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I finally hit the twist ending in a kids book that wrecked me as an adult
I was reading "The Giver" to my niece last Tuesday and got to the part where he sleds down the hill into the unknown, and I just sat there staring at the page for five minutes. The whole book builds up this perfect society but then leaves you hanging on whether he actually finds anything or just freezes to death. Has anyone else had a childhood book ending hit way harder when you read it again as a grown up?
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christophermorgan4d ago
Three years back I showed my nephew "Where the Wild Things Are" and the ending hit me like a truck. Max comes back to his bedroom and his supper is still hot waiting for him. It made me realize how much of growing up is about learning that your people will still be there even when you act like a little monster. That whole idea of unconditional love from parents or close friends is something kids take for granted but adults know how rare and fragile it really is. The older I get the more I see that most classic kid stories are actually teaching us life lessons we don't fully get until we've messed up a few times. You ever notice how the best children's books work on two completely different levels for kids and adults?
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