To the Discussion Leader
December 1931. Two sisters sledding down a hill. One boy, also sledding, tries to scare the sisters. To avoid a collision, one girl veers to the right. Girl and sled smash into tree. Young Bess Brennan is blinded for the rest of her life.
Bess Brennan’s tragic accident and permanent disability take place in the first three pages of Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: The Dairy of Bess Brennan, The Perkins School for the Blind, 1932. In his fifth Dear America book, Barry Denenberg tells Bess’s story of heartache and courage as America’s Great Depression swirls around the Brennan family. Bess’s story is told from two viewpoints. When Bess’s twin sister realizes how much Bess loved writing in her diary, Elin agrees to take dictation and continue Bess’s entries. Following those entries Elin adds her own thoughts. These dual points of view give readers interesting perspectives as each sister’s thoughts are juxtaposed against one another.
Another history lessons shines through in Mirror, Mirror—the education of the blind in America. When Bess leaves her family to attend the Perkins School for the Blind, youngsters get to follow the education of a blind girl in America’s first school to provide formal education for the blind. The Perkins School for the Blind opened its doors to students in 1832 and counts as one of its students, the famous Helen Keller.
Mirror,Mirror on the Wall: The Dairy of Bess Brennan, The Perkins School for the Blind, 1932 gives today’s readers a heroine blessed with determination, good friends, a loving family, and a pioneering school of dedicated teachers.
Summary
"I am relieved to be home, but my sorrow is unfathomable. There is so much I will never see again, so much I have taken for granted: Mama's garden; the smoke from Uncle Ted's pipe; my dear sister's face." These are the words of twelve-year-old Bess Brennan as recorded by her twin sister Elin. It is 1932 in Boston, and Bess has been recently blinded in an accident. She has been to numerous eye specialists and endured two operations only to learn that her blindness is permanent. Now Bess must attend the nearby Perkins School for the Blind where she will live all week, and come home only on weekends. For the first time in her life, she is to be separated from her twin. Nothing will ever be the same.
Life at the Perkins School is overwhelming at first. Bess must learn to rely on her other senses to help her with the simplest tasks like making her bed, coordinating her clothes, and finding her way to school. She says, "I don't think I'll ever learn to walk around Perkins on my own. It's simply too big and confusing." As the days pass, Bess becomes friends with her roommates, Amanda and Eva, and she begins to enjoy some of her classes. She looks forward to taking up gymnastics again, and she hopes to act in a school play. Bess begins to learn to read and write using the Braille alphabet. She says, “I hate Braille. I don't know what’s worse, learning to write it or learning to read it. Writing Braille is an excruciatingly tedious process." But after weeks of hard work, Bess declares triumphantly, "I did it. I can write Braille!"
Weekend visits home are a welcome change, and Bess's family begins to treat her "more like they used to before the accident." Elin, always the quieter twin, asks Bess to speak about her blindness. Bess says, "I was terrified. ...I didn't understand what I had done to deserve such a terrible fate...I decided I wouldn't go anywhere, wouldn’t do anything, wouldn't see anyone. Then came Perkins...and now, little by little, it's not so bad."
When the school term ends, Bess comes home, bringing Eva with her. Bess is content, enjoying the scent of Mama's roses, the sound of birds splashing in the birdbath, and the warmth of the sun on her face. She says, "Having Eva stay with us over the summer just makes everything perfect," and she ends her diary herself, in Braille, writing, "It's nice to be home"
Thinking About the Book
1. How did Bess become blind?
2. Why is Bess's diary called Mirror, Mirror on the Wall?
3. How are Elin and Bess alike? How are they different?
4. Why do you think Bess didn't want to see her old friends from before the accident?
5. Mama and Uncle Ted have different opinions about Bess going away to the Perkins School for the Blind. How does each feel? Why does each feel that way?
6. Bess's roommate, Amanda, has "an endless list of suggestions" which Bess calls "Amanda's Helpful Hints for the Sightless and Semi-Sightless." How does Amanda suggest Bess deal with each of the following: getting around by herself, arranging her clothes in closets and drawers, finding a dropped object, and pouring milk without spilling it.
