Random Romance Read: Vote for Love, by Barbara Cartland

Okay, confession time.  We get LOTS of really old books as donations at the library, particularly paperbacks.  And (being totally serious here) it's really quite sad.  Because once a paperback gets to a certain age, those cheap pulpy mass-produced pages are brown and fragile and brittle - we can't use them in the library, even if we wanted to.  Libraries try to be sensitive, and we do what we can based on our local rules and regulations; pass them on to charities, sell them off, or at worst, send them off to be recycled.  Once upon a time, a box of particularly ancient paperbacks had a Barbara Cartland romance in it with a VERY disturbing name, and I was totally hooked.  I'm not going to admit which one, but it was enlightening (and yes, disturbing), to say the least.  So when a recent batch of donations had another ancient, brittle, foxed paperback with Cartland's name on it and another disturbing title, I just had to read it.

Vote for Love
Barbara Cartland
1977 (bantam paperbacks)
ISBN: 0553103415 (?)
Read May 26, 2016

Oh man.  Ok.  We're solidly in King Edward's reign, while his lovely deaf wife Alexandra nods and smiles at people and he hooks up with Alice Keppel every chance he gets.  So solid Victorian mores here: cheat all you want, but don't dare cause a scandal.  Also, in the lead up to war, the suffragettes are getting nasty; planting bombs and causing disturbances and refusing to be bailed out of jail and going on hunger strikes and getting force-fed, all of which is causing untold scandal to their well-bred and better-behaved family members.  Raybourn is our man here, and he's a solicitor.  He's single, and been hooking up with various married women for a while now, but his last fling is a stormy, emotional, jealous type.  Our girl is Viola, and she's being terrorized by her evil stepmother (I wish I were kidding) after her father's death to participate in the suffragette movement because her name will cause people to think that her departed father had sympathies for the movement (he did not).

I will pause here and say that the ENTIRE novel treats the suffragettes as either frigid man-hating battle-axes or silly socialites who are throwing silly tantrums on a lark because they're bored with tea-parties and want people to notice them.  

Poor Viola gets thrown into Raybourn's arms (quite literally) when her stepmother has her plant a bomb in his apartment, and he comes in while she's hoping to become a suicide bomber.  (Reading this now with ISIS and the heated political situation here and the shootings and bomb threats at Planned Parenthood was uncomfortable, to say the least.) Raybourn begins his successful campaign of rescuing this delicate flower (yes, I get that her name is Viola, that it sounds like Violet, that violets are shy and delicate and retiring and need protection oh my god seriously give it up.) from various social inequities and unpleasantness. They get engaged as a sham to keep each other safe; her from a lecherous old Earl, and him from the jealous mistress (her husband died, and now she's on the prowl), but there are a few more rough waves to crest before making it to smooth sailing as husband and wife.

Highlights:
Viola speaks... in... ellipses... when she's... around Raybourn... because she's usually.... so.... so frightened... and overwhelmed.  HELP ME.
(This one is a serious one) Raybourn spends an awful lot of time ruminating on the inequities of Society; that men should be allowed mistresses pretty much whenever, but women had to wait until after they were comfortably wed and bred (heir and a spare first) before they could acceptably engage in assignations.  That sort of observation, while trenchant, doesn't really mesh well with whatever else we see of his personality.  (Granted we only get 150 pages of story, so we're dealing with limited characterization anyway.)
Best Line Ever: At the end of the book, Raybourn finally reassures timid little Viola that his love is true, and he reassures her of his continued protection: "and when we are wed, I won't allow you to vote for anything but love."

 

 

Juv Fantasy: Magic at Wychwood, Sally Watson, illustrated by Frank Bozzo

Magic at Wychwood
Sally Watson, illustrated by Frank Bozzo
ISBN: 0394914686 (library binding)
Read May 27, 2016
Juv Classic Fantasy.  Very similar in feel and spunk to the more recent Tuesdays at the Castle.


