Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

2007, Canadian hardcover Bloomsbury first edition, American hardcover Scholastic first edition
J. K. Rowling
American edition illustrated by Mary Grandpre
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Canadian edition bought new for $45.00, American bought new for $34.99
Former in good condition, latter sounds like spine will break soon
B+

I still believe this is the best book in the series, although it's not at all "a British school story with magic in it."  Yes, Harry goes back to Hogwarts, but only to lead the final battle against Voldemort and the Death Eaters.  Over one-fourth of the story is set in the pivotal 24-ish hours when Harry, Ron, and Hermione break into Gringotts and then head to their school to wrap things up.  

The whole book of course is tying up loose ends, quite the opposite of Snicket's "End."  I loved all the little shout-outs to previous moments in the series, and that Rowling really did resolve a lot of earlier mysteries.  It's not a perfect book, not quite at the level of L. Frank Baum's best, so I will talk about the flaws I found.  

The biggest flaw is that Harry starts casting Unforgivable Curses (although not Avada Kedavra), and there are no real consequences to this.  (Hermione doesn't even scold him.)  Is Rowling saying that they're forgivable in wartime?  If so, that's a non-Snicket slippery slope.  Also, while there are moments when Harry and Ron's chivalry is sweet (like when Ron says he'll pretend Hermione is his cousin, to protect her), I don't like that Harry tries to shelter Ginny during the final battle, when she's only a few months shy of being of age.  (She of course fights anyway.)  And thirdly, while there are a lot of great callbacks to earlier, there are also things like not only the Hallows themselves but Fiendfyre, that Rowling never thought to mention before.

All that said, I think this is Rowling at the top of her game.  There are no weak chapter, or parts that seem too detailed.  (I joke about the Never Ending Camping Trip, but I actually love the dynamic of the trio, and for awhile Harry and Hermione, on their own.)  There are genuinely moving moments, although it's not always the same ones that touch me each time I read the book or watch the films.  (This was I believe the first fantasy book of recent years to get the split into halves, or in The Hobbit's case thirds, ironic in light of Horcruxes of course.)  So much of the book, including the humour, comes from having a history with these characters of being, as Rowling puts in her dedication, someone who has "stuck with Harry until the very end."  I used to think that maybe I had over-rated this book because it was last, but, no, it really is the best.  

Even Grandpre has stepped up a bit.  Yes, some of the illustrations are still somewhat forgettable, but I'm fond of the ones that feature Harry, particularly the one for the chapter "Shell Cottage," where Harry sits on a cliff and reflects.

This is not the end for Harry Potter in my book collection, as I've got a few movie tie-in books coming up for '08 and '10....

The Loud Silence of Francine Green

2006, "uncorrected proof," from Clarion
Karen Cushman
The Loud Silence of Francine Green
"Price: $16.00 (tent.)"
Slightly worn paperback 
C+

A dozen years after her debut with Catherine, Called Birdy, with a few other historical novels in between, Cushman writes of more modern history, from her own lifetime, setting this in the school year of 1949-50.  Like Birdy, Francine turns from 13 to 14, but she faces a very different world than medieval England.  She lives on the edge of Hollywood and is a huge film fan (especially of "Monty" Clift).  She also lives on the edge of fear, thanks to both Communism and anti-Communism.  She's inspired by her friend Sophie to finally speak out, against a very mean nun-teacher.

I found the book a bit forced, from Sophie's father enrolling her in Catholic school, just because her late mother was Catholic, to the shoehorning in of the Jack Mann blacklisting plot.  Also, I thought Francine saying "Ye gods" so much, when she's supposed to be a good Catholic girl, was odd.  (When Birdy came up with "God's thumbs" and all the other curses, it felt much more believable.) And after so recently reading Johnson's Age of Anxiety, the discussion of politics felt very simplistic, even if the book is aimed at ages 10 to 14.  (As with Birdy, I'm going with a YA label, although it's junior-high rather than senior.)  Still, Cushman did a good job of capturing what it's like to grow up in Southern California (although I'm 27 years younger than her and 32 years younger than Francine), including visits to Forest Lawn. 

