Voyages of the Susabella

Christopher Cool, Teen Agent #1: X Marks the Spy

2011-02-02T12:42:00.000-05:00

Okay, the Christopher Cool, TEEN Agent series is my all time favorite boys series. I cannot tell you how much kitsch-tastic amazingness is contained in each volume. The series was published in 1967-69 by Grosset and Dunlap and written by Jim Lawrence (who wrote the newspaper strip version of James Bond, appropriately enough) under the pen name Jack Lancer. Chris is the son of Dr. Jonathan Cool, "America's foremost brain in high energy physics," who mysteriously disappeared a couple of years ago. Chris goes to the CIA at 17, hoping to get hired and go after his dad. Instead, he gets funneled into the TEEN (Top-secret Educational Espionage Network). Yes, I'm serious. Yes, it's fabulous.

Anyway, two years later, Chris is at Kingston (an Ivy League type college), rooming with his TEEN partner, Geronimo Johnson. Gerry is Apache, which is one of the fifty million languages that Chris speaks fluently. I won't deny that a lot of the Native American humor in this series is kind of cringe-worthy, but most of it's tongue-in-cheek and mocks the other characters, rather than Gerry. Q is their main contact from Control, dresses in a navy blazer and a yachting hat, smokes an unlit pipe, and takes constant swigs from a bottle of milk. Could I make any of this UP? I LOVE IT. The heroine (supporting character) is Spice Carter, a fiery redhead who can hold her own in intelligence and a fight. The villains alternate between the Reds (obvious Cold War influence in the series) and TOAD, which is a network of supervillains aimed on global domination. SQUEE!

In this first title, Chris and Gerry are off to France, in search of a secret weapon Ciel Assassin/Skykill. It's been developed by an evil genius, Le Glacier/the Chiller. Of course. They meet up with Spice Carter for the first time outside of Paris, and both boys are impressed with her, not just her looks, but mostly her skillz. To give you an example of a typical Chris Cool adventure, there's a fight scene on top of the Eiffel Tower, and Chris gets thrown over, goes into a skydiving roll, turns on the jet packs built into his shoes, then Gerry zips him a rescue line. Also typical: underground labs abound, with venomous attack bats. These books are PERFECTION.

This refuses to rotate.

Other things I like about this series: They're well-written, in spite of the ridiculosity of the plots. They talk a lot about cars and girls, which I think is realistic for a series targeting boys who are maybe 11-15. They're also heavy on gadgets, in the vein of James Bond. Pomeroy is the eccentric little bald man who keeps them suited up with bizarro supplies. Anyway, I HIGHLY recommend this series. It can be difficult to collect--it doesn't seem to have been as widely-printed as many series, and a lot of the titles duplicate other, more commonly available trade titles, which makes it hard to search for some of them. That said, most can be found for $5-10 with a little patience.

The story begins with a hot flash from Control via their wristwatches. I tried to keep track of the gadgets for this entry, but it was getting ridiculous. Rough list: chewing gum explosives, UV light rings, jet pack shoes, rescue lines, ties that adapt to gas masks.
"The 4.2 liter engine purred like a well-fed pussycat, then broke into a full-throated jungle roar as the black Jag shot down the driveway into Madison Circle." The Jag is their main car.
Q calls the CIA "Cloak and Dagger," which I found entertaining.
TOAD sends toads to intended victims, and stamps the foreheads of victims with a bladed, venom-injecting stamp.
Sixties fashions abound, including a, "Gaunt horse-faced woman with dangling earrings and a brassy yellow fright wig."
When they talk about girls, they pretty flatly say whether or not they're hot. To me, this reads a lot more true to a typical 19 year old guy than most of these books.
Chris himself is of course hot, with blond hair, blue eyes, and a tight frame. Gerry is constantly described as having coppery skin and longish black hair. The book mocks those around them who give Gerry the side eye.
I apologize for how much squeeing fangirlness is in this post, but I seriously can't recommend these books highly enough. Guaranteed entertainment.

Jane Allen #5: Jane Allen, Senior

2011-01-10T23:23:00.001-05:00

Someone has added the above annotation to the scanned copy on Google. And luckily, it's quite true--this book is compulsively readable and the best of the series. This year, Jane has decided that she and Judy must go in for that specialization in social work, complete with 200 hours of field work. Judy hauls in truant boys, while Jane takes on the Jennings/Castbolt family. Mrs. Jennings is a young widow with two baby children, living with her also-widowed mother, Mrs. Castbolt. They're eeking out a living while Mrs. Jennings's brother/Mrs. Castbolt's son, Renny, finishes his final year of an engineering degree. Unfortunately, Mrs. Jennings has given their pittance of savings to Carol Dare, an "agent" of sorts, hoping to get on the stage and get more money for the family. Of course, this fails, and unless Renny drops out of school, they'll lose the house. Their only other hope is a wealthy uncle, who just HAPPENS to be Henry Allen's old friend.

While Jane manages to solve everyone's problems per usual, this book is much more fun as to what happens along the way. The girls take in the two babies to Madison Hall for a night, and Judy also has hilarious adventures with her "hooky boys." In another side plot, Judy has the school "adopt" an elderly man, who just happens to be the grandfather of Carol Dare. Honestly, it's not too far from the usual series book do-gooding, but doing it through the lens of social work makes it less cloying. Finally, this book has boys and romance! There's a prom, and Renny is a great romantic interest. He reminds me of Bill from the Patty Fairfield series, so far as the humbler origins/self-made bit. I really hate that the story ends with this title.

This book does raise interesting issues as far as the then relatively new idea of girls being in school at all, let alone actually pursuing a career. In one scene, the girls bemoan how being away at school hurts their chances with boys back home. They also give Jane a hard time as far as taking time away from sports and school fun to do her field work. Jane's father, especially, really is not into her taking on ANY job, let alone social work--he doesn't "want Jane to devote a promising young life to a restricted career." In the end, it turns out that he's asked their supervisor to restrict her to this case, since he's friends with the uncle. Jane, oddly enough, is okay with this. It's one of the many mixed messages this book gives. I wonder how the romance and career would have both been incorporated had the series continued--ideally in the vein of Beverly Gray, I think.

Social work "had only been recognized as a profession since college graduates were required by the Social Service promoters." The book is really interesting as far as info about the establishment and workings of Social Services. Very unique in a series book, to the best of my knowledge.
"But we have had the games all through our three years," is the only real mention of basketball in this book (refereeing is the only one in the last one, for the record), and it's offered as a weak protest to the girls field work. I will also point out that it's actually been four years--memory slip, or futher proof that Josephine Chase did not author the later titles?
Dozia tells a long, hilarious story based around wearing (and not wearing) stockings with a bathing suit and a misunderstanding with her fiance, Phil. It's worth reading, I promise! I can't condense it any better than that.
Mrs. Castbolt and her sister were both seminary grads, and they (and Jane) bemoan Mrs. Jennings decision to marry immediately after college, "Married the year she graduated! The clause repeated itself. Just imagine!"
"The fact that gentlemen were now permitted to come to Wellington and take part in the big social affairs, gave the zest that goes to make any affair interesting." Finally! An explanation of all the girls-only dances of the first three books.
It's too bad that there weren't boys until this book, because the writing about it completely captures schoolgirl crushes. "When he was gone, a few minutes later, Jane and Judith fell into each other's arms like two high school girls." None of Nancy Drew's nonchalance/disinterest here.
"Then he smiled down at her, and she felt so small--he was so tall and so protective. The two old friends were talking eagerly over near the window, and the young folks--well, they were not saying much just then. The air was tingling with interest, and Jane must have been very happy; for again 'youth will be served.'"Clearly, Renny was to be the romantic lead for the rest of the series.
"Was there anything else to be settled? If so it will have to be told in the next volume of this series to be entitled: Jane Allen: Graduate." :-(
Final count for things that were restricted to the first three books: basketball, no boys, and Marian Seaton. Carol Dare is the only real enemy of this volume, and she's not much of one. I hate enemies, so even more points for this book.

Jane Allen #4, Jane Allen, Junior

2011-01-08T18:21:00.000-05:00

Well, as I thought, this story doesn't resume the second semester of junior year. That semester will be forever lost to human history. Judy and Jane are juniors again, with the explanation of, "An extension course in special work kept Jane with her junior friends," or, "Judith and I decided on this extra year to specialize," in sociology. This doesn't mean much for this book, but it will for the next, so file it away. Anyway, they're juniors again (?), and the Allen scholarship this year has gone to an unfortunate, raw-boned country girl, Shirley Duncan, who's both obnoxious and gauche. The other "pet freshie" this year is Sarah "Sally" Howland.

Dol Vin (as she's now known) has opened her beauty shop of iniquity at the gates of Wellington, and Shirley and Sally seem to be somehow involved with her, although Sally's well-liked by everyone. There's also a ghost haunting Lenox Hall and scaring the poor little freshies, and some mystery surrounding Shirley and Sally. It turns out that Sally and Shirley have swapped identities at the suggestion of Dol Vin, who taught them in gym--the real Shirley ("Kitten") needs money to send her brother Ted back to college and sells her scholarship to Sally ("Bobbie"), who, while brilliant at math, is unable to pass the other subject exams to get into college. Of course, in the end, Bobbie makes nice with Jane and her friends, and Shirley's father's fortunes are reversed, so they're both able to stay at Wellington. Because the dean is willing to overlook multiple fraudulent elements in light of good intentions.

