#as if all the kids aren’t upper middle class white boys with the oldest one being twelve living during one the worst wars of all time

[felt-squirrels]

The fact that there’s a Lord of the Flies fandom out there scares me. You’re telling me people read this book for fun? The book that I’m currently so pissed off about that when a character died I had to go and sit in silence for two minutes because I knew the whole thing was just downhill for there? People enjoy it?

[spaceorphanssecondbreakfastclub]

Reading X-Men: Uncanny X-Men 1-3

It’s been a long standing project of mine to finally read (and think) through the entirety of Uncanny X-Men (and many of its offshoots).  I’ve tried a few times to start, but of course, I get hung up.  Well, I’m not really going to buckle down and do it, even if it takes me the decade (which it probably will.)  

So, let’s start at the beginning -- the Silver Age of Comics, a time in the early 60s when comics were bright and colorful, and clearly targeted towards a very specific demographic of white, upper middle class boys ages 8-12.  I can’t say I’m a huge fan of this era of comics (even the most beloved titles such as Fantastic Four and Spider-Man), but that doesn’t mean we can’t find fun things to talk about here either.  

X-Men was one of the last titles Stan Lee created in his golden age with Marvel Comics, and his attempt to create a superhero team made up entirely of teenagers (as a way to get kids to relate?), and was drawn, infamously, by Jack Kirby.  Was the book any good? Meh, X-Men consistently had the lowest sales, and it’s not a surprise that it was cancelled by 1970.  But the whole idea of Mutants, of people being ostracized for being born different, is a concept that still very resonant today.  

X-Men Issues 1-3

The first three issues of the book aren’t much to write home about.  Pretty much all of Stan Lee’s comics have the same similar feel to them, and a structure that’s nearly unwavering.  The X-Men are introduced (usually by training in the Danger Room), the outlandish villain is introduced, the X-Men fight the villain and lose, the X-Men fight the villain and win.  The end.  Not very sophisticated these books. But they didn’t have to be -- kids just needed to read them.  Silver Age was less about story, and more about fun action sequences drawn on the page.  

So, let’s talk about the original line up of X-Men: 

Professor Charles Xavier: Founder of the X-Men.  He’s a rich, invalid guy who decided he wants to train teach younger members of homosuperior (yes, mutants are considered a different race) how to use their abilities to fight crime.  Because why not?  His mutant ability telepathy, telekinesis, and any other mind power you can think.  

Like pretty much all of the characters in the first few issues, he doesn’t have much personality.  He spends a lot of his time yelling at the X-Men through telepathy and having uncomfortable feelings about Jean Grey.  (Okay, it’s one panel, but my god, why??)  He also starts the series by having some serious issues with ethics, as he scrambles people’s minds without much thought.  

Scott Summers (Cyclops): The moody and broody ‘leader’ of the team.  He doesn’t do much but angst over the fact that his eyes shoot dangerous energy (not laser!) beams, and he could seriously danger anyone at any second.  

Warren Worthington III (Angel): The wealthy, playboy with wings attached to his back.  His most prominent skills are being that dude whom every woman rolls her eyes at and being able to dodge shit.  

Henry (Hank) McCoy (Beast): A jovial and loquacious oldest member of the team, who is supposed to sprout irony, being the most intelligent while his mutant power is being beast-like. 

Robert (Bobby) Drake (Iceman): The youngest and “coolest” member of the team, who is often incredibly juvenile and uses his ice powers to joke around.  (Bobby’s much, much later going to come out as gay, which adds an extra fascinating (and sometimes hilarious) layer onto his Silver Age persona.)  

Jean Grey (Marvel Girl): Jean gets to be the token girl back in an era when having a girl on the team was considered diverse.  I like Jean in general, but the unfortunate downside to her being a girl in a Silver Age comic is that she doesn’t get much to do.  She’s often regarded as being the weakest based solely on the fact that she’s a girl, despite the fact that she’s a telekinetic, and will eventually be one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe.  She doesn’t get to do a whole lot other than be oogled by the guys on the team, and faint after she exerts a minimal amount of power on panel, often needing one of the men on the team to save her.  

It does get better, and I’m glad she’s at least around, but you can tell comics still had a long way to go.  

***

Like I said above, the structure of Silver Age comics is pretty much the same, and it really comes down to the villain of the week.  So, the villains of the first three issues: 

Magneto:  Long before Magneto’s tragic backstory is developed, before his long standing somewhat homoerotic friendship with Xavier is explored, and before his name is even established, Magneto makes his mark as being the first supervillain the X-Men ever fight.  He’s already in his classic red and purple costume, using his questionable powers of magnetism to screw around with nuclear bombs and threaten the world.  