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

2005, British hardcover Bloomsbury first edition, American hardcover Scholastic first edition
J. K. Rowling
American edition illustrated by Mary Grandpre
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
British edition bought new for 16.99, American bought new for $29.99
Both in good condition
B-

OK, I still think this is the weakest book in the series.  It starts out with two chapters that, while not as unnecessary as "Hagrid's Tale" in the previous book, really don't work.  The worse chapter is first, "The Other Minister," where we see the Muggle British Prime Minister (John Major in the real summer of 1996, except that this one has a male predecessor) meeting with Fudge and his successor, the almost unpronounceable Scrimgeour.  There's little information here that isn't conveyed elsewhere, and more efficiently, and I don't find the chapter nearly as funny as Rowling seems to.  (The funniest thing is actually what one of my friends noticed at the time, that the American edition uses "site" for "sight.")  I think it's perfectly fine that this chapter was left out of the movie.  It does show the political parallels between the Muggle and magical worlds, but I think the later list of "simple security guidelines," including the impossible "You are advised not to leave the house alone," is much sharper satire, especially in light of Code Orange and all.

As for the second chapter, it's better, but it has bad-fanfic overtones, as when Narcissa Malfoy falls on her knees in front of Snape.  (To plead for Snape's help for Draco.  This isn't actually fanfic.)

Fandom uses an abbreviation OOC for "out of character," and that's the main issue I have with this book, particularly in the characterisation of the female characters, a shame after the triumphs of Order.  I've read this book enough times now that it doesn't bother me as much as it used to, but I still don't like Hermione attacking Ron with magic birds, or Ginny being Fred-and-George cruel to Ron.  Yes, they're both provoked, but I felt like they went beyond what was necessary, or what was true to their earlier characterisation.  And we have usually lively, joking Tonks moping around over Lupin.  Only Luna seems like her previous self, and I think that's partly due to the amazing Evanna Lynch, whom Rowling has admitted is the only actor or actress whose portrayal has affected her mind's eye view of her characters.

Other signs of the movies affecting Rowling include not only the previously mentioned "punch" of Draco by Hermione (the slap was in character by the way), but the little shout-outs to Rupert Grint.  At the time this book was published, we were four months away from Movie Four.  Fandom was only strengthened by the movies of course, and I suspect that all the slashy lines, such as Harry being "obsessed" by Draco, and Snape saying he'll decide how hard to be on/with Draco, are deliberate teases by Rowling.

One thing that I think is much better in the book than the movie is the visit to the cave, which contains some of Rowling's best description.  I have mixed feelings about the Pensieve memories being cut back.  I don't think it's Rowling's best writing, but there is some important information there.  I also think the movie bungled the explanation of Horcruxes, but I'll go into that someday when I've got a movie blog.

I will note that Grandpre is finally drawing the characters as if they're older than twelve.  Her green-toned cover art is good, on the front showing Harry and Dumbledore looking at the basin with the locket, on the back picturing Ron, Hermione, and Ginny gazing up at the Dark Mark.  I haven't really mentioned the British cover art, partly because it always seems to be by a different artist, but this time it complements the American: Harry and Dumbledore surrounded by fire on the front, and on the back the basin in the middle of the lake.

Country Girl, City Girl

2004, undated later edition, from Houghton Mifflin
Lisa Jahn-Clough
Country Girl, City Girl
Bought newish for $6.99
Slightly worn paperback
B-

This was published a generation after Nancy Garden's Annie on My Mind (1982), and it's interesting to look at the similarities and differences.  As the title suggests, part of the book is set in the country (rural Maine) and part in New York City, as opposed to all in NYC in Annie.  You might expect a dual narrative, but it's all from the perspective of thirteen-year-old country girl Phoebe, who meets fourteen-year-old Melita, the daughter of the best friend of Phoebe's late mother.  The passage of time seems to have allowed for greater explicitness.  Instead of "heck" and "damn" being the strongest swears, the S-bomb is dropped a few times.  Also, there are more mentions of breasts than in Garden's book.  And yet, perhaps because the girls are younger, they never do more than kiss.  They also come across as more bi-curious than definitely lesbian, and we don't even get a delayed Happy Ending, since the girls don't end up together.  (Phoebe does make another new friend, but it's not indicated that this friendship will turn romantic.)