The first proof of Bobbie's awfulness: "She was garbed in a baronet satin skirt of daring hue with an overblouse of variegated georgette. This as a school frock!"
Sarah Howland is considered a "most atrocious name." I'm sure I don't see how. Apparently Sarah is "old fashioned" and "country."
Bobbie is forced to dust Dozia's room with a feather glued to her nose as her freshman initiation. When the girls clean her up afterward, she refuses to let Jane brush her hair with a damp brush. "Not wet it?" she [Jane] thought quickly. "That must mean treatment, and treatment meant the forbidden beauty shop!"
More classless dressing, on Vin's part this time: "She was gowned in a very close fitting and striking black satin 'clinger' gown. Her hair was done in the most modern of styles, like a window show for her hair dressing parlor, and her foreign face, with its natural olive tones, was very much fixed up with many touches of peach and carmine, as well as darker hints under the eyes; and her lashes--well, perhaps Dolorez had been crying inky tears; that was the effect one gathered from a glance at the vampish make-up."
The Project Gutenberg text repeatedly refers to "Jane Alien." Can you imagine? It makes me think of the whole Pride and Prejudice and Zombies business.
There are boys at dances now! Judith is, of course, more interested than Jane in this. Series heroines are never allowed to be interested in boys or romance, only sidekicks.
I'm completely lost now on the authorship of these books. The missing time is a pretty glaring inconsistency, but this book continues the new cast of characters from the previous book.

Jane Allen #3, Jane Allen, Center

2011-01-05T14:49:00.000-05:00

Henry Allen, Jane's father, has funded a scholarship this year, which has been awarded to a Polish violinist, Helka Podonsky. They soon Americanize it, at her insistance, to Helen Powderly, which is later further nickmaned to Nell. Of course, Marian, who is now the flunky of Brazilian Dolorez Vincez, has to plot the downfall of this girl for no reason. Helen has an annoyingly artistic temperament (which doesn't help Marian's insinuations of possible madness) and a mysterious secret. I oddly don't think I'm surprising anyone when I tell you it turns out she's secretly a Polish noble on the run from sinister Russians. In the end, Jane of course manages to reunite Helen with her mother, a brilliant soprano.

I had originally thought it was the next book where the original characters all disappear, but it's actually this one.The only explanation given is the first bullet point below. Adrienne and Maizie are mentioned in passing at the beginning, the others not at all. The only characters remaining from the previous two books are Jane herself, Judith, Marian, and Mrs. Weatherbee, who now has evolved from a house mother of sorts to a more administrative/faculty position. I have no great attachment to the original characters, but I can't see the point of switching them out for equally nondescript new ones. The writing style in this book is also less old fashioned, with snappier, more slangy dialogue.

"But let's to Wellington. I do wonder how many of the old set will be back? The war has changed so many homes, we may have to take over an entirely new contingent."
"Now Judith had wonderful teeth. In fact, she might claim championship in the tooth beauty contest, did Wellington carry such a sport, but Helka's! They were so small, so even and so white, matched pearls indeed. Thoughts of the pure grain foods of Poland filtered through Jane's mind, while Judith wondered about Polish dentifrice." Again, there are moments of awesome humor, but it's not consistent.
"The art student called herself Anaa Kole, and just why she insisted on the second "a" to her otherwise plain Ana had not yet been discovered by Judith. It looked to her to be a waste of type, that could not vocally be made use of."
"Of course, bobbed hair was so comfy, and so becoming, too bad it was not the general style, mused Judith, patting her own heavy coil, that would slip down her neck every time she attempted to relax outside of bed quilts." "Judith and hairpins were always at painful odds."
Since coloring is such a hot topic here lately, Helen has violet eyes and curly, dark hair. Elizabeth Taylor, I guess?
New freshmen: Dorothy "Dick" Ripple, Mary Louise "Weasis" Blair, and Grazia (Grawcia) St. Clear. All the nicknames are either unpleasant or men's names? There's also Ted, Tom, and Dozia.
"Every experimenter knows hair dye affects the blood in color changes, affecting the eyes disastrously. Also, but it seems unkind to suggest such a catastrophe, hair-dye has an immediate action on the sight. Cicily Weldon could not tell time last year after one trip to New York when her hair was "fixed up!" I warn you in advance that the evils of the beauty parlor are extrapolated on in the next book.
Dolorez Vincez takes over from Marian Seaton as primary villain. She's a fast older girl from South America. She gets disqualified from the basketball team when it's discovered that she was a teacher of athletics (a "professional") at Blindwood, where Helen previous studied.
Dol and Marian have made a plan to canvass for business for *gasp* an evil beauty parlor. File this away for the next book.
The book only covers the first semester, ending with, "But a new story was unfolded in the second half of that eventful year. And what happened to 'Jane Allen, Junior,' will be told in our next volume of that title." I'm pretty sure this isn't what happens, but we shall see.
Ebook available here. Frontis is by Thelma Gooch, who is familiar to me as the illustrator of Blythe Girls and Doris Force books.

Jane Allen #2, Jane Allen, Right Guard

2010-12-29T09:00:00.001-05:00

This year, Jane Allen is glad to be returning to Wellington College and Madison Hall. However, some spiteful person (I wonder who?) has written ahead to tell Mrs. Weatherbee that she won't be needing her room. By the time Jane arrives, it's been given to an unpleasant freshman, Elsie Noble, who is Marian's cousin. Jane and Mrs. Weatherbee sort it out, but Judy has by then christened Elsie, "the ignoble Noble." The ignoble Noble lives up to her name by circulating a petition among the freshmen to have them refuse Jane and her friends as escorts to the freshman dance. Luckily, the girls find four "poor" girls who are willing to have them. I'd describe them, but they're barely mentioned again, so why bother?

Basketball is even more of an afterthought in this book than the first one. Jane and Adrienne make the team handily, but Judy's place is taken by Marian, who has bribed two of the judges with limo rides and dinners at the Rutherford Inn. However, with Dorothy resigning as judge and the freshman team resigning their positions unless Dorothy's reinstated, Marian is soon forced to tender her own resignation. Jane plays Right Guard, which is supposed to also be a metaphor for her always being on the side of right. Gag.

To retaliate, Marian orchestrates this elaborate plot to implicate Judy as a kleptomaniac, with Norma and Jane covering for Judy. The basis for this is a conversation Marian overhears at the dance, involving Judy somehow taking another girl (who has since left to be married)'s white lace dress. I'd tell you more about it, only we're never really told, and it's quite confusing. In the end, Mrs. Weatherbee's eyes are opened to Marian's true nature, with the assistance of the formerly ignoble Noble, and Marian and Maizie are no longer welcome to return to Madison Hall the following year.

I was really intrigued by the character of Maizie Gilbert up until the end of this book. She's not motivated by petty emotions like Marian is, and she's not exactly a weak character who just follows Marian's wishes. Instead she's portrayed as almost a lazy sociopath?
"I don't pretend to understand myself," returned Maizie tranquilly. "It would be too much trouble to try. Besides, self-analysis might be fatal to my comfort. I might dig up a conscience, and that would be a bore. I'd rather take it easy and smile and be a villain still. Changes are so disagreeable. You'd find that out, if one came over me. You'd be minus a valuable ally." See? There's self-awareness there, but no real conscience.
Maizie has "unfathomable" black eyes.
"It strikes me," drawled Maizie, "that there's been altogether too much of this 'paying back' business. You'd best drop it, Marian. You're not a success in that line." Jane and her friends are too kind to have any truly entertaining criticisms of Marian. Maizie has no such qualms.
"She's a strange girl, Judy. There's a lot to her beneath that lazy, indifferent manner of hers."
Of course, in the end, Maizie is converted to Jane Allen's goodness. I, for one, was disappointed.
The sophomore team has khaki uniforms, as a nod to patriotism. This is the only mention, however oblique of WWI in the series thus far.
The ebook is available here. Love the illustrations, even if one seems to be missing from this copy. They're by R. Emmett Owen. I haven't seen the first title's illustrations, but they're by Roy L. Williams

Jane Allen #1, Jane Allen of the Sub-Team

2010-12-28T17:24:00.001-05:00

The Jane Allen College Series is, not surprisingly, about Jane Allen's life at Wellington College.

Jane Allen of the Sub-Team introduces Jane, who is 16 at this point, her father, Henry, who is a wealthy (natch) Montana rancher, and her spinster Aunt Mary, who has moved in with them after the death of Jane's mother ("Dearest," aka Dorothy) when Jane was 12. Is there any greater predictor of mortality than being the parent of a series heroine? Apparently it was Jane's mother's dying wish that she be educated at Wellington Seminary, which is now Wellington College. Jane is a spoiled tomboy who HATES the idea of going east to school. HATES.

