The Like/Hate Thread

[Dr. Cringle]

I'm not really sure about the 'for kids' arguement. I mean, yeah, obviously your not going to see Dora giving a sermon at a funeral because her friend Boots got hit by a fruit-picking truck, but then again you might see Death explored in a story like the Secrets of NiMH. Mrs. Brisby, the main protagonist, is a widow. She and her entire family have to deal with the loss of her husband, and while it's not heavily explored it's there. Heck, even Harry Potter's 1st book, the lightest book in terms of tone in the series, explores the ramifications of death and loss in the form of Harry's murdered parents.

I think in all honesty it's just lazy, cruddy writing at the reader's expense. They want to do a story about death because it sells, but they don't want to fully explore the consequences of that death because lets be honest death is permanent.