I said that Annie was quaint and "timeless."  Here, there are more contemporary (or at least '90s) touches, like an androgynous barista and mentions of hair-dying, piercing, and tattoos, as well as the girls staging a "postmodern, feminist" fairy tale "fashion show."  I did find that the dialogue was more natural than in Annie.  However, I didn't particularly like Melita, so I wasn't especially rooting for her and Phoebe as a couple.  Perhaps it would've been better to have half the book from her viewpoint, although admittedly that didn't work too well when Danziger gave her Phoebe and Rosie each a book.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

2003, British hardcover Bloomsbury first edition, American hardcover Scholastic first edition
J. K. Rowling
American edition illustrated by Mary Grandpre
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
British edition possibly bought later for 16.99, American bought new for $29.99
British edition in good shape except for torn dustjacket, American possibly water damaged
B

Although Snicket fluctuates from B+ down to B-, with occasional trips back to B, Rowling continues to earn B's.  This book is of course even longer, so that at the point that Stone was wrapping things up, Harry has just earned his first detention with the "sweet" but really malicious Dolores Umbridge.  She's one of several memorable new characters, mostly female, that are introduced surprisingly late in the series.  One is a villainess of a very different sort, Bellatrix Lestrange.  (Yes, Bellatrix appears in Goblet, but it's much briefer.)  Nymphadora Tonks and Luna Lovegood are both unconventional but brave and loyal.  And we see more of Cho Chang, which is a mixed blessing, as she spends most of her time crying over Cedric.

I'm keeping notes on Rowling's mathematical errors to a minimum here, since as I said, there are plenty of sites that track these.  But I must note that it's not just the movie version of this book that puts Cho into Harry's year, after it was very clear in Goblet-book that Cho was a year older.  Here she refers to a Quidditch match in "the third year," meaning hers as well as Harry's.  Rowling could've avoided this by saying, "a couple years ago."  Still, I thought she did a nice job of showing the awkwardness of a first date, where Harry can't think what to say, when to hold Cho's hand, or even how to move his own limbs.  (And, yes, Ron and Hermione continue their tension, without getting it at all resolved.)

Unfortunately, Grandpre is drawing the characters as if they're about three years younger than the 15 or 16 that they are.  I know Harry is small for his age (though getting taller), but even Ron doesn't look like he's too far into puberty.  I did like seeing what she did with Tonks, Sirius, and Lupin though, and I do think this is her best cover so far, not so overcrowded, and with the nice blue tones.

This book continues the "darkness," with more violence and death.  It also shows a distrust of government, in the form of the Ministry of Magic, that wasn't as strong in the pre-9/11 days (although the book is set '95 to '96).  The parallels to both British and American Muggle governments will be more obvious in the next book.

I mentioned in my Goblet review that this contains a weak chapter, one I think could've been omitted or at least quickly summarised (as it is in the movie, but then that's notoriously short as a whole).  "Hagrid's Tale" of befriending giants is inconclusive.  They may or may not help Dumbledore's side.  And it could count towards the building of Hagrid's romance with Madame Maxime, except that Rowling later said that that fizzled out.  Yes, the journey leads to Hagrid bringing home his full-giant half-brother, but even that's not really necessary to the saga.  I consider this the weakest chapter in the series.

On the other hand, I've long regarded the sixth book as the weakest overall, so we'll see if I revise that opinion when we get to 2005....

Fruits Basket, Volume 8

2002 first published in book form in Japan, although as a comic in 2000, this TokyoPop translation from 2005
Natsuki Takaya
Fruits Basket, Volume 8
Bought newish for $9.99
Slightly worn paperback
B-

This does have one of the characters that made it into the anime (which shuffles things around more than I realized), the "monkey" Sohma, Ritchan, who's just as hysterical (in the over-reacting, not funny, sense) as his mother the hot springs "concubine."  I find him annoying, and I wasn't that into the other stories, but I thought the "haunted house" sequence was great and I wish that had been animated.

There were fifteen volumes after this, a few of which I read, but I didn't care enough to buy them, or keep going.  Mostly I see the books as a supplement to the anime, rather than the other way round, but they're somewhat entertaining on their own.