Jane has never had girl friends her own age and can't see the point of courting them. She's rude and stand-offish, with a terrible temper. I enjoy having an imperfect heroine, but Jane at this stage is pretty much unbearable. Of course, with the encouragement of her roommate Judy Stearns and other friends, she eventually becomes more pleasant and makes friends. For a series whose gimmick is basketball, it's not introduced at all until the sixteenth chapter and isn't really a focus of the plot, which suits me just fine. Anyway, with some strategic injuries, illnesses, and resignations, Jane eventually makes the main team and leads them to victory over the sophomores.

"Once she was imprisoned in that hateful seminary she would die. Her father and Aunt Mary would be sorry. She pictured herself slowly dying of grief and homesick longing. Some day, soon after they sent her away, a telegram would come to El Capitan. Her father would open it and read, 'Come at once. Your daughter died last night.' Then, when it was too late, they'd understand. Jane wept afresh in sheer sorrow for her untimely end." I wish the whole book were as funny as this passage implies.
Jane has a portrait of "Dearest," to whom she talks. Dearest is her inspiration to do good.
Jane reads a book series, Beatrice Horton's _____ Year at Exley (First through Fourth years), on her way east. For the record, it doesn't really exist, but I'm entertained by the whole meta aspect.
She meets the series enemy, Marian Seaton on the train east. Her main flunky is Maizie Gilbert, and while she has others, they eventually defect. Seriously, over the course of the series, Jane inspires more conversions than a messianic figure.
She lives at Madison Hall, under the auspices of Mrs. Weatherbee. Mrs. Weatherbee messes up the room assignment, and she and Jane haven't resolved their differences by the end of this book.
Friends and character traits: Judy (bizarrely absent-minded), Dorothy Martin (benevolent/saintly upperclassmen), Adrienne Dupree (elfin daughter of French dancer), and Norma Bennet (poor girl working her way through Wellington waiting tables at Madison Hall).
In old books like this, girls have "crushes" on each other, not on boys. They also invite each other to dances. I know Clair Blank hadn't been to college when she wrote the Beverly Gray books, but I wonder who had the boys at dances bit correct.
They have a Morris chair in their room.
The Rutherford Inn is their off-campus gathering place.
Jane is tall, with auburn hair, grey eyes, and a size 5A foot. This is my own coloring, which I've always thought was relatively uncommon, but which fits at least one character in about every series.
The series does have some fashion descriptions, but I'm not a huge fan of 1910s style, honestly.

How to Choose, or the Jane Allen College Series

2010-12-28T14:48:00.001-05:00

How I choose a series to collect and read:

1. Jennifer's website has made eBay, ABE, and Amazon a lot of money off of me. That, and a post on her blog influenced a lot of my early purchases. Considering how much harder/more expensive a series can get when she first adds one (see Barbara Ann), I suspect I'm not alone.

2. I'll go down this list, looking for books with copyrights in the 1920s and 30s, particularly those published by Grosset and Dunlap, Cupples and Leon, or A.L. Burt.

3. Once I find an author I love, I'll seek out her other books. See: Adventure Girls, all my Pemberton Ginther titles, Mildred Wirt's many series.

4. I'll sometimes preview a series I'm not sure about on Project Gutenberg or Google Books. See: Polly Brewster.

5. Browse eBay under Books->Antiquarian and Collectible->Children's Books->Series Books. Or if I buy a book from a seller, and they have an unfamiliar title, too, I may add it to my order.

6. Ads for other series in a series that I already have probably won't make me purchase on their own but may make me investigate futher.

The Jane Allen College Series falls under many of these categories. I originally came across it on the Girls Series Books 1840-1991 site but had reservations. While published by Cupples and Leon, I didn't know the author, the timeframe was slightly early (1917-1922), and the theme seemed to be sports. I also incorrectly assumed it was a high school series, which I can take or leave.

Then I randomly purchased a copy of Patsy Carroll under Southern Skies from Jennifer (#5, pt 2). On the back was an ad for what I now learned was the Jane Allen College Series. Automatically, I was more interested--I love college girl books. Googling found Mary Crosson's page on the series, complete with excerpt, and several ebooks. So I spent my day off work reading the entire series. I'll give you my thoughts in a separate post.

The Thirteenth Spoon-Macrae Edition

2010-12-21T03:04:00.007-05:00

The Thirteenth Spoon is one of my absolute favorites, so I was pretty stoked to get a copy of the Macrae edition. While I quite like the cover art, I prefer the Cupples version. I will give the Macrae the edge on the spine art. The flap blurbs are identical. The price is listed as $1.75, which is astronomical for a girls series book of the time. I've never seen one listed for more than $0.95. The book is a nice quality, but this would have been the Depression (c. 1930).

As you can see, the boards are identical, save for color--Macrae is orange; Cupples is red. I never realized on the Cupples boards that the sword-like thing is really supposed to be a spoon. Apostle spoons, for the record, actually exist and really are rare/valuable. Kinda want one to display on bookshelf, not gonna lie. Hello, eBay.

And there's the disappointment: no frontispiece. No internal illustrations. I don't know if it was never printed with illustrations, or if I just got a copy that wasn't. This, as stated, is my favorite, and has some really incredible fashion descriptions. Seriously bummed.

While both Macrae editions that I have are extremely nice quality, this one has distinctly rough edges to the pages. They're extremely thick and white, just cut oddly. (Yes, my camera's focus is rather on the fritz when zoomed). Final note: this title is HIGHLY recommended. See my original review here.

The Jade Necklace-Macrae Edition

2010-12-20T22:08:00.010-05:00

Pemberton Ginther's titles for the Cupples and Leon Mystery Stories for Girls were originally published by Macrae Smith Company. It's not too difficult or expensive to find these editions with bare boards, but in dust jacket, they're extremely scarce. When I first started looking a couple of years ago, there were none to be found. The only two copies that I've found since then, I've immediately purchased. This one was $15, and my copy of The Thirteenth Spoon was $30. I'm still on the lookout for The Secret Stair, but I have no expectation of finding it soon (and it's also my least favorite of the three titles).

I had initially wondered whether or not the cover art and frontispieces were different at all. Luckily the seller with The Thirteenth Spoon had both Macrae and Cupples editions and was able to confirm before I ordered that they were not the same. While I don't know that I LOVE either cover, I do prefer the Macrae edition. The cover is stylized and Deco, but the art on the spine has a distinct Arts and Crafts flair. I'm uncertain of the artist of either. And yes, the Macrae one is covered in scribbles, courtesy of Mary McPhee.

I was even more pleased to discover that there are different frontispieces, with Pem herself as illustrator. In this case, while I like both, I prefer Pem's. If you look closely, you can see the monkey perched on the back of the chair to the right. As you can see here, the Macrae editions have extremely nice, thick, good quality paper, although they're slightly smaller than the Cupples editions. The end papers are plain.

If I was pleased to have a different frontpieces, I was thrilled to find three internal illustrations, which the Cupples editions lack completely. As a note, the name that almost rivals Clytemnestra in the book is the "preposterous" Amanda.

I remembered that in the Cupples edition, Roslyn's name is misspelled Roselyn on the front dj flap. Apparently this is a carry over from the Macrae edition, because the same mistake is made.

This is a great book. If you'd like to read my original review, it's here.

Unexpected Christmas Surprises

2010-12-20T21:19:00.007-05:00

I love getting little unintended extras in book orders, like gorgeous bookplates, and vintage ephemera as book marks. One of my favorite examples is a Depression era flour sack being used as a replacement jacket for a Polly Brewster title (which is of course MIA right now). I have a new twist on the theme, though.

Goldsmith had a line of career girl type books in the 30s. The Janet Hardy books are probably some of the better know examples, but this particular title is Helen in the Editor's Chair. I normally can't stand Goldsmith editions due to the terrible paper, but I got this in a lot and thought I would at least read it. My middle name (shared with my grandmother) is Helen, and I love books with newsroom settings. I took off the dust jacket to put it in the protector and immediately smiled.

At first I just saw the tape substitute at the top--I think it might be reused packaging? But what are those little things down at the bottom?

1935 Christmas stamps!

I looked them up, and while they're not particularly valuable, they do however have a pretty interesting history. They're not really stamps--they're actually American Lung Association Christmas Seals (http://www.christmasseals.org/history-of-christmas-seals.html), and these specifically benefit tuberculosis victims/sanitoriums. New ones are still sold today, and I think that next year I'll buy some to put on my Christmas cards. The website has a place where you can submit stories/photos, and I added mine. Crazy to think of a little unwitting advertisement hidden away for 75 years.

Betsy Hale

2010-11-10T03:44:00.017-05:00

I could make excuses and promises related to the extended absence, but why not just jump back in?

One of the series that I set about acquiring when I discovered Pemberton Ginther is Betsy Hale. There's not a lot of information about the series out there, so much of this is my own speculation. It seems to have been released in three volumes in 1923 as a breeder set of sorts by John C. Winston and Co., who also published her more popular Miss Pat series.