And he’s an absolute delight.   He’s cheesy and the epitome of supervillain scenery chewing.  Do his powers make sense? Not really.  Does he really accomplish anything by blowing the world up? Nope.  But at least he’s ridiculous and fun, and memorable enough to become the most iconic villain in X-Men’s canon. 

Vanisher: Magneto’s followed up by the somewhat bland Vanisher, whose outfit is totally killer, but otherwise an idiot. The Vanisher’s power is to teleport (like Nightcrawler), and his brilliant plan is to steal secret plans from the government.  (He also decides to recruit a following - which is kind of hilarious.)  The X-Men aren’t really able to stop him, so Xavier steps in to wipe his mind.  Cause you know.  Ethics. 

The Blob: While the Vanisher is forgettable, and won’t really be remembered, The Blob ends up sticking around, albeit in smaller villainous roles.  The Blob’s whole schtick is that he’s a huge dude and nothing can really hurt him.  The X-Men try to “save” him from the circus, but the Blob is just one obnoxious dude, and isn’t really about being trained for Xavier’s mutant army, so he decides to head back to the circus.  And then gets his circus friends to attack the X-Men (why, I don’t know).  But because Stan Lee keeps writing himself into a corner, Xavier, once again, wipes the guy’s mind.  

And that’s really it - the first three issues of The X-Men! Whoo! :) 

[faedawayyy]

A Useless Guide to the Carmichaels

DISCLAIMER: this is a bunch of headcanons that i’ve come up with. OBVIOUSLY since synn and katie and nadine and meg in a way have characters that are tied to their family...BUt these are my original headcanons for the family, so if things aren’t quite right or sound different, it’s bc they’re my most developed family and it’s the way i’ve written them in canon verse!

SYLVIA CARMICHAEL - GRANDMOTHER

sylvia’s family are russian and came over to england after the war. her father was a general and her mother was a seamstress and she was raised in a very, very conservative and upper-class family. she went and studied at st andrews in edinburgh and that’s where she met hank carmichael, who her  father always pushed her towards from the moment he knew of him.  sylvia carries a lot of her family values and clashed with her GEN X kids because their ideologies were so different. for example, she sturggled edwin’s sexuality and oliver’s more liberal mannerisms. it doesn’t stop her from trying to “guide” her grandchildren.

HANK CARMICHAEL - GRANDMOTHER

hank was born and raised in england. his father was an extremely wealthy banker, his mother died when he was young but he never really thought about her because his father never spoke of her. he was raised mainly by his aunt while his father worked around the clock. they were an extremely wealthy family and when he was old enough, hank attended boarding school. he never really had parental guidance and his creativity always ran wild. he was trouble at school, but smart enough not to get caught.  after he graduated from st andrews and moved in with sylvia, he invested his entire trust-fund into a book publishing business, which is still successful to this day. he’s a huge family man due to not having one when he was younger

second generation.

EDWIN CARMICHAEL

edwin is the oldest of sylvia’s and hank’s children and always worked hard to be a people pleaser. he was often referred to as the golden child and the absolute brightest star in his mother’s sky. from an early age, he showed interest in entertainment which hank inspired and supported.

things changed for edwin in the middle of high school when he decided to come out about his sexuality. he was severely bullied and his relationship with sylvia broke down. he STILL hasn’t got the best relationship with his mother, especially after he married his husband, but they stay civil for the rest of the family’s sake. 

he now works in property and lost his confidence in acting when he was bullied.

OLIVER CARMICHAEL

SYNN’S CHARACTER, BUT HERE IS HOW I INTERPRET HIM. oliver is the second oldest child of sylvia and hank. he was rebellious from the start. he never enjoyed trying to live up to edwin’s golden standard, he hated the events and the social climbing. he just wanted to be a regular kid and have regular experiences, but it never happened for him.  when he was 18, it hit him that he was an adult and sylvia and hank have 0 influence over him. he took his trustfund, travelled and got the hell out of violet springs. however, just like with everybody else, age caught him up and he ended up settling in london with a woman he met while backpacking in australia.  he likes his children knowing their family, so he reluctantly shows up to family events but you’d never catch either of them in violet springs if they didn’t have to be.