Wurst Case Scenario

2001, paperback edition from later that year, from HarperTempest
Catherine Clark
Wurst Case Scenario
Original price $6.95, purchase price unknown
Very worn paperback with broken spine
B-

This is sort of the YA answer to Smiley's Moo (1995), in that it's set on a rural Wisconsin college campus.  But instead of roaming third-person perspective, it offers the diary of freshman Courtney V.D. (for Von Dragen) Smith, as she undergoes culture shock after leaving Colorado.  This is the sequel to Truth or Dairy, which I've read and enjoyed a couple times but have never come across a used copy of.  I remembered both books as better, say B level, and this may be a case of what is essentially a '90s book being dated but not yet enough to be campy.  Yes, you've got Courtney worrying about her mother's possible Internet romances, and finding out that her farm-girl roommate Mary Jo is cooler and a better friend than the "alternative" girl named Thyme.  But these attempts at topicality are at best quaint now.  Also, considering how much of the book is about romance-- Can Courtney and her boyfriend Grant Superior make a go of their LDR?  Or should she date "WW III," AKA Corny the corncob school mascot?-- it feels like cheating to give the book an open ending.  (I was sort or rooting for Corny myself, since Grant isn't around much in this book obviously.)

Still, Clark has a nice, light touch, with Courtney just self-aware enough to realize how ridiculous she sometimes sounds, and at least there's more mention of classes than we get in Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables university books.  As far as I know, there were no further adventures of Courtney, but the two books were reissued a few years later under new titles, this one as Rocky Road Trip, which really only covers parts of the story.

Fruits Basket, Volume 6

2000 first published in Japan (both comic and book form), this TokyoPop translation from 2005
Natsuki Takaya
Fruits Basket, Volume 6
Bought newish for $9.99
Slightly worn paperback
B-

There's no more of the Takaya interview, but there is my favorite piece of fan-art, a "Disneyfied" Shigure.  This volume goes up to the point where the anime ended, although the visit to Ayame's shop and the revelation of Kyo's secret form are reversed in the anime for dramatic reasons.  I think I used to own Volume 7 but it was too focused on new characters.  I do have Volume 8, which we'll get to in 2001....

Fruits Basket, Volume 5

2000 first published in book form in Japan, although 1999 in comic form, this TokyoPop translation from 2004 
Natsuki Takaya
Fruits Basket, Volume 5
Bought newish for $9.99
Slightly worn paperback
B-

Tohru meets Yuki's brother Ayame and Kisa, the latter one of the few female zodiac members.  The interview explains more about the dynamics of the family, and also discusses the "Original Drama CD" (never available in the U.S. I'm assuming).

Fruits Basket, Volume 4

2000 first published in book form in Japan, although 1999 in comic form, this TokyoPop translation from 2004 
Natsuki Takaya
Fruits Basket, Volume 4
Bought newish for $9.99
Slightly worn paperback
B-

Tohru meets some non-zodiac members of the Sohma family, including Momiji's mother and sister (who don't know who he is), and Akito, the sinister young head of the family.  The interview with Tayaka continues, this time (after more blathering about video games) talking about the creation of the comic, including its name.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

2000, British hardcover Bloomsbury edition that's not the first but at least pre-Order-of-the-Phoenix, American paperback Scholastic edition from 2002
J. K. Rowling
American edition illustrated by Mary Grandpre
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
British edition possibly bought for 14.99, American originally $8.99 but purchase price unknown
British edition in good shape except for torn dustjacket, American worn with broken spine
B

Before the release of Deathly Hallows, this was my favorite in the series, but I'm finding the books to be all roughly on a level, so far.  Yes, this moves us into YA territory (although I'd say more middle school than high school), and the Yule Ball stuff is still among my favorite sections-- the Skrewts made me laugh out loud, too-- but I'm not entirely sure it was a wise choice to make the books longer.  (It's not till Chapter Eleven that we're "Aboard the Hogwarts Express," 140 pages in, and we were almost up to Christmas at that point in the first book.)  It's not that there are any seriously weak spots (unlike a certain chapter in the next book), but I don't know that we need to go into so much detail on everything.  On the one hand, it's nice to spend extra time with the characters, especially anything with Percy (the "Weatherby" stuff is great), but on the other, you've got Voldemort doing a Villain Monologue, and there's probably too much of logistics overall, like exactly how to get to the World Cup.  That's right, too much is explained, or over-explained anyway.

As for that move to young-teen territory, there are the first serious hints of romantic tension between Ron and Hermione.  (He now 14, she now 15, although I don't remember if her birthday is ever explained in the books.)  Ron continues his crush on Madam Rosmerta and also falls for quarter-Veela Fleur, although she's eying his brother Bill later on.  (Grandpre's illustrations are again mostly forgettable, although the one of Ron and Fleur is funny.)  And Harry gets tangled in romantic triangles, real and imaginary.