While the books are somewhat scarce in dust jacket (it took me about a year and a half to get all three), there's little demand. I believe I paid less than $5 for the first title (Betsy Hale), $7.50 for the second (Betsy Hale Tries), and $8.00 for the third (Betsy Hale Succeeds). For me, it was hardest to find the last title, but right now it's the only one to be found on eBay. One book is dated 1924 and another 1928, which indicates they might have been in print for at least a few years. However, the dust jackets are all identical except for the titles, with the exact same ads and lists on each one, so maybe there was one printing which took awhile to sell?

The books have green and gold boards, and the dust jacket art is the same for all three volumes. I'm uncertain as to who did the dust jacket artwork, but Pem herself did the frontispiece and three internal illustrations for each book. The paper quality is quite good, and the stories range from 254-269 pages each. I will note that the frontispiece for my copy of Betsy Hale seems to be incorrect--it's one of the internal illustrations for Betsy Hale Succeeds.

At the beginning of Betsy Hale, Betsy is an imaginative and earnest 13 year old girl who has just moved with her widowed mother to Wee Corners, a small cottage that they've inherited in rural New England. Her mother is an author, in the vein of Jess's mother in the Girls of Central High series. In other words, they have no money, and Betsy is often left to assume household duties, financial worries, and generally fend for herself. Her primary friends are Emma Clara, Selma, and Philip, who is groomed, in my opinion, to be the future love interest of the series. The central conflicts in the book center around Mrs. Hale regaining her health, publishing a novel, and becoming financially stable.

In Betsy Hale Tries, the plot is based around trying to raise funds to establish a hospital in their small community, a venture spearheaded by Betsy and Philip. Along the way, Betsy makes a friend of Miss Willie, an eccentric older woman, and the family acquires Lucy as cook/housekeeper. Lots of themes of post WWI patriotism in this book, and there's a side plot involving a traveling circus.

I have no idea why the third book is titled Betsy Hale Succeeds. The plans of the last book have already succeeded, and this book is about how Betsy and her mother take in an alleged war orphan from France, Aimee. Of course, Aimee's parents are both alive in the end, her mother somehow ending up in some nearby town (from France. Really.), while her father had amnesia and a couple of amputations (final tally: one hand and one leg). The series ends with no references to phantom titles or future plans.

I really didn't care for the character of Mrs. Hale. She's clueless about household chores and is one of those people in old stories that has to have complete rest and no worry or she'll have a breakdown. Wonder why the non-genteel poor never get those orders? Beyond that, she offers no emotional support to Betsy.
Her mother has gotten them involved with a League of Truth and Simplicity after Betsy's father's death. So Elizabeth is now Betsy and has to wear brown sack dresses. I may be misreading, but I also think that Mommy Clueless loses a lot of money to them.
Luckily, friends take pity on Betsy and gift her with a "lovely limp yellow frock" and a pink lawn dress.
I really love Philip's character. His father is really sick in the first book (he eventually dies), and Betsy finds him crying hidden in the woods. She doesn't reveal herself, just has more sympathy and respect.
Betsy can't get Philip to come visit another girl with her, because, "I don't play with girls." When she reminds him that they've gone off in the woods twice that week, he says, "You're different." Aw.
Betsy is almost 15 at the end of the series. I think I would have enjoyed a continuation of the series, with more grown up themes. The target audience is probably about 12 for the books that were written.

I have mixed feelings about this series as a whole. I think it's well-written for a pre-teen age group, and Betsy is a likeable heroine. She has negative emotions and needs help to pull off schemes. She's not perfect. That said, I think I'd prefer an older heroine, stronger plotlines, and snappier/funnier dialogue. I'm building collections of the Hilda and Miss Pat series, which I'm hoping will be more to my liking. I've also tracked down the Macrae editions of The 13th Spoon and The Jade Necklace to share with you.

I'm Back!

2010-01-27T12:00:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone (assuming anyone's still out there . . . ). I know I've had quite an extended absence. First off, back in September, I had a break-in and was without computer for quite some time. I finally got my check from my homeowner's insurance and replaced it, reading all the while. At this point it was coming up on Thanksgiving, so I figured I'd ride it out over the holidays, and start posting again in the new year.

Then, in a 3 hour period at the beginning of January, I (a.) exited my house at 6 PM, getting ready to head into work, to find a burst pipe, (b.) called my father, hoping for a quick water shut off tip, to make it through the night and found out that a family member had just died, and (c.) once I arrived at work, I was broken up with via, I kid you not, text message. Yes, I'm an adult. Yes, this apparently can still happen to you post-high school graduation. Who knew? Heck, Taylor Swift at least got a (28 second) phone call. This sort of thing did NOT happen to Nancy Drew.

In other words, my year thus far has been on the miserable side, and I'm just now emerging from that unfortunate, barely-functioning, subsisting on Motrin/Gatorade/late night calls to girlfriends stage. Reading about all these girls who have suitors thick on the ground that they don't even care about is only just now starting to sound appealing, so, with any luck, I'll have Polly's Southern Cruise up later today.

That said, if anyone has a series book recommendation featuring a heroine who's UNlucky in love, you know I'd be all over that. Not that I'm expecting a lot of those! Sorry to make you all listen to my petty problems, but I wanted you to know that you hadn't been abandoned for nothing or forgotten.

Polly Brewster #5, Polly's Business Venture

2009-08-18T05:19:00.004-04:00

Yay! This book was fortunately a huge improvement over the last one--even if I still don't much like Polly herself. The girls all come back to New York and are immediately invited to a party on Mr. Dalken's yacht. Polly gets her invite from Tom, which makes her blush--yes, the ice queen isn't utterly indifferent. Anne's counseled him that he must be brotherly and patient until Polly's had her fill of her career, but of course he follow this approximately 10-15% of the time. He does convince her to walk with him on the yacht, where they're promptly swept overboard after a collision. He saves her life, for which she's grateful, but basically she continues in a mix of being scared by his feelings for her, annoyed by his attentions, and being oblivious to him.

Supposedly Polly and Nolla are to work in the mornings in Mr. Ashby's shop, continue to take classes in the evening, and acquire antiques on runs out to the country in Mr. Dalken's chauffeured limousine. In reality, the first two are NEVER depicted once, while several chapters are devoted to the latter. Of course, the girls habitually discover priceless relics for ridiculous prices, while the writing mocks the ignorance of the sellers. I love doing this sort of thing in real life, but this is easily the least thrilling portion of the book. The girls also spend a goodly portion of their time on night life, considering how busy they're supposed to be. Polly manages to acquire yet another swain in Jack, the protege and ward of Mr. Dalken.

It's fortunate that the girls have such luck at finding valuable antiques, because another landslide has buried their mine back in Pebbly Pit. This is doubly bad, because pretty much all their friends have invested in it as well, which makes Polly feel really guilty. Mr. Alexander from the last book comes to the rescue by shipping out to Pebbly Pit to see if he can uncover the mine again. The girls also offset their expenses some more by taking on some decorating jobs, one from Jack, and another from Mrs. Courtney, a wealthy, wise, and dignified divorcee. Guess who else is getting divorced? Mr. Dalken, whose wayward wife has found someone else she wants to marry. Hmm, I wonder what the girls will think to do with these two deserving middle-aged single people?

There's plenty of other romance in this book. At one point, when Tom is ill, Polly says she'll marry him in two years, if she hasn't found anyone better--harsh, but better than anything else she's said. I'm thinking that she's finally being reasonable, as it's obvious that she prefers him, plus John and Anne were engaged for two years. Of course, it's like Patty's promise to Mrs. Van Reypen in Patty's Fortune, and she ends up recanting, to my annoyance. Nolla and Paul continue along in their generally less melodramatic/more pleasant fashion--Nolla tells him that she's going to have her career first, then they can form a partnership. In the meantime, they can enjoy each other. Why can't Polly be that reasonable?

At the end of the book, Mr. Dalken invites everyone, including Mrs. Courtney, on a year-long yacht trip to the Orient. I know Jennifer has speculated on where Clair Blank got her inspiration for the Beverly Gray series, and it seems to me that Polly Brewster would have to be thrown in with those sources. I mean, career girls take extended yacht trip with lots of boys to the East? We'll see how it matches up in the next few books. I've now finished all the free titles available, so you guys will get a change to catch up on my incessant posting while I wait for media mail to take its course.

