Help with Kyra **SPOILERS**

[Scarlet Witch]

Hi friends!

new to the forums, and happy to meet everyone :-) I just finished reading Bag of Bones - loved it! - and I'm here with a little question about a sentence Kyra used to repeat throughout the whole book, and that I'm not able to understand properly (and I don't know whether this is because of the italian translation, or because I lost something along the road). So: during the novel, Kyra keeps on referring to Max Devore and Rogette Withmore as "il nonno bianco" / "la nonna bianca" (that's the italian translation, and means "the white grandfather" / "the white grandmother"). Now, in italian you use these expressions to stress the ethnicity of a person, so that "il nonno bianco" suggests Max to be white caucasian, and implies Kyra has at least one grandfather / grandmother afroamerican. But clearly this can't be possible, because Kyra is blonde, and there is no way in genetics that you can be blonde with a branch of your family being afroamerican. So, why? How did Kyra call her grandfather in the English version? The same? And again, why?

Thanks a lot for help!

JULIA

[Bev Vincent]

In English, she says "white nana" and "white poppa." Probably because they are VERY, VERY white -- by which I mean, pale as ghosts, plus they have white hair. She's just a little girl, so she says what she means, literally.

[Chuggs]

I agree with Bev V. I took her saying that because of how pale they were along with their white hair. Bag of Bones is a wonderful book, one of my top five I think.

[Scarlet Witch]

Thank you all for the kindest answes Sadly, this nuance of the language is completely lost with the translation (not that any italian words able to translate this properly pop up to my mind). I should start reading these books in English, sooner or later, but I'm kinda afraid that some of the dialogues, with people speaking in dialect, is quite tough to understand for non-native speakers.
So, again, thank you

JULIA

[Spideyman]

Thank you all for the kindest answes Sadly, this nuance of the language is completely lost with the translation (not that any italian words able to translate this properly pop up to my mind). I should start reading these books in English, sooner or later, but I'm kinda afraid that some of the dialogues, with people speaking in dialect, is quite tough to understand for non-native speakers.
So, again, thank you

JULIA

If you do decide to read any of SK books in English, and have questions about dialects, please feel free to post here on the SKMB. We are always willing to explain and help. Several international members often ask questions concerning meanings.

[fredthe3rd]

Thank you all for the kindest answes Sadly, this nuance of the language is completely lost with the translation (not that any italian words able to translate this properly pop up to my mind). I should start reading these books in English, sooner or later, but I'm kinda afraid that some of the dialogues, with people speaking in dialect, is quite tough to understand for non-native speakers.
So, again, thank you

JULIA

If you read an English language version - don't start with Dolores Claiborne.

[GNTLGNT]

In English, she says "white nana" and "white poppa." Probably because they are VERY, VERY white -- by which I mean, pale as ghosts, plus they have white hair. She's just a little girl, so she says what she means, literally.

...and could be broadened in context to include some possible "influence" from Sara herself, compared to her-they are polar opposites in skin color...I could be way out to sea, but who's to say how strong here "reach" was???...

[Scarlet Witch]

Thanks to all of you again, for the answers and for being ready to help with the language even in case of further need. And thanks Fredthe3rd for the heads up with Dolores Claiborne.

As for me, now I'll try to catch up with SK works before Doctor Sleep is out (I started reading his books late, and I still have some old classics to recover - Firestarter, for example - plus, the most recent I've read was The Colorado Kid, so it's still a long way up to now). And then I'll start reading them again in English, so, certainly I'll be back here :-)

[~Ally~]

But clearly this can't be possible, because Kyra is blonde, and there is no way in genetics that you can be blonde with a branch of your family being afroamerican.

Hi, and welcome to the board. Your post/question is very interesting, but I feel it is relevant to mention here that people with Afro-American/black heritage can produce white children. Everything is dependant on the most dominant genes during reproduction, and a child's features can often be attributed to DNA leading back through decades/generations.

[Scarlet Witch]

Hi, and welcome to the board. Your post/question is very interesting, but I feel it is relevant to mention here that people with Afro-American/black heritage can produce white children. Everything is dependant on the most dominant genes during reproduction, and a child's features can often be attributed to DNA leading back through decades/generations.

Thanks Ally, for the specifics on genetics :-) I take your point, but - correct me if I'm wrong - I guess that it's not very common for such a thing to happen. So, if this were the case, probably it'd have been pointed out by the Author somewhere in the book