This was a cute little short read, again found while helping a patron find an old childhood read.  This one is about a royal family, in particular the youngest daughter: spunky, redheaded, un-ladylike Princess Elaine, and their various adventures concerning magical happenings in and around the castle.  Extremely laid back, no real peril (people do get changed into animals and inanimate things, but everything always comes right in the end).  Elaine is a delightful hero, and her big brother Arthur takes the stage a few times also, and he is determinedly chivalrous and delightful in his adherence to the Code, especially when everyone else in the family is being much more sensible.

Very cute, and a great choice for bedtime serial readings - each "chapter" is a self-contained story that only slightly builds on the ones before it, up til the very end when everything gets tied off delightfully.

New Arrival: Juv Nonfiction: Nettie and Nellie Crook: Orphan Train Sisters, by E. F. Abbot & Clint Hansen

Nettie and Nellie Crook, Orphan Train Sisters
E. F. Abbot (pseudonym for Susan Hill), illustrated by Clint Hansen
ISBN: 9781250068354
A "based on a true story" junior novelization of the experiences of a set of twins on the orphan trains.

This was a very sad and sobering story, and even more so when I read the coda at the end and realized how very true to actual events the narrative was.  Even more sobering is that this is a relatively happy story: the girls were allowed to stay together, and they were eventually matched up into a happy family in town, as opposed to being used as slave labor out in the wilds, or used for prostitution, or simply abused by their "adoptive" families.  I feel for the kids involved, but also for the charities involved - trying to figure out a better option than orphanages and workhouses (which were even more horrible) or them dying on the streets or getting picked up by organized crime and abused or prostituted in the cities.  Their solution was novel, and I'm sure for at least some of the kids and western families, worked out beautifully.  Unfortunately, for many others, it was simply a move to a very different kind of horrible life.

Sad read, but an important chapter in American history.

New Arrival: Nonfiction Picture Book: The Secret Subway, Shana Corey & Red Nose Studio

The Secret Subway
Shana Corey, illustrations and figurines and concepts by Red Nose Studio
ISBN: 9780375870712
Stop-motion puppets and silhouettes and still-life scenes make this look like a movie storybook.

Alfred Ely Beach invented the first subway in New York, but unfortunately he ran afoul of the mafia (Boss Tweed himself) and of the government (didn't grease enough palms, most likely) and his project was literally buried.  If you love weird history and underdogs, and don't mind a fairly sad ending, check this out for the beautiful puppets/sculptures and the intricate backgrounds with a faint steampunk vibe and plenty of character.  If they're angling to make a movie, they've got a fan here already - I think it would be beautiful, but Corey's words do a fine job of carrying the story while the illustrations spark the imagination.

Tuesday Storytime: Ducks!

I went with a nice simple theme and picture today since we had a daycare attending.  My normal group of about 20-odd warm bodies ballooned up to over seventy people today - I needed all the easy I could get!

Little Quack

Lauren Thompson, illustrated by Derek Anderson

ISBN: 0689847238

Math-concept book focuses on the first time ducklings leave their nest to go swimming.

Fuzzy bright simplistic paintings use the spreads to great advantage as the looming mother duck convinces her timid ducklings to leave the nest and join her in the water.  The math is relegated to the bottom of the panels, and could easily be left out - all I did was ask the kids each time how many of the ducklings were in the water.

Have You Seen My Duckling

Nancy Tafuri

ISBN: 0688027989

Caldecott Honor book.  Vivid naturalistic colored-pencil drawings have the missing duckling hidden.

An old classic.  Hard to do in storytime usually because there's not anything to DO really - just turn the pages and ask on occasion: "have you seen my duckling?" but with a group this large, there's going to be a few kids who can be counted on to answer questions and anticipate events, so I can ask: "what sort of animal is mama duck talking to?" and "do you see the missing duckling?" (and of course point it out each time so that everyone can share the joke.  I don't do a lot of wordless or near wordless books, so it's nice to be able to use this one at last.

Five Little Ducks

Ivan Bates

ISBN: 0439746930

Bates' illustrations are always sweet and just this side of precious, paired perfectly with the nursery rhyme.