When Dodo sees Polly blushing over Tom's telegram, Dodo thinks that she, "had hiterto firmly believed Polly to be a man-hater." You and me both, Dodo.
Tom is described as being "unsophisticated with girls." He's finally stated to be "almost twenty-four" (to Polly's "nearly eighteen"); he's handsome, wealthy, out in society, etc. How is he unsophisticated?
Speaking of Tom's age, Jim is now said to be "about the same age as Polly," e.g. eighteen. This can't be true, unless he was done with one year of college and working on a mining crew at age fourteen.
Kenneth is said to be the handsomest. Then he and Jim pretty much disappear. As does Dodo, for the record
While he drives me a bit crazy, I think Tom's emotions on Polly's return are well-written by Lillie. He's built the whole thing up too much, and she's scared and avoids him. He ends up really depressed and berating himself, telling himself that he's too old (well . . . ) and unappealing and so forth.
Tom is encouraged by Anne (acceptable), his family (acceptable), and John (what!). This may be a more modern sentiment, but does a guy really encourage his best friend to pursue his underage sister?
Once every book, there will be a footnote indicating that the particular story being told is true. In this case, it's one of the antique-finding stories.
When they're rescued by Liberty Island, Polly and Tom are revived by the Schaefer Method, which is an old method of CPR done when prone.
Both Nolla and Polly can be impulsive and get carried away at times. The difference is that Nolla's intentions are always good when this happens (trying to make people like Polly, trying to get Polly and Tom together), while Polly's are petty and vengeful (at points she'll manipulate a situation or say things to purposely be hurtful to Nolla and Tom).
I've been trying to figure out Polly's appeal to guys, and apparently it's supposed to be that she's both beautiful and completely disinterested in guys, which piques their fancy. It might work for the guys, but it's not doing it for me.
Nolla is frequently shown to be the only person to understand something about Polly or to do her kindness. Polly isn't shown to reciprocate, which I think affects the believability of their friendship.
While this series reminds me a lot of Patty Fairfield, I don't like it nearly as much. To me, Tom lacks both the appeal and control of Bill, while Polly lacks the fun, the likability, and the grace of Patty. Patty doesn't want a real suitor, so she laughs them all off till she's ready, and they all deal with it. Polly's unable to deal gracefully with all the men who are interested in her, and ends up hurting Tom pretty frequently. In turn, Tom provokes Polly constantly, because he can't be patient and careful with his feelings.
Also, Polly has no regard for Tom's feelings--she's never, "Oh, this great guy loves me, I should feel honored and treat him respectfully, even if I don't return his sentiments." Instead she's annoyed and disdainful.

Polly Brewster eBooks

2009-08-18T04:38:00.005-04:00

The copyright on several of the Polly Brewster books has run out, which means they're available in free ebooks, through various websites. My favorite has been Google Books, because it has the straight-up scans, with all the quaint inscriptions, library markings, and internal illustrations. In case you missed it, by the way, I've gone back and added the internal illustrations from Google, now that I've figured out the "clip" function. The illustrations from Polly and Eleanor are from Project Gutenberg, although they're not available for every title.

Speaking of the internal illustrations, I really love the ones for this series. I think they're gorgeously done, plus the 1920s fashions are just fabulous. The illustrator is Harold S. Barbour. I've not been able to find a lot of information on him, but he lived from 1889-1961 and illustrated for several series books. He did the illustrations for one of Lillie's other series, another Girl Scouts series, as well as the Pee Wee Harris and Roy Blakely books.

In case you want to also give this series a try, or just want to read them for free, here are links to the titles that are freely available:

Polly of Pebbly Pit

Polly and Eleanor

Polly in New York

Google Books

Polly and Her Friends Abroad

Google Books

Polly's Business Venture

Polly Brewster #4, Polly and Her Friends Abroad

2009-08-17T21:42:00.006-04:00

I have to say that this is my least favorite Polly book so far. The plot is both boring in itself, as well as being an extremely more boring version of the three book European vacation arc in Patty Fairfield. I think my main issue is that this series' strength is in its supporting characters, who, save my girl Nolla, are all back home in the States, and most of the newly introduced characters are either unpleasant or blah.

The book starts off with Polly, Nolla, the Ashbys, and Mr. Fabian crossing the Atlantic and arriving in Dover. They meet up with Mr. Alexander, a folksy, self-made Western millionaire--how many veins of gold ARE there in Denver, by the way?--his twit of a wife, Mrs. Alexander, and his daughter Dorothy, who has the unfortunate nickname of Dodo. Mrs. Alexander's goal is to marry Dodo off to an impoverished title, but of course, Dodo decides she'd rather follow in Polly and Nolla's footsteps and become an interior decorator.

Once in Dover, they meet up with Mrs. Fabian and their daughter Nancy, who are both pleasant and devoid of personality. They have been staying with Sir Charles Osgood, his wife, and their children, Angela and Jimmy. All of them are unpleasant and devoid of personality. Mrs. Alexander fails in marrying Dodo off to Jimmy, and they're off to the Continent. They meet up with at least one more titled man, Count Champys, but everyone returns to the US unmarried and with enough antiques (pottery and furniture) to furnish several mansions. Really, large portions of the book consist of them driving through the countryside and emptying the peasants' homes of Wedgewood and Sheraton tables.

Polly barely figures in this book--she has no important dialogue or conflicts, not that anyone else does, either. Her only development is to become more priggish. Even Nolla is a little bland. Dodo's only character trait is to occasionally have more Western speech. Ruth and Nancy are interchangeable, and, if left out, would not be missed. I could forgive the whole "nothing happens" bit, if only there was some witty banter or humor, but the whole book is very dry. Here's hoping Polly's Business Venture is better.

There's a decent amount of "patriotic" anti-German slurs, America's the greatest, rah-rah sort of thing. There's also some awkward religious references.
Mr. Alexander is supposed to be very charming and endearing with his lack of social polish and Western ways. I found him to be supremely annoying and constantly felt embarrassed for him.
They escape from an earthquake in Rome, which has innumerable strong aftershocks. This was a. inaccurate, I think, and b. so very boring.
This has been a theme in all the books, but Polly is jealous of anyone having a romance--not because she wants one, but because she wants John, Nolla, etc. to herself. This seems more than a little childish for a supposedly mature young woman.
Jimmy very annoyingly leaps around in his affection from one of the girls to another. When he sets on Nolla, Polly does what she does best and FREAKS. She pulls Nolla aside and honest to goodness threatens to write home to Paul and tell him that Nolla is a "dreadful flirt," and that his childhood friend Dodo is gorgeous and wealthy, and oh, he should totally marry her. Again, childish much. Crazy much, really.
Jimmy needs to marry for money. In a continuity error, Ruth is first stated to have a fortune, as the only daughter of the wealthy Ashbys, and later not to be desirable as a wife to Jimmy due to lack of money. Nolla and Polly have MORE money, so maybe he's just supposed to look MORE in their direction?
At this point, Lillie seems to have a pretty clear prejudice against low-born society wives, because Mrs. Alexander is a bit of hyper-annoying ridiculosity in the mold of Mrs. Dalken and Mrs. Maynard.
The people back home cease to exist. They're rarely mentioned, and the girls neither send nor receive letters or wires, save one letter apiece from Paul and Tom. I suspect this is why the book kind of sucks.
And finally, Dodo?! Really.

Polly Brewster #3, Polly in New York

2009-08-17T05:34:00.006-04:00

So, Polly and Nolla head to New York to set up house with Anne and her mother, Mrs. Stewart. They lease a former carriage house/artist's studio, with the two girls being taken on as a project by the former leasee, Mr. Fabian. They take night classes with him, while going to Mrs. Wellington's school during the day. They make a frenemy in Elizabeth Dalken, a schoolmate, but when the girls rescue her from a fire (and NOW we head into series book stereotypes), they make friends. Moreso, however, they creepily befriend her father, Mr. Dalken and his friends, the Ashbys, who happen to be a an interior decorator, his wife, and their daughter Ruth, another one of the girls' classmates.

Jim and Ken are at Yale and happily run up to visit until warned away by Anne and Mr. Fabian, who insist that the girls need to focus on their studies. Tom helps the cause in his influence over his younger brother. Of course, Tom also anonymously sends Polly these ridiculous roses for Valentine's Day. There's also a Christmas visit with all the Evans, Latimers, Maynards (with brother Pete), and Stewarts (with brother Paul). They all spend the summer back in Pebbly Pit, where Polly's dad figures out the score with some hints from Nolla.

Back in the city, the girls find (I kid you not) a baby on their doorstep. The whole "mystery" with this is just ridiculous, along with their plans to "give" the baby to Mr. Dalken, whose son died several years ago. They're thwarted when the baby's believed-to-be-long-dead (in the war, no less) father shows up, but he takes a position in the Dalkens' apartment, so all is well. I mean, this would all be kind of awesome, but it does rather regurgitate a Patty Fairfield plot, which was in itself not at all unique.

In the end, John and Anne get married, and the Ashbys agree to chaperone the girls on their European adventure. Seriously, this series is SO Patty Fairfield/Beverly Gray in some ways (not that I'm complaining!). As the girls get on the boat, Tom confesses about the roses by leaving another bouquet in their cabin, signed, "Your Valentine that was, and is, and always will be, in this world, and in the next, and forever, Tom." Polly FREAKS, and honestly, it's much even for me, who normally eats this stuff with a spoon. The other girls convince this nincompoop that it's just a joke, and they're off to Europe.

I like this book, although I admit that it gets brownie points for me for reminding me so much of the Patty Fairfield books that take place in NYC. As the series goes on, though, I like Polly less, because she's both a Mary Sue and SO OBLIVIOUS IT KILLS ME. Just, argh, I know you're a simple country miss with a pure and noble heart, but do you have NO knowledge of human nature/NEVER notice anyone else's feelings? Argh. I continue to adore Nolla, though, who is just a ball. Nolla throws me for a loop by bailing on those romantic vibes with Ken, making some with Jim, then having a secret letter correspondence with Anne's brother Paul that's mentioned at the end of the book. Play on, Nolla.