Also, while there is violence and "darkness" in every book, the torture of Harry, and of course the killing of Cedric, are more intense than anything in the first three books.  Even Dumbledore's look of almost-triumph is disturbing.  (Not explained till late in the last book.)  When he says that Snape is no more a Death Eater than he is, I once had a theory that Dumbledore would turn out to be secretly evil.  (The truth about him, and Snape, would turn out to be more complex.)  As a symbol of this being the midpoint of the series, we don't have Gryffindor winning the House Cup-- Harry not only doesn't take finals, but he doesn't play Quidditch except at the Weasleys'-- and instead black banners hang for Cedric.

I was hooked by the series when I read this book in I guess mid-2001.  It would be another two years, very long it seemed then, before the fifth book came out.  Much would change in the interval, partly as a result of September 11th.  On a brighter note, we got the first two movies, and I could finally visualize Quidditch.

The Amber Spyglass: His Dark Materials, Book III

2000, 2003 Laurel-Leaf edition
Philip Pullman
The Amber Spyglass: His Dark Materials, Book III
Original price $6.99, purchase price $2.40
Slightly worn paperback
C+

One hundred pages into this, I was about ready to quit.  Another one hundred and I was at least interested in Mary's stay with the mulefa (wheeled elephants, sort of).  The second half of the book had its moments.  But I didn't care about

• Will's story arc
• Anything with Lyra's parents, whose characterisation fluctuates wildly, not just compared to the first two books but within this book
• The trip to Deadland (although we briefly get to see Lee)
• The stuff with "God" (not really God)
• Father Gomez's failed attempt to kill Mary
• The wimpy bitter gay angels
• "Lyra" the girl who bore little resemblance to the spunky gal from the first book

Ironically, the best writing is for Will and Lyra's "falling in love."  It doesn't seem believable, especially since they're two rather emotionally stunted twelve-year-olds, but if you can overlook that, it's touching, as is their separation, even if I think they'll be better off without each other (she especially).  I could point out a lot of other flaws, like that Will and Lyra wouldn't see children their own age as "little," but no matter.  Let's call the series a failed opportunity at best, and move on.

Fruits Basket, Volume 3

1999 first published in Japan (both comic and book form), this TokyoPop translation from 2004 
Natsuki Takaya
Fruits Basket, Volume 3
Bought newish for $9.99
Slightly worn paperback
B-

Tohru meets Hatsuharu (ox) as well as the mother of the monkey (oddly translated as "concubine" of the hot springs spa).  The relationships get a little deeper than before, although there's still lots of slapstick and mild violence.  There's even more fan-art than before, as well as an "Interview with Takaya-sensei."

Fruits Basket, Volume 2

1999 first published in Japan, but published in comic form in 1998, and this TokyoPop translation from 2004 
Natsuki Takaya
Fruits Basket, Volume 2
Bought newish for $9.99
Worn paperback
B-

This time Tohru meets Momiji (rabbit) and Hatori (seahorse, rather than a dragon), and there's quite a bit of back story on the latter.  Also, her friends Hana and Uo invites themselves to a sleepover, but the Sohma's secret isn't revealed to them.  Tohru tells a story that didn't make the anime, about a boy in a cap leading her home when she was lost.

This is about equal to the first volume and is the first to include fan-art and even fan-haikus.

Fruits Basket, Volume 1

1999 first published in Japan, but published in comic form in 1998, and this TokyoPop translation from 2004 
Natsuki Takaya
Fruits Basket, Volume 1
Bought newish for $9.99
Slightly worn paperback
B-

When I first saw the anime, I loved it so much, I watched the whole DVD (six episodes) in a row.  I got the manga not long after, and enjoyed it less, partly because I missed the wonderful American voice-acting.  I also quit maybe a dozen volumes in because there were too many side characters, and I wanted the focus to stay on Tohru Honda and the Sohmas.  (In contrast, I read Kare Kano to the end, getting it from the library, and finding it about equal to the anime, although I only bought the anime, not the manga.)

As the dates at the top indicate, it was hard to know where to place this chronologically, especially since this edition contains an interview with the American actress for Tohru.  But I decided that the way it was originally packaged as a book matters most, especially since we get what presumably wasn't in the comic form, Takaya rambling about various topics, including what sound like rather boring video games.  Occasionally she'll offer insights into her characters, but not often enough.

