divorced parents. Silly as that may sound in today's world, back then, it was a big deal.
I actually remember people saying, "Her parents are divorced." Like that meant my family had a disease.
And when my parents remarried, things got crazier with a stepmother, a stepfather and a stepbrother and a stepsister.
Although my upbringing was unique, it was good. But I definitely grew up very differently than the other kids around me. And a lot of that is reflected in Fingerprints, my YA novel that is currently out on submissions.
What about you? In what way did your upbringing seem totally different than that of your peers?
xoxo,
Suzanne
About Me
- Suzanne Casamento
- Author of Fingerprints, Choosing Tally, and All the Moments in Between. Tweet me @suzannecasamento
Awww. Thanks, sugar. Glad you liked the post.
ReplyDeleteMy parents were divorced when I was young as well - but I lived in small town and my Mom (sigh) left my Dad for the local department store manager. It was very public. I suppose this was one of the reasons I hated participating in sports. I watched my peers cheered on by their moms and dads and always seemed to be finding my own way to and from the soccer field. If I'm ever lucky enough to have children, I'll definitely be the "soccer mom" (or hockey, football, band, etc...)
Where to start? I grew up in a rich town but I lived in a townhouse while my friends lived in mansions. Compared to my friends my family was considered "poor." My parents had been divorced too. Oh and my mom worked two jobs so couldn't cart me around all day to sports events, music practices, or anything really. At the time it was complete torture, but now I'm better for it as I learned many valuable lessons and actually thank God that was how I was raised.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely the controlling and abusive behavior of my parents. My mother once told me that it is a parent's job to tell a child how to act, think, and feel. I felt like I couldn't be a kid the way that I saw my friends being kids.
ReplyDeleteMy mom went back to work while I was in about 6th grade in order to save for college for my sister and myself. We in turn were in charge of starting dinner every night. (NOTE: We're talking early 1960's.) By the way, I'm still pretty good with a potato peeler!
ReplyDeleteMy dad, who wasn't home a heck of a lot, raised me. It was definitely different than anyone else. On top of that, I was tossed around a bit. Houses came and went. Step-people came and went. In high school, I even lived with my very traditional Italian grandmother.
ReplyDeleteI didn't figure out how different my upbringing was until I got to college. Being adopted, I had my own hang-ups to deal with. But I was raised in financial comfort by two loving and supportive parents. Never physically harmed in any way. They weren't perfect parents. Who is? But they were always there for me, no matter what—and that included my mother standing by me when I published my scandalous first novel that shocked everyone she knew. It wasn't until I was grown that I learned that the mothers of my two closest friends from childhood (both female) had mothers who abused them sexually. After college I moved to New York and I began to hear other dark stories of girls sexually abused by fathers and uncles. Others had fathers or mothers who were drunk all the time. So how was my upbringing different? I was one of the lucky ones.
ReplyDeleteI was from England and my parents were English and Finnish. That alone made me different from my North American peers. But that, as far as I know, was the only real difference.
ReplyDeleteI have something on my blog for you today. :)
I grew up in the 70s without a dad. Mine died when I was a baby back in 1966. I was one of the few kids at my grade school without a dad, more or less NO memory or even knowing what it was like to have one.
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