Polly initially despises the city in this really annoying contemptuous way, mocking how in a hurry everyone is, the fashion, the crowdedness, etc. My girl Nolla loves it, of course.
Polly is offended by how, "Most every woman and girl I met had faces covered thick with layers of white chalk, with a daub of red on each cheek, and lips as scarlet as a clown's." Very 20s.
Polly is ridiculously provincial. She's never been in an automobile or used a telephone before. She's also never seen the ocean and says, "It's the only decent thing of which New York can boast."
At one point Anne pays a deposit in "yellow bills." I thought money was considered and referred to as green at this point?
My original timeline for the younger characters ages turns out to be completely off. Anne is described at the beginning of this book as, "just past 21," which means that Tom and John pretty much have to be 21 or older--especially when you consider that John is friends with Paul, Anne's brother, and unless they're twins . . . ? I'm now officially grossed out by 14 year old Polly and 21+ year old Tom. Ew. I forget that older school ages don't match up to modern ones/aren't as set in stone.
It's also said at the end of the book that the now 16 year old girls have surpassed the roughly 20+ years old Jim and Ken in maturity, due to their extra education. I guess this is why Nolla moves on to Paul?
Elizabeth Dalken is definitely more of a bad girl than ever appeared in Nancy Drew: "She could slyly cheat at bridge, smoke her mother's cigarettes, and flirt with the men who frequented her home, as well as her mother could." Mrs. Dalken is a terrible women who dared to leave her wonderful husband. She's the least sympathetically written character in the series by far.
At one point, the Polly and Nolla are accosted by young hoods walking home from their night art class. Before being rescued by Mr. Dalken, it's strongly suggested that the threat is sexual, and the scene is genuinely scary--very unusual for a series book.
Just so you know, Bob ends up engaged to some balding society aristocrat named Percival. Oh, Bob.

Still loving this series, but I need to sleep! Next up will be Polly and Her Friends Abroad, which is mistakenly referred to at the end of this book as Polly and Eleanor Abroad.

Polly Brewster #2, Polly and Eleanor

2009-08-17T03:20:00.005-04:00

In the last book, Polly and Eleanor discover a long-lost gold mine. In this book, it's buried by an avalanche in the opening chapters. However, they don't give up hope of its being accessed, which conveniently allows Lillie to add in brother John, his attractive friend, Tom Latimer, his younger brother Jim, and Kenneth Evans, who is both working for a mining company with Jim and the (spoiler) nephew of the dead man who originally found the mine. Phew. I would have tried to explain this all more in the last review if I'd known they all crop up again.

Polly wants to access the mine because she wants money to go away to school. Her family's filthy rich, but her father is too desperately attached to his precious widdle Polly to allow her to leave the ranch. He also won't allow these beautiful glitter cliffs by the ranch house to be mined to finance the gold mine--again, to keep her at home. I'm really hating Mr. Brewster at this point. Fortunately, Nolla is over this ridiculosity and is a master planner.

Nolla (a.) gets her father to come to the ranch, hoping his bank will invest in the mine and that he'll let her go to New York with Anne, who's been offered a job in a girls' seminary, (b.) gets her mother to invite Bob to some posh camp-out, aka out of the way. Ken aids and abets by sending stones from the cliff to his father, who's invented some special polishing tool, and getting him to come out, too. Polly manages to aid her own cause by giving this impassioned speech on Girls of Today and needing to Experience the World and get an Education. If you need a hint on how all this turns out, the next book in the series is Polly in New York.

This book has ridiculous amounts of romance. Sary and Jeb get engaged, as do John and Anne. Anne's got to work the next two years, to put her brother through college (he's too proud to take John's money, but not too proud to let his sister "loan" him money from teaching school?), but then they'll be together. Until then, I suspect Polly and Nolla will have grand adventures under Anne's chaperonage. Polly and Nolla mostly hang with Ken and Jim, who I estimate at around 18 or so--one year of college under their belts, plus the last book guesses Ken to be this age. John and Tom are older, probably more in the 19-20 range, with two years to go of school, for the record. While I get some slight romantic vibes from Nolla and Ken, Tom has got it bad for the always-oblivious Polly--which Nolla is both amused by and encourages. I goofed and read a review for the final book, Polly Learns to Fly, and while I won't completely spoil it for you, Tom is the love interest for the rest of the series.

It's hard to tell from my summary (SO MUCH to cram into a few paragraphs), but this book was good to great. Great while I was reading it, in that I steamrolled right through it, if the times on my posts didn't clue you in. I fully plan to go right into the next one, as well. Good in that writing my post revealed that the plot meanders a good bit and is pretty silly as well. It reminds me of the early Beverly Gray books or Patty Fairfield in that sense--each book has multiple consecutive plots, and it's more about a period of time than anything.

This book has lots of unintentional ickiness. It probably speaks more about my juvenile sense of humor than anything, so I'll spare you most of it. Here's one example, though, Polly has "a graceful well-formed figure that was all the more attractive because of the charms her adolescence promised." *snickers about what charms we're speaking of* I told you it was silly. Sue me.
In the beginning, there's an Indian scout. Who speaks exactly like a Chinese cook character. As in, "Patsy good scout, too. Solly dem dead." Since when can American Indians not make an "r" sound?
Speaking of politically incorrect characters, there's a burro named N****r. Eek.
Fashion: the boys are coming for Sunday dinner. "Eleanor had loaned Polly one of her prettiest organdies, and had arranged her really beautiful hair becomingly. Silk stockings now encased Polly's shapely limbs, and her new low shoes looked twice as well with the sheen of silk above them." (side note: more unintentional ickiness twinges)
Bob, quite logically, tries to pair off with Tom, as they're the two loners in the crowd, and he's quite a catch. Unfortunately his opinion is, "Of all the empty-headed vain creatures it ever was my misfortune to meet, she takes the cake!"
Polly and Nolla are the same age (14), while Bob is older. Apparently old enough to be "out," want to get married, and to think Jim is too young, so I estimate 19ish?
I know the 14 year old Polly as a love object for 19 year old Tom should be considered gross/illegal by modern standards, but for some reason that doesn't generally bother me in old books. It actually does make me cringe a little in this case with all the references to her not precisely being post-pubescent.
Nolla's long term plan for her and Polly: "We propose going to Europe to study Italian, French, Spanish, and English periods and styles. If we have an extra year or so, to spare, we might go to Japan and Egypt." Based on the titles, I'm guessing most of these end up coming true.
Nolla's special failing is getting carried away and exaggerating, sometimes to the point of lies. Polly chews her out for this, and ends up reversing their position as friends--Polly becomes the leader. Honestly, this irked me, because I liked that the main character was the more passive one. Nolla and Mrs. Brewster are definitely my favorite characters, although I'd say that most characters are pretty likable.

Um, I'm going to wrap this up now, so that I can read the next book--a mark of a good book, no?

Polly Brewster #1 Polly of Pebbly Pit

2009-08-16T23:45:00.006-04:00

I've been interested but wavering over the Polly Brewster books by Lillian Elizabeth Roy for some time. They were published by Grosset and Dunlap over a ten year period from 1922-1932 and later some titles were reprinted by Whitman. Based on the titles, I believe they feature a lot of exotic locales and possibly a focus on adventure. I thought there was some serious Beverly Gray potential. However, the series doesn't seem to be that popular with collectors, even though it seems that it was pretty popular in its time and many titles are easy/cheap to find. It also has the same cover art for all titles. Finally, I decided to suck it up and look for the first title in a free ebook, to see if I thought it was worth collecting the series.

Marybelle "Polly" Brewster is the fourteen year old daughter of a rancher and his lovely, highly educated wife. They all live on an isolated ranch in Colorado. Polly has one older brother, John, who is away at college in Chicago. In the first chapter, Anne Stewart, a young woman who'd worked as a schoolteacher in their area/is the younger sister of one of John's school chums, writes to ask if she and two wealthy girls she is tutoring can board that summer at the ranch. Mr. Brewster agrees, on the condition that his wife allow him to hire help around the house. Sary, a recent widow, comes to work for them, and Anne soon arrives with the two girls: Barbara "Bob" and Eleanor "Nolla" Maynard.

There are all the expected culture shocks as the two girls adjust to life on the ranch. Bob, the elder sister, is selfish and prissy, while Nolla, whose poor health has motivated the trip, is unspoiled and loves Western life. A lot of the book is centered around what the Brewsters see as a simple, healthy lifestyle, a la Alcott's Eight Cousins. Anne also subscribes to this, which is oh-so-convenient, as she and John are sweet on each other. Mr. Maynard does as well, which is why these two society misses are put in this sitch to begin with.

There are rattlesnakes, July blizzards, burros, mountain lions, grizzlies, and a lost/found gold mine. It's all so stereotypical and fabulous. Western series books aren't my favorite, but I feel this series has real potential. There's the obvious romance between John (who's about to show up, FINALLY, in the last chapter), plus some good hints at some to come. Finally, in the first chapter is the following line:

"Had the reply been other than it was, would these two girls have met and experienced the interesting schooldays, college years, and business
careers that they enjoyed through becoming acquainted that summer at Pebbly Pit?"