7. Why do the girls dislike their housemother, Mrs. Burton, so much?
8. Why is Elin so upset when Bess gets her hair cut?
9. Bess and the other Perkins students study the same subjects as students in public schools. How do they learn about geography? About science?
10. What is the meaning of each the following sayings found in Bess Brennan’s diary?
"Rome wasn't built in a day."
"First impressions are lasting impressions."
"There's a silver lining to every cloud."
"Life is a bitter cup from which we're all forced to drink."
"Obstacles are things to overcome."
11. Did Bess’s diary add to your knowledge about blindness? Did the book change or alter your attitude about people who are blind?
Student Activities
1. Eva asks Bess to describe the color blue for her, and Bess says "blue is the color of your dreams just before you wake in the morning." What if a blind person asked you to describe a color? How would you describe red, or yellow, or black, or any other color so that a person without sight could understand?
2. One of Bess's assignments is to write about the hero or heroine that she admires most in history. She chooses Joan of Arc. If you were given that assignment, whom would write about and why?
3. Helen Keller was a gifted, inspiring, deaf and blind woman who attended Perkins School. Read one of the many biographies of this famous person. How are Bess and Helen alike? How are they different?
4. Bess is living during an important event in American history—the Great Depression. Many people were out of work and even spending ten cents to go to the movies (as Bess and her family do in the book) was considered a great luxury. Compare how much things cost during the Depression with how much they cost today. Then look at how much people get paid today compared to the 1930s. You will find a worksheet to help you do this at the website listed below.
http://www.michigan.gov/hal/0,1607,7-160-15481_19268_20778-52530--,00.html
5. In the book, there are a number of activities mentioned that many people do not associate with people who are blind, including sports. What are some of those activities? Now go to the Perkins website at http://www.perkins.org and see what that list might look like today.
6. As you go about your week, list how many things there are in the community to help blind people be independent, for example Braille numbers on elevators or talking ATM devices.
7. Write to the Perkins School and ask for a free Braille card that includes all the letters of the alphabet on it. When you get your card, see if you can spell your name or send a message to a friend. Send your request to the address below.
Perkins School for the Blind
Public Relations
175 N. Beacon St.
Watertown, MA 02472
An Interview with Barry Denenberg
Richard F. Abrahamson, Ph.D. & Eleanore S. Tyson, Ed.D.: You said in your interview for another Dear America book, When Will This Cruel War Be Over? , that you like to immerse yourself in books on a particular subject and historical period. What sort of research did you do for Mirror, Mirror on the Wall?
Barry Denenberg: The research for Mirror, Mirror on the Wall was particularly difficult because it wasn’t as straightforward as, say, the Civil War. I had to find out not only what it was like to be blind, but blind in 1930; the history of Perkins School for the Blind; and lastly, 1930s Depression Boston. To supplement, I did something I usually don’t do—interviewed people. Early on I was championed by Cafer Barkus, who heads the Hilton Perkins Leadership Program. Cafer, who is blind, teaches all Perkins’ international teachers of the blind and was with me from beginning to end of the project. He suggested, and set up, a day long discussion with three students from the 1930s. Those discussions, which I taped and transcribed, were critical to the construction of the book. In addition, I went to Cafer time and again for his views on certain subject areas. This collaboration was unique for me, and I dedicated the book to him.
RFA & EST: There seems to be a recent increase in the number of books for young people about Helen Keller. Did you research Keller’s life? What role, if any, did her life play in your creation of Bess Brennan’s life?
BD: Reading a biography of Helen Keller got me interested in the Perkins School and led to the Dear America book. However, I am disappointed because Laura Bridgman who preceded Helen Keller at Perkins and whose story, although much different, is quite instructive and compelling, is one publishers seem unwilling to take on. I have been turned down by two publishers to write a book on her. Both experiences were important to me, Ms. Keller’s and Ms. Bridgman’s.
RFA & EST: Did you visit the Perkins School for the Blind? What is different about the way things are done at Perkins today compared to when Bess was there?
BD: I made numerous trips to Perkins to visit with Cafer Barkus and, during one visit, talk with his students. Architecturally and structurally the buildings and the grounds are still much the same. That was invaluable to me as I tried to picture Bess’s environment in my mind. Of course, much is different, the technology, the teaching techniques and so forth. Perhaps the most profound change is that now the Perkins School cares for children who are, in the majority of cases, multiply handicapped not only blind.