JAMES CARMICHAEL

james is the middle child and arguably the most successful of the carmichael’s. he was never the favourite and had a streak in him that caused him to clash with hank from a young age. he was a loveable rouge who grew into a loveable white-collard criminal. he was smarter than he let on and had endless ambition.  like edwin, he attended university but instead of picking a profession that hid away from his true ambition, he invested his entire trustfund into a studio in los angeles where he planned to make amazing films...it paid off. he married his wife (patricia) who he met when she worked as a set designer on one of his projects, but it wasn’t all happily ever after.  james played around with money a little too much and tried to take out his competition in shady ways. this led to things getting too much for him and he faked his death almost a year ago. all of his family beside mason believe him to be dead.

JOHNATHAN CARMICHAEL

completely synn’s character, the father of theo

SINEAD CARMICHAEL

sinead was the only girl of five children and completely used it to her advantage. she watched the way her brother’s and father knew how to dominate rooms, conversations and other people. she grew up with the mindset that she could have absolutely anything she wanted, as long as she worked (or cheated) hard enough for it.  sinead dropped out of school at 15 and almost gave her mother an hernia. she blew most of her trust fund on a sweet 16 and then a sweet 18, anything that was left went on her 21st. she’s a very “live in the moment” woman and cares little for consequences.  she actually ended up teaming up with james and starring in a few of his earliest projects before becoming an actress in her own right. she’s blacklisted by a lot of hollywood producers for her refusal to submit and listen to direction. she’s head strong and does what she likes. 

third generation.

RUBY ROSINI - ADOPTED DAUGHTER OF EDWIN.

when ruby was adopted by edwin, there was all round excitement from every single member of the family; a little, brown-eyed girl from italy arriving on their doorsteps. she was so different from the majority blue-eyed children who filled the family tree. the cousins all immediately became protective of her and loved getting to know who she was as a person. now they’re grown up, she’s viewed as a cousin and it’s easy to forget that she was ever adopted or came from anywhere else. 

THOMAS CARMICHAEL - SON OF OLIVER 

thomas is the oldest son of oliver and like his dad, he’s a bit of a free spirit but unlike his dad, he’s a lot more laidback and less likely to clash or argue with anyone. as far as carmichael’s go, he’s quite wholesome and kind and oliver will 100% say that it’s because he was raised away from the madness of their family.  however, growing up away from the others isn’t as good in his eyes as it is in his dad’s. he often feels boring and on the outside, he will always do his best to fit in with the other guys and is easily manipulated. as a child, he got into trouble so many times from listening to the shit brody and leo used to tell him to do. even to this day, he’s overly loyal and attached to them because he’s desperate to feel a real part of the family.

KATELYN CARMICHAEL - DAUGHTER OF OLIVER

katelyn is the oldest of the third generation and oliver’s daughter. she’s blunt, witty and doesn’t mince her words. unlike most of the women in her family, she cares little for appearances or staying in certain social circles. she’s a drama teacher in a high school and enjoys living a normal life, but does dip into the funds of her family name every now and then to have a bit of fun.  she’s a blast at family parties and everybody is always excited to see what scandalous or stupid thing she’ll do next to annoy her grandmother. 

ANASTASIA CARMICHAEL - DAUGHTER OF JAMES 

the oldest of james’ children and undeniably the real favourite. she’s an overachiever and type of girl who was good at everything in school and still is; she’s athletic, artistic, academic, a good mother, an amazing business woman, she’s smart, she’s intuitive, she’s healthy and rarely loses in competitions with her siblings or anyone else for that matter.

anastasia has her daughter, darcy, and is engaged to ryder banks. there’s no love there but like her grandmother, she understands the importance of appearances. you’d have to be crazy if you thought she hasn’t had a string of affairs and STILL has them. however, she also has standards and is very selective over who she lets get close. 

darcy is her #1 priority and she’ll fight fiercely to make sure she always stays that way.

LEONARDO CARMICHAEL - SON OF JAMES

leo is james’ oldest son and again, like anastasia, kind of set the bar in the early days for the rest of his siblings. when it was the two of them and mason, everything was about leo and anastasia, they grew up in constant competition; leo tended to always fall short of his sister’s achievements. however, as they grew and the two of them came into their own, it was clear that leo was never going to be one to be in the shadows for too long - starting with gaining the attention from girls as he grew through high school. even girls in brody’s and miles’s year were heart-eyes over him and he was a few years older.  yet, just like with the rest of his siblings, he was promised and later engaged to somebody that his father handpicked for him to ensure the carmichael wealth wouldn’t dwindle out and fall into the wrong, new money hands.  OOC//i could write more but it doesnt feel right bc he’s now katie’s character. obviously i have my own ideas/fiancee for original leo! 