I LOVE ALL THOSE THINGS!

So, I've already ordered what books I can find cheaply, and I had to pry myself away from the second book in the series, Polly and Eleanor. To be honest, I have to say that I enjoyed the potential books to come maybe more than the actual first title, in that, again, Westerns aren't my favorite, and I prefer an older heroine. Hopefully, they'll live up to my expectations.

I don't know if it's the rustic location or what (the book hints at the former), but the fashions, language, and morals seem older than the 1920s.
Polly's ambition is to be an interior designer. I'm reserving an opinion on whether that's utterly random or rather interesting. Possibly both?
Polly is oblivious to romance and honestly rather opposed to it. WHY is this a requirement of series book heroines? I appreciate the feminist idea of not needing a man, having your own interests, etc., but it seems unrealistic to me that all these girls are clueless about romance and disinterested in boys. Plus it's supposed to relate to the heroine's purity/innocence, which is off-putting to me.
Bob says that a guy is, "not only handsome, but desirable as well." I assume that "desirable" had less risque connotations in the time period, but still funny coming from proper Bob.
At one point, they're going along "corduroy roads," which are large logs laid in mud. The mud comes up between the logs and then dries, binding them together. I can picture them looking just like corduroy.
I almost bailed on this book right at the beginning, because it spells Western speech phonetically. I HATE when books decide to write out dialects/accents like this (I adore Wuthering Heights, but still have never done more than scan any of Joseph's dialogue). It makes it so difficult to understand and takes me out of the story, which I suspect is the opposite of the author's intentions. Luckily, this is confined to Mr. Brewster (to a small extent), Sary, Jeb the hired man, and the occasional neighbor.
I normally like housekeepers, but Sary is written more like "colored" maid characters of the period. As in, she has the above horrible speech, is very foolish and vain, low class, and so forth. It seems like most authors are unable to write both mother and housekeeper/servant sympathetically--it has to be one or the other.
There's lots of fashion, although a lot of it isn't actually fashionable. Sary wears another woman's old mourning, a "rusty black alpaca." The girls wear the following to a dance, "dotted swiss . . . with blue sash and hair ribbons," (Polly); "simple flowered silk dress," (Anne); "Eleanor's flounced and furbelowed, but modestly high in the neck as became a girl not yet 'out,'" while Bob's "gown of rose-pink net, trimmed with elaborate gold embroidery, was extremely decollete, with narrow gold bands over the shoulders performing the double duty as sleeves and to hold the lower section of the dress up in place!" The natives are so frightened by Bob's dress that none of them will dance with her. Tee hee. And Sary thinks that part of it's missing and tries to offer her a scarf. Ha.
Polly wants to go to high school in Denver. Theoretically, Anne is helping her prepare for this, although no tutoring is ever depicted. By the end of the book, Polly wants to go to school in Chicago with Eleanor.

I apologize for the crappy photo. The book has internal illustrations, which I hope to add in once my physical copy arrives. Next up will probably be Polly and Eleanor. I know I still haven't posted The Secret Stair, but I have to admit that I didn't like it, which pains me.

Bonanzle Servers

2009-08-11T09:53:00.004-04:00

In case you missed it (because I sure did), here's a note I found on a cached Bonanzle page:

"A quick maintenance note: we will be switching our web host on Monday evening, which will require us to physically move our servers from one location to another and re-setup all of the connections to and between them. We're planning to start the move at 10pm PST on Monday evening, and we'll be back online sometime in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. There could quite possibly be some intermittent issues on Tuesday as we iron out any hiccups that come about as a result of the move."

I spent several hours last night uploading 22 new items to Bonanzle, so it wasn't exactly reassuring to have it seemingly crash for several hours when I went to make final edits. I'm also not thrilled that, as far as I can tell, we weren't notified that this was going on. Right now it's working slowly and intermittently for me, slightly better in Internet Explorer than Firefox. Hopefully it'll be back to normal by tomorrow.

That said, this means I have 22 new items in my booth, mostly reading copies, if that's your thing--highest price on anything is $11.99. I've recently attempted a new method of organizing my Excel spreadsheets (how you KNOW you have too many books . . . ) and discovered I have several books that I've upgraded, so now all my duplicates are up for grabs. I also finally made a Lenora-themed banner for my booth (see above, obviously), which I'm not completely thrilled with, but which is still an upgrade from my previous generic one.

I've also updated my Blogger theme--thoughts? I need to get my Bonanzle widget matching/up and running, which may be fun today. It's an improvement on the blandness before, but I'd still love to have more of a 30s flapper-ish theme someday. I'm slowly figuring out how to modify all that stuff.

Sharing the Love

2009-08-10T15:31:00.006-04:00

Earlier this week, I had messaged a British seller about shipping costs for a Nancy Drew (movie) promotional shirt. She didn't get back to me until right before the auction closed, and I missed out on bidding. The shirt didn't sell, and she contacted me today with the following message:

If you are still interested, let me know and I will ship to you FOC. I had a bumper sale on my goods this time, so would be glad to do you a kindness.

How great is that? It's not a particularly rare or desirable item--there's one up for sale on US eBay right now, if you like it--but still an unnecessarily nice thing to do. Thanks, jnolan63.

So let me show some love by talking up my favorite series book sites. I'm sure you guys are familiar with most, if not all.

First up is a more unfamiliar one that I love: Girls Series Books: A Checklist of Titles Published 1840-1991. It's not cute or flashy, but the information is invaluable if you're looking for complete lists of titles, publication info, or even just browsing for a new series. I've used it before when trying to find other series by the same author (Pemberton Ginther). It's also good if you tend to like similar series--for example, I might look for Grosset and Dunlap or Burt series from the 1920s and 30s. I also love it for when I'm adding info to my ridiculous Excel spreadsheets about my more obscure series, as far as title # and printing year. I know the list is overwhelming but Ctrl+F is your friend here.

Second is Series Books for Girls, which I'm sure is (or should be!) familiar to most of you. It has information on several series, including more obscure ones--you will be at high risk for adding series to your collection based on this site. My favorite features are the format guides for Nancy Drew, Beverly Gray, and Judy Bolton, especially the latter two. Also fun are the cover art galleries, including for many foreign editions, and the information on Mildred Wirt Benson's non-Nancy Drew works.

Third is the Nancy Drew Sleuth Unofficial Site, which is also very popular. My favorites here are the information on seriously EVERY SINGLE Nancy Drew format/edition ever, like the twin thrillers, cameo editions, computer games . . . Really. The collectibles section is also fun. Not to mention, it's also the official website for the Sleuths.

Finally, there's Around the World with Nancy Drew. This site focuses on international editions of Nancy Drew, which are lots of fun. She has information on printing/publication, as well as great cover art galleries. My personal favorites include the Varty for Harold Hill UK dustjackets.

Shirley Flight #1, Air Hostess

2009-08-10T00:46:00.006-04:00

The latest misfortune to befall my electronics involved me dropping my camera's rechargeable lithium battery down an air vent. So until the new one gets here, I'm stuck reviewing books of which I already have pictures on my computer. Thus you get Shirley Flight, Air Hostess.

Shirley is an overachieving multilinguial librarian/part time probationary nurse who still lives with her parents. In the opening pages, she receives news that she's been selected for an interview for Transcontinental Air Lines (TCAL). Switching things up nicely from Vicki Barr, it's her mom who's a nervous wreck, while her father is all into it. Obviously, she aces the interview, as well as surviving the eight week training course.

Along the way, she acquires a new pal, redhead Wendy Moreland, the daughter of a Secret Service man/diplomat. Naturally, they're dragged into international intrigue involving stolen Italian government documents. On the smaller scale, there is plenty of the sort of melodrama that can only abound with large amounts of girls/women. I'm a nurse, I know what I'm talking about here. She also meets First Officer Tony Garland, who remains her mysteriously platonic love interest for the rest of the series. He's portrayed as tall and awkward, and, yeah, I have a weakness. Too bad he's kind of a moron.

Of course, Shirley manages to save the document, Tony, Wendy, and, dare I say, the security of the world. How Nancy Drew of her. Too bad I prefer the vulnerability of Judy and Trixie. Which really sums up my opinion of this book: while I liked it more than The Great Bullion Mystery or Desert Adventure, Shirley is just too much of a Mary Sue character for me to empathize with her.