RFA & EST: Most of the Dear America books focus on girls whose lives are altered by major events in American history. Certainly the Depression is a backdrop for Bess’s story, but it pales in comparison to her blindness. Why did you choose to downplay the history in this Dear America novel?
BD: The Dear America books are not, for me, necessarily about history. Last night my thirteen-year-old daughter asked me what the difference between social studies and history was—a difficult question. Being blind, although certainly not an American experience, is part of what it was like to be living in America in the past. Blind Americans are part of our history. The Dear America books are about “lesser lives.” They are about those of us who are not Presidents and Senators. It is within that context and the importance that I think the Perkins School for the Blind had in American history that I proposed the project.
RFA & EST: What challenges did you encounter in writing from the perspective of a blind person?
BD: Mirror, Mirror on the Wall presented more challenges for me than any of the other books I’ve written in the series. I do not care for political correctness, but in this case I admit to being concerned that I would be crafting a stereotypic and therefore inaccurate portrait. Here is where I constantly relied on the always diplomatic but wise and willing to go to the heart of the matter, Mr. Barkus. The two of us tackled a number of tricky questions such as: Do blind people have a better sense of hearing and smell? In our joint effort we also wanted to make sure we maintained the sense of humor about being blind that came across loud and clear in my interviews with the 1930s Perkins students.
RFA & EST: One of Bess Brennan’s school assignments was to write a paper on the hero or heroine she admired most in history. If you were given that same assignment, who would you select and why?
BD: First I must say that questions like this are best answered by thirteen-year-olds and not fifty something writers. Too cynical. But, let me answer it: J.D. Salinger. For one, he saved my life. I can remember precisely the feeling that overwhelmed me when I first read The Catcher in the Rye. “Oh my God,” I thought, “I am not alone.” For what he did for so many alienated kids, for his high standards, for his own writing, for his continued insistence on something that is virtually gone from our society—privacy, for not doing any Bud light commercials and not receiving any lifetime achievement awards, he is my hero. He is also the person I model my writing after (economy, a voice that rings true, and a sense of humor).
RFA & EST: If your readers would want to learn more about the Perkins School or other schools for the blind, what books or other sources would you recommend for them?
BD: I would suggest reading Helen and Teacher by Joseph Lash or Helen Keller by Dorothy Hermann or The Imprisoned Guest by Elisabeth Gitter (which is about Laura Bridgman). These books will give the reader insight into two different times in the history of the Perkins School. I think a good reader who is thirteen or older could read any and all of the three.
RFA & EST: With the publication of Mirror, Mirror: The Diary of Bess Brennan, you have written five books in the Dear America series. If you had a chance to spend one day with the main character in just one of these five novels, which character would you choose? Would it be Emma Simpson from the Civil War diary When Will This Cruel War Be Over? or Mary Driscoll, the Irish mill girl from So Far From Home or Julie Weiss from the diary One Eye Laughing, the Other Weeping or Amber Billows from the Pearl Harbor diary Early Sunday Morning or Bess Brennan from Mirror, Mirror on the Wall?
BD: Taking your question literally, I would spend the one day with Julie, but the one I admire most is Mary.
RFA & EST: What is one thing you hope young readers will take away from Mirror, Mirror on The Wall: The Diary of Bess Brennan The Perkins School for the Blindl, 1932?
BD: My favorite Zen saying is: LIVE EACH DAY AS IF YOUR HAIR WERE ON FIRE. That is the one thing I would hope my readers would take away from reading Mirror,Mirror on the Wall: The Dairy of Bess Brennan, The Perkins School for the Blind, 1932.
Discussion Guide written by Richard F. Abrahamson, Ph.D., Professor of Literature for Children and Young Adults, University of Houston, Houston, Texas and Eleanore S. Tyson, Ed.D., Clinical Associate Professor, University of Houston, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Houston, Texas.
Note: Our thanks to Robert Guthrie, Ann Stingle and the staff at the Perkins School for the Blind for their help with this guide.
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