Ivan Bates is a gifted illustrator, and his beautiful pictures always warm my heart.  Something about how he lays down colors and the slightly scribbly edges on his shapes and the almost-minimalistic backgrounds just resonate really strongly with me, and I simply adore looking at them.  Calming and fun at the same time.  Matching that feeling up with an old nursery rhyme is a perfect choice, and makes for an instant classic.  The only downside is that I never heard this particular one as a song, only as a chant, so I don't actually know how to sing it!  I have to settle for halfway between reading and chanting, and my natural cadence is not quite up to the task.  Oh well.  Small price to pay for such a sweet and beautiful book.

New Arrival: Picture Book Biography: Miss Mary Reporting, by Sue Macy & C. F. Payne

Miss Mary Reporting: The True Story of Sportswriter Mary Garber
Sue Macy, illustrated by C. F. Payne
ISBN: 9781481401203
Slightly caricatured figures in muted "historical" tones match the lively but respectful tone of the story.

I don't have much to do with sports; my family isn't involved or interested in them, we don't have a "team" in any sport, let alone the great American requirements like football or baseball.  I am generally aware that there are major sports rivalries, but the only one I know of for sure is the one in my own state, for football.  I'm sure that my general ignorance is amazing to some people, but usually it doesn't impact my life.  I go through my days in a blissfully unaware non-sporting haze.

This book was a rare hiccup in that bliss. I have a thing for picture book nonfiction.  I think that it's a beautiful and underappreciated way to introduce young kids to history in a non-boring, non-pedantic, non-TEXTBOOK delivery.  And this sort of history is EXACTLY what I would have loved to learn about; a scrappy little girl who wasn't interested in "girly" things, and enjoyed doing what her daddy did (in my case it was cars, in hers; sports) and shoved her way into and up to the top of a profession and an environment that was not only unwelcoming, but actively discouraging.  The pictures always emphasize her height - well, the lack of height - but the funny thing is that despite being so petite, she's always the central focus of the composition, and one gets the impression that once she started rolling, she really was the central focus of wherever she went.  Highlights for me were that she gave attention and press time to the segregated games for the Black community, that she continued in her career until she was EIGHTY-freaking-SIX years old, and that she regularly credited her sister Neely for being the "mother" figure who stayed at home and kept the household running so that she could do the job in a man's world that she wanted to do.

An excellent book about an excellent lady who I had never heard about, and now I'm very glad that I have made her acquaintance, and I think the writer/illustrator duo here has done a bang-up job bringing her passion and perseverance to life.

Tuesday Storytime: Book Safety

Saving the ducks for next week when we have a daycare group descending upon us.

How to Read a Story
Kate Messner, illustrated by Mark Siegel
ISBN: 9781452112336
A boy and his blue dog journey through the process of storytelling/group reading.

This one came in new recently, and I set it aside because I knew it would work beautifully for a storytime with these other two that I've used several times before.  We have "Steps" (One through Ten, obviously) starting with "Step 1: Find a Story.  A good one.  It can have princesses and castles, if you like that sort of thing, or witches and trolls. (As long as they're not too scary.)" and ending with "Step 10: When the book is over, say, "The End."" Cute and a very simple guide to the process of reading, and how to make it entertaining to the audience.

Read It, Don't Eat It!
Ian Schoenherr
ISBN: 9780061724558
Various anthropomorphized animals illustrate what NOT to do to books.

Previously reviewed here.  Some of the advice goes over toddler heads, but the parents understand, and at this age, the parents are the ones who are really the target audience for this particular lecture anyway.

Book! Book! Book!
Deborah Bruss, Tiphanie Beeke
ISBN: 0439135257
The barnyard animals are bored and lonely when the kids go off to school, and head to the library for something to do.

Also previously reviewed here.  I like the slow build-up to the punchline with the various animal sounds, and that the librarian is a woman of color, and that there is a "stinger" at the end that always gets the adults to laugh.