As for the story itself, it's a good one, with Tohru learning the secret of the Sohma family, that thirteen of its members turn into animals of the Chinese zodiac (including the exiled cat).  If I recall correctly, these first six chapters roughly correspond to the first five episodes, with Tohru meeting, moving in with, and then briefly leaving Shigure (dog), Yuki (rat), and Kyo (cat).  The mix of personalities offers interesting contrasts.  I do have to gripe about a couple of things.  One, I don't find the violence of Kagura (boar) towards her "beloved" Kyo funny, although it sort of works in the anime.  Two, I don't mind reading back to front (TokyoPop's "authentic" format), but I don't like how it's not always clear whether to move down or right.  And three, some of the font is incredibly tiny (not only translated but shrunk down from the comics), so I ended up skipping the smallest.

The Subtle Knife: His Dark Materials, Book II

1997, 2003 Laurel-Leaf edition
Philip Pullman
The Subtle Knife: His Dark Materials, Book II
Original price $6.99, purchase price $2.80
Slightly worn paperback
C+

This is the book that introduces Will Parry, from "our world," when the title object cuts "windows" between worlds.  While he's got a fairly interesting back-story, with his father turning out to be not-actually-beheaded Grumman from the first book, I didn't really like him, and I especially didn't like his effect on Lyra.  While there's still some of her spunkiness from before, she spends too much of the book following his "orders."  I also didn't feel like the other characters were woven in as well as before, although Lee Scoresby has some good scenes.  (The witches are again "ragged" and "elegant.")  And the scene where Will meets his father and they realise each other's identities was packed with cliches, including the dad's death.

Still, the idea of the knife and the parallel worlds is interesting.  Pullman gets more obviously anti-church, with one of the characters saying that all churches are evil.  This doesn't make Pullman anti-Christian exactly, and the prophecy about Lyra indicates that she'll be "the new Eve."  We'll see how it's all resolved in The Amber Spyglass in 2000, but I can say now that The Cincinnati Enquirer review quoted on that book in this, "Pullman has created the last great fantasy masterpiece of the twentieth century," had already been proven wrong by another series that had begun the year this came out.  (OK, not a masterpiece, but better than this series.)

The Golden Compass: His Dark Materials, Book I

1995, 2007 Random House edition
Philip Pullman
The Golden Compass: His Dark Materials, Book I
Original price $7.50, purchase price $2.80
Slightly worn paperback
B-

Had I graded this book when I first read it a dozen or so years ago, I might've given it a B or B+.  This time though I realized that, except for some nice touches here and there, Pullman doesn't have much style.  To take the most glaring example, the witches are invariably described as having "ragged elegance."  Also the plot depends a great deal on shock value, and that's gone on the third or fourth reading.  

What I'm left with is some interesting world-building, not just the witches and of course the armored bears, but also the morally ambiguous world of adults.  Enemies, as young Lyra learns, can both be wrong, even in the case of her charming but ruthless parents.  Lyra herself is disobedient and dishonest, but brave and good-hearted.

This reading, I had some questions about the daemons, the familiars/souls that all humans have.  Why, other than Jungian psychology, is a daemon usually the opposite sex of its human?  And why do the personalities sometimes coincide and sometimes not?  Lyra's daemon Pan is much more of a worrier than she is.  Does this represent the self-doubt that she seldom shows?

I won't address the "anti-Christian elements" till we get further into the trilogy, since they're minor until the last few chapters of this book.  (The Church is presented more as a political than a religious body.)  I will say though that oddly enough the book most reminded me of A Wrinkle in Time (1962), as children struggle with good and evil, and-- more so in Subtle Knife (1997) of course-- travel between worlds.

Catherine, Called Birdy

1994, 1995 HarperTrophy edition
Karen Cushman
Catherine, Called Birdy
Bought newish for $4.95
Very worn paperback
B-

This won the Newbery Honor and I remember preferring it to Cushman's Midwife's Apprentice, which won the award the next year.  They're both set in the Middle Ages, although this is the more humorous book.  It's about Catherine, who is called Birdy because she has pet birds.  (I've never liked the title, it sounds like it means that Birdy is calling Catherine.)  It's set in England in the early 1290s, as Birdy turns from 13 to 14 and fights her father's attempts to marry her off.  Despite the Newbery nomination, it's on the borderline between a children's book and one for young adults.  My copy says "12up," and that sounds right.  There's mild profanity (e.g. "piss") and mild sexual themes, and yes, mild violence.  But it all feels period-authentic.