MASON CARMICHAEL - SON OF JAMES

mason broke the trend of extroverted, go-getter type kids and ended up being the quietest and youngest of the bunch until miles was born. he was a big momma’s boy growing up, and even though he’s never really felt like the favourite, he always enjoyed the company of adults and quieter environments compared to his siblings who would thrive around kids of their own age.  mason is wise beyond his years and it’s a running joke that he was supposed to be born first. he is the only one that knows james isn’t dead and was trusted with this information because even though brody was the favourite by a longshot, james knew mason would keep it quiet and be less affected by the secret.  mason both hates and loves being a part of the carmichaels. he loves his family but also hates the madness that comes along with it.

BRODY CARMICHAEL - SON OF JAMES 

brody never really had to work to be the favourite of his parents - he just is. he had the right amount of intelligence, cockiness and charm to keep adults on side throughout his whole life. ironically, out of everybody in the third generation, he’s probably the biggest fuck up too but the adults turn a blind eye to it because it’s him.  a huge reason he’s favoured by james is because he was clearly enough for charles to allow him to marry his oldest daughter, disney. this was such a big deal for james because charles has a LOT of connections (shady and not shady) in the entertainment industry and he knew the merger between the companies would keep the carmichael legacy in tact for generations.  brody usually rises to being the favourite and is slightly smug about it, but he also cracks the most under pressure and has had dozens of meltdowns over the span of his life growing up.

MILES CARMICHAEL - SON OF JAMES

miles is the youngest...son...of james. james has no idea that patricia had an affair and that miles isn’t actually his son. miles has always struggled severely with keeping up with his siblings. he developed common but crippling mental health issues in his pre-teen years such as depression and anxiety. it started with acting out and being a “problem child” but quickly developed in being too scared to leave the house. he locked himself away and wasted away his young years not really interacting with anyone outside of his immediate family. on top of that, he had he achievements of brody, mason, anastasia and leo to remind him of what a failure is...eventually he just stopped trying.  these days his siblings are supportive and aware of how he can get. his cynicism is literally his humour and he’s just taking one day at a time.

BELLA CARMICHAEL - DAUGHTER OF JAMES

bella was dubbed the next brody. all of her siblings adore her and so do her parents and grandparents. she’s the second child who can do absolutely no wrong in anybody’s eyes. bella was a young star and worked in hollywood making tv cameos long before she started school. she had two lives; her school and dance life, and her celebrity life. she grew up with more life experience than other kids and this made her painfully cunning. she knew exactly how to get people on side and had whoever she wanted wrapped around her little finger.  she and brody were hit hardest by james’s death. bella was all over the place and gained a little weight - something she wasn’t familiar with after being petite her whole life. she’s now just trying to stable herself again.

THEO CARMICHAEL - SON OF JOHNATHAN

SYNN’S CHARACTER

HERA CARMICHAEL-RUSH

hera is the middle child of sinead. she too is inteligent and calculated but she’s also the opposite of the james’s girls. hera has never worked a day in her life and has no intention to. she’s a socialite and just like her mother, does what she wants when she wants to. she lives off of mommy’s money (because her dad bailed on them and honestly, fuck him). hera also came out as bisexual at a christmas party because she knew it’d make sylvia uncomfortable. she’s a wind up and enjoys getting a rise out of people.

OPHELIA CARMICHAEL-RUSH

ophelia is old enough to remember the messy divorce of her parents and adopted her mother’s bad-ass and care free attitude towards it from that day on. she hates her dad for what he did to their family but doesn’t let it hold her back and when she turned 18, she took him to court to keep her name on the inheritance of his million dollar winery business...and won. she’s the trailblazer for her quieter and more introverted siblings. she’s someone who knows she’s gorgeous and uses her looks to her advantage. 

LUNA CARMICHAEL-RUSH

luna has always been shy and hid behind the bolder personalities of her sister’s. she used to feel boring because of it but has quickly accepted that’s who she is and she’s happy with it. as she becomes 26, she’s starting to feel extremely embarrassed and insecure about her lack of experience with anybody. yet, her father walking out makes her find it hard to connect with and trust people. she has high standards and no standards at the same time and is really lost in terms of her romantic relationships. HOWEVER, she is thriving in her career and mason has featured her as an actress in many projects. she currently attends rosewell and enjoys the french culture.