Whether Catherine is authentically medieval is less clear.  I do think there were girls who rebelled against the rules of the time, if not necessarily in the ways she does.  In a different way than Jo March, Birdy is tamed and domesticated, while still retaining her individuality.

I didn't find the book hilarious or gripping this time.  (I think I liked it most on first reading, although I wasn't crazy about the ending, or at least the events leading up to the ending.)  But it's still a spritely yet educational read, the journal format making it zip along.  

Incidentally, while the Newbery winner for the year, Walk Two Moons, is possibly better than this book, I actually prefer Sharon Creech's first novel, Absolutely Normal Chaos, which is in the form of a journal.  (I don't own any of Creech's books though.)  And I think Midwife's Apprentice should've lost to Christopher Paul Curtis's The Watsons Go to Birmingham: 1963, which is better than Curtis's award-winning Bud, Not Buddy.  Good thing I'm not on the committee I guess.

It's an Aardvark-Eat-Turtle World

1985, 1986 Laurel-Leaf edition
Paula Danziger
It's an Aardvark-Eat-Turtle World
Original price unknown, purchase price $1.98
Slightly worn paperback
B-

Yes, this is about equal to The Divorce Express, but unfortunately it works better as a stand-alone.  Phoebe seems completely out of character, and bratty.  Rosie is a likable enough narrator, her puns replacing Phoebe's now forgotten anagrams, although I sometimes feel like Danziger is rushing through issues/topics-- "Divorce!  Living together!  Remarriage!  Racism!  Young Love! Friendship!  Canada!"  The title is one of her more contrived ones, since it has to do with a dog (Aardvark) eating a turtle, and they aren't even the pets of the main family.  And again, she's over-idealizing Woodstock, and failing to humanize the "superstraights," Phoebe's mother and stepfather.  I do like that the theme is that life, especially family, isn't perfect, but it's worth working at.  There are moments of realism but also moments of ABC After-School Special.  Again, she's writing of and to younger teens, although Phoebe does some off-page "making out."  Rosie's interracial (and international) romance with Phoebe's Canadian stepcousin is more innocent and nicely done, although they say "I love you" far too soon.  (Even Blume's Danziger in Forever would tell them to slow down emotionally.)

There are a few non-1960s pop references, but there's not really anything to show that three years have passed in the real world since Express.  It seemed like the six years between The Cat Ate My Gymsuit and There's a Bat in Bunk Five (which if I remember correctly also had a kid sister from another book, maybe Pistachio Prescription) offered more than double the cultural change, but it's been a long while since I've read them.

I should note that my copy has a far more fan-servicy cover than other editions, with the girls wearing long shirts and apparently no jeans/slacks/skirts.  It's creepy considering they're supposed to be 14.  Other editions wisely play off of the moving and/or friendship themes.  (The Express cover shows the girls at a bus stop, Rosie trying to cheer up Phoebe.)

Annie on My Mind

1982, 1997 Aerial edition
Nancy Garden
Annie on My Mind
Original and purchase price unknown
Worn paperback
B-

Before this, most YA novels with gay characters had tragic endings, ranging from break-up to death.  (Death of protagonist, lover, in one case a dog!)  Garden does separate the two girls, long enough for Liza to narrate their story, looking back months later, during freshmen year of college, but Liza calls Annie in the last couple pages and they reaffirm their love.

Despite the New York City setting, there's a quaint quality to this book, yes, much more than Divorce Express.  There are no topical references, and lesbian subject matter aside, it almost feels like the '50s, with "damn" the strongest swear-word, and one teenaged boy even saying "heck."  Liza's private school is particularly a product of an earlier time.  And compared to Forever, or even Dinky Hocker, it's very pure and innocent.  We know that the girls take off their clothes and go to bed together, but there are no physical details. 

This may be deliberate.  As Liza says, the relationship is about love, so Garden doesn't emphasize the sexual side, just hinting at it.  The novel has nonetheless been challenged in different towns, even burned in Kansas City, and is probably more offensive to homophobes than a more explicit, less romantic story would be, especially since the girls are caught by a homophobic Christian.

I think in a way I'd prefer the book if it were more rooted in its time, or any specific time, if it didn't have a little boy saying, during the girls' pretend sword fight, "I'm for the one in the cape!," which I can't imagine any twentieth-century child phrasing like that.  I am grateful for this novel paving the way, but I can't help wishing it were better.