DAMUS CARMICHAEL-RUSH

damus is a pastiche of every criminal and calculated act a carmichael before him has committed. he actively seeks out trouble and due to not being able to find his “place” in the family, he seems to like to win the affections of his elders by getting involved in dodgy dealings that they’ve set up - particularly those of james and johnathan. damus gets a rush out of being in on his family’s darkest secrets but he also feels like a spare part - the one who gets put into dangerous scenarios because the others are too precious to do so.

third generation age order: - katelyn  - anastasia  - leo - thomas - ophelia   - mason  - brody - hera - luna   - ruby - miles   - bella  - damus 

fourth generation (work in progress): - darcy and wren, children of anastasia  - fleur and dixie, daughters of brody  - victoria and peter, children of mason  - jacob and harlow, son of theo

[withasmoothroundstone]

This is a bit long so I put a TL;DR summary at end of post, entire paragraph in bold type, just before the footnotes.  Image description follows:

Black-and-white photo from a magazine, of six kids, a policeman, and the kids’ dog, in front of a car with bullet holes in the back of it. The caption reads:

OUT LOOKING FOR EXCITEMENT, six boys aged 8 to 13 and dog “Butch” from a Bakersfield, Calif., slum called “Billy Goat Acres” stole a car, wrecked it, stole another and wrecked it.  In a third car they roared into Los Angeles at 95 mph pursued by police who pumped 11 shots into it (see trunk) before it halted.  Expecting to find desperadoes, police learned they had captured the scared but unhurt Billy Goat Acres Mob.

From my dad’s memoirs:

One day Francis, Joan and I came into the house after throwing rocks in the river.  The river was only about 100 yards behind our house.  We went into the living room where Mom and some relatives were gathered.  They were passing around a copy of Life Magazine.  The item of interest was a fullpaged picture with the title “The Billy Goat Acres Mob”.  Grandma Rowland exclaimed, “How could they treat those children that way?”  Other similar comments followed from those present:  “Look at the expression on the policeman’s face.” “Just look at those bullet holes!”

Billy Goat Acres was a poor neighborhood in Bakersfield.  Some kids from there had stolen a car and taken it for a joyride.  They crossed over the mountains towards Mojave and near Tehachapi they ran the car into a ditch.  They stole another car and ran it out of gas.  The 3rd car they stole, near Mojave, was a Chrysler.  They made a wrong turn and ended up in Los Angeles where the joyride turned into speeding, running red lights and general reckless driving.  The California Highway Patrol gave chase and when the car wouldn’t pull over, they started shooting.  The kids ran through 2 roadblocks and when the car finally stopped the kids were unloaded from the car.  When I saw the picture I was surprised to see that the driver of the car was my 12-year-old cousin Howard McAbee and that he was the oldest in the group.

When I looked it up online, this photo was attributed to Time Magazine, not Life.  Of course, it’s quite possible that both ran the photo and the story at the time.  My mom’s memoirs say she remembers reading about this and having no idea that any of the kids would turn out to be related to her future husband.  Howard (my dad’s cousin) is the kid on the far left.

One thing I love about my parents’ memoirs (they sent them to me as a birthday present one year -- hands down the best present I’ve ever received from them at any time in my life) is that they interweave a lot of history into them.  Born in 1941 and 1946, there’s a lot of things about their lives that are very different from life now, and a lot of events they lived through that I didn’t realize we had any close ties to.  And then there were things like this...

Anyway I love reading about who my parents were before they met each other and became parents.  For reference, the above events happened in 1952.

If you are a parent, make serious thought of writing or otherwise conveying (like through art of some kind) a memoir for your children.  You don’t have to make it public.  It doesn’t have to be long and detailed, it can be anything, really, that you want to do and are capable of doing.  But I pretty much guarantee most kids will be fascinated by this stuff, unless they’re that age when anything about parents becomes embarrassing or something, or unless they have such a bad relationship with you that it would just remind them of that (but you never know, really).  Certainly I am thrilled that my father wrote this, and wrote some partial family history too (that my mom is supposed to finish for him because he died before he could finish, but left her his notes).  And that my mother wrote hers.  Their voices come across loud and clear.

And don’t worry, mom -- I won’t be posting anything from yours unless I ask you first and you say it’s okay, I know how much you value your privacy and you wrote about some pretty intense personal stuff at times.  I know this was okay with Ron, and also he’s dead and therefore unlikely to be embarrassed.  Plus it’s not like I’m posting the entire thing, just parts, and always parts that wouldn’t cause problems for anyone.  Anyway, one thing I love about reading both of the memoirs together, is the way each of their individual personalities and interests become clear not just from the stories, but from what they choose to write about and the way their very different writing styles convey who they are.  

Additionally, these memoirs will outlive their authors, even though they are not published.  My father is dead, but I can always go back to his memoirs to get a glimpse of him.  I am glad that he decided to write it long before he got cancer -- by which point he was working on a novelized version of our family history involving the Okie migration, and he never finished that.  But this is something I’ll always have to remember him by.  I have talked about other ways I remember him (such as wearing his clothes or clothes very similar to his clothes, every single day, and wearing his beard hair in a floating locket around my neck).  But this is a way to remember his ideas about the world, and his life experiences, and it’s wonderful.

To me, history is less about the huge events, and more about the people who get wrapped up in everyday life, whether they have any connection to the large-scale events or not.  Not that the large-scale events aren’t important, but they’re only as important as the effect they have on ordinary people.  So I love reading the memoirs of ordinary people, even when they aren’t related to me or known t me in any way.  

Some other time I’ll post what my dad wrote about the atomic bomb testing and its mild but nonetheless terrifying effects on his everyday life, as well as the severe effects it had on a close relative who was one of the low-ranking military men who were used as guinea pigs in atomic bomb experiments.  This is a good example of a huge event that’s known to history already, but seen from the perspectives of ordinary people who were affected by it, rather than it being an abstract and dry piece of information more to do with how it connected with lofty world politics stuff (which is, itself, highly important, but is not the only important thing, is what I mean here) than how it affected regular people.

But also, no less important, are the basics of everyday life for people like my parents, and how they and their relatives saw the world.  (If you ever plan to write something like this, it’d be really great if you incorporated information that goes back before you were born (or before you were adopted, if you know more about your adoptive family than your birth family).  It gives the perspectives of adults in your life at the time, and also sets the stage for exactly what was going on in the family and elsewhere when you came into the world.  Hearing my dad talking about having to be taught how to use a flush toilet because the whole idea was new to him, and the culture shock of moving from a one-room schoolhouse to a more typical public school(1).  

I didn’t intend this post to be so long and get into so many different topics.  I haven’t been writing lately -- of any kind -- very much, because of a huge crochet project I’m working on when I’m awake and have free time.  I just got through with the lichen (it turned out beautiful, and all done without a pattern).  So when I do write, often I either can barely write anything at all and my brain just stalls and refuses to write much, or else I write something very long and my brain stalls in the other direction and can’t condense it into something concise.  As I’ve said many times before, with my receptive language difficulties it’s just as hard for me to read my own posts as other long posts are.  Which is really annoying when proofreading -- I catch spelling errors, especially if my computer points them out to me, but I don’t catch entirely wrong or missing words and things like that because it’s too hard to read with meaning.

TL;DR: My dad’s cousin was a car thief at the age of 12!  It made it into Time Magazine (my dad said  Life Magazine, so maybe it was there too, or maybe he got the names mixed up), and I posted the picture, and then my father’s recollection of when he first saw the picture.  Then I discussed my parents’ memoirs and the way ordinary people’s lives are my favorite way to learn about history.  Also noted that my parents’ memoirs were hands-down my lifetime favorite birthday present and that if at all feasible it’s a great idea for parents to do this for their children.  Most children (especially older children and adults, I suspect, but you could also write something in simpler language with lots of pictures, for younger kids, and they’d probably be interested too) would be both curious and thrilled by this kind of thing.

FOOTNOTES

(1) In America, public school means a school funded entirely by the government.  By default, most kids are put into public schools.  Private schools are schools you have to pay for, and are generally either for upper-middle-class and rich kids, but also are sometimes for middle-class and working-class kids whose families may take out loans and go into debt or do other things to make it possible for them to attend.  Then there’s homeschooling, and unschooling, and religious schools (which I think are usually private but not sure), and nonpublic schools (what my special ed school was called in California), and I keep hearing about school vouchers but I have no clue what that means.  

I’m specifying the meaning of public school because public school means something entirely different in some countries.  More like what we’d call private schools here in America -- schools for well-to-do kids and sometimes kids who are not so well-to-do but get there because of loans or scholarships or financial aid or something.