I really was turned off by Shirley's mom, better known as Mumsie. She's the quintessential 50s mom, with no life outside her daughter and husband. She says things like, "You know what a bear he can be if his breakfast isn't done just how he likes it." Which somehow reflects more on her than on her husband. I normally love series book moms (or housekeepers as the case may be), but Mumsie gives off moron vibes.
Moreso than Sara Gay or Sally Baxter, I had to look up a lot of Britishisms. Just so you know, a "rasher" is a thin fried slice of bacon/ham, "Lancashire hot pot" sounds suspiciously like American pot roast (only mutton/lamb) and veggies, and a "prang" is a crash. Or cocaine, depending on the decade. I'll let you guess which it is in this story.
There is lots of great fashion. Shirley wears a "trim terylene suit and half-length sheepskin coat," while her socialite coursemate wears a "natty line in half-length flying coats with a broad white lambswool collar." Lola, the countess/spy (love it!) channels her inner Madonna with a "startling leopard skin coat with fingerless black netting gloves." At one point Wendy buys "multi glitter sandals" and wears "a fluffy pullover and tailor-made jeans."
They go to a dance at a club, where Wendy "daringly matched her red hair with a sheeny and romantically fully-skirted evening frock and satin pumps of the same vivid hue, with the whole ensemble given a little additional hint of glamour with crossed low-sweeping shoulder bands and a waist girdle with a chic bow and dangling ends of narrow strips designed in gold and emerald-blue. Glittering brooches pinned to the pumps drew the eyes down to full length." I thought it rated its own bullet point.
This book had an obvious wit that I enjoyed. Their instructor self-deprecatingly says that, "One of the first duties of an air hostess is to learn to stay awake, even in the most provocative of circumstances,"--the provoking element being his teaching.
Lola-Madonna says, "If my blood is blue, then it is probably cigarette smoke." Love. It.
Wendy calls herself and Shirley "the pals of the two crossed fingers." You know, like when you cross two of your fingers, and say, "We're like THIS." I'm borrowing this at first opportunity.
The second girl to get dismissed is constantly hounded for being a leftie. She gets "remonstrance" when she attempts to use her left hand, and it's cited as one of the reasons for her clumsiness and why she's kicked off the island. I thought this went out with the Victorians, but apparently I was wrong.
At one point they're put into a decompression chamber to see how they'll react if the plane loses pressure at high altitudes. The tattletale girl they nickname Snooper has hidden a past history of neurasthenia, and she goes totally crackers once her mask is off.
Shirley is a Mary Sue's Mary Sue. Who wouldn't be a little internally pleased if your arch-enemy turned out to be a bit of a nutter? Hint: not Shirley. Not only does Shirley never do anything wrong, the only time she ever gets in trouble is when she's covering for someone else. Shirley, you're not a Christ figure. Please stop. No one can relate to you. And while you probably assumed this, she does rescue a child from soon-to-be fiery wreckage. *eye roll*
And in a final note, Shirley Flight has the most hideous, middle-aged tranny cover art of any of the World Distributors series. However, I think the blue airplane boards are adorable.

So, while this book definitely had more charm than the other two titles I've read in this series, it still suffered from the same failures as the other two. Namely, that Shirley has no personality and an unusually high percentage of the characters suffer from what a lot of romance readers refer to as TSTL: Too Stupid To Live. I have another title, The Flying Doctor, but apparently I should avoid making predictions about what I'll be reviewing next. You all like surprises, no?

Vicki Barr #11, The Ghost at the Waterfall

2009-08-03T11:02:00.003-04:00

I know I said that The Secret Stair would be next, but I lied, okay? Anyway, I have to say that The Ghost at the Waterfall is a rather unusual series book. The book opens with Vicki's friend/RN Ruth Hall asking Vicki to fly her up to a remote area of Canada, to nurse her brother, who's injured himself in a mining accident. Betty Sue that Vicki is, of course she agrees. Good old Bill gets her set up in a plane, and off they go.

All is well until they run into a storm and short on fuel. They're forced to make a landing in a clearing in a remote area. They find a hunter's lodge, which unfortunately is inhabited by fur smugglers instead of hunters. Vicki and Ruth are (naturally) discovered hiding in a closet. Two of the smugglers have just shot the third smuggler, who is an odd character--a rough and tumble woman whom they first mistake for a man, and who is also the leader--and one of the men's wife. The men leave for a smuggling run, forcing Ruth and Vicki to care for Jody, the wounded woman.

Once the men are gone, the girls fly to the mine with an incriminating ledger they've found, after first getting Jody set up in relative comfort and safety. Ruth is left to nurse her brother as planned, while Vicki makes contact with a Mountie and tells him about the situation. He wants to take over, but Vicki (of course) feels an obligation to care for the injured woman.

Back at the lodge, the Mountie patrols the woods, while Vicki stays in the cabin. Like a genius, she falls asleep at the kitchen table, and the woman is able to steal the gun. The Mountie has no way of knowing that Vicki is now being held as a prisoner. Eventually, of course, they're able to capture the woman and all her accomplices, with the assistance of Vicki and Bill.

This book has a really odd, claustrophobic feel. I really felt the isolation and desperation of the situation. In that way, it reminded me of Behind the White Veil, which is, in my opinion, the very best Vicki Barr book. Interesting, when you consider that they were by two different authors, Julie Tatham and Helen Wells.
This book reminded me in ways of several other series books as well: The Mystery at the Ski Jump, a Nancy Drew book about fur smuggling, the original text of The Message in the Hollow Oak, another Nancy, which is set in rural, wooded Canada, and the Madge Sterling book, The Missing Formula, which has the same setting. Allow me to here plug the Madge Sterling books, which I think are really underrated. They're a breeder set by Mildred Wirt, published by Goldsmith. I got all three on Amazon, in dust jacket, for about $5 apiece.
This book has some more seriously romantic vibes between Vicki and Bill than most of the other books, which feature a playful flirtation. In the end, Vicki is rescued by Bill, who "senses" something is wrong when she doesn't return on time.
Is Ruth ever mentioned before this book? I don't recall her, although it's been awhile since I read the earliest books. I tend to file nurses away in my mind, since I'm an RN.
The titular ghost at the waterfall is this alleged "Indian legend." The gang takes advantage of this legend by using Jody dressed up in Indian garb, yelling, as a signal for the nights when they're receiving furs. Yeah, it really makes no sense. It's also supposed to scare off the locals. I mean, how Scooby Doo of them.
EVERYONE in this book seems to be a pilot. As in Jody and her husband, and I think a few others. I guess it's somewhat more plausible considering the remoteness of the location, but it still seemed a bit of a coincidence.

I quite liked this book, although it didn't have the light-hearted feel that I tend to prefer from a series book. It was much better to me than #10, The Search for the Missing Twin.

I have a question for collectors out there. My copy is ex-lib, which in this case doesn't bother me, as it's in beautiful condition. However, the dust jacket is still in the library mylar, which is glued to the front end papers. Should I attempt to detach the mylar (lighter fluid? scissors?) or slit it from the front and remove the dust jacket, or what? There's nothing on the spine, so it still looks quite good on the shelf. My first instinct is to leave it, but it does have a less than beautiful overlap seam on the cover, which you can see in the picture.

Kicking myself . . .

2009-07-27T09:55:00.006-04:00

I have several more obscure eBay searches set up to send me e-mail alerts. I was asleep at a ridiculously early hour last night and therefore missed the alert ("beverly gray" burt) for the following auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140335782117&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1123

I'm dying here, folks. When I saw the original thumbnail in the e-mail, with all those distinctive gray covers, I tried to tell myself there might just be multiples, maybe if I was lucky, they'd have In the Orient, which I've yet to find in a Burt edition. But no.

Someone got every Beverly Gray title ever printed in Burt editions. Including At the World's Fair. For FIFTY DOLLARS. *dies again*

What kills me about it is that the seller knows enough to say that it's a hard to find title, but not enough to have any idea of the value. When you add in World Cruise and In the Orient, both hard to find in Burt printings . . .

To end this on a more personally positive note, I acquired my Burt edition of World Cruise in dust jacket when a seller sold multiple Burt copies in djs of the series, including World's Fair. Sometimes when a seller is selling off a collection, it helps bring more attention to the individual listings than it might when selling only one. If the collector is known to other collectors, this can be especially true.

In this case, though, I believe so much attention was focused on World's Fair that buyers overlooked the other hard to find titles. I also acquired at least one other title--I think Senior? --very reasonably. If I'm not mistaken I paid between $20-25 for World Cruise and about $15 for Senior. While there's not uncommonly a couple of copies of a Burt Senior in dj up for sale on Abe or sometimes Amazon, at that time, this was the only Burt copy of World Cruise available online, with or without dj. I've had my Burt alert set up on eBay for over a year now, without another copy turning up, so I'm pretty pleased. In fact, I was contacted by another buyer almost immediately after the auction closed, wanting to purchase it.

While I generally like to cheer on a fellow collector instead of a reseller, I'm hoping these titles show up again. I don't have much hope for World's Fair, but I would definitely have some interest in In the Orient, although I would prefer a title in dust jacket. When you think about it, there almost has to be fewer Burt copies of this title than World's Fair, as they printed it for a much shorter time before Grosset and Dunlap acquired the rights to the series.

Worry not, I should have a decent review post up for Pemberton Ginther's The Secret Stair eventually. Unfortunately, my primary computer has finally drawn his last breath, so I've been getting by on a decade old clamshell iBook, which is painful in the extreme to use.

Vicki Barr #8, Peril Over the Airport

2009-07-07T11:07:00.005-04:00

Awhile back, a discussion on the comparative prices of foreign editions emerged in the comments on one of Jennifer's posts. To make a long story short, I wound up with a ridiculously cheap (admittedly imperfect) British edition of Peril Over the Airport. I know I've kvetched all over the place about how I don't enjoy Vicki as a pilot. Well, I stand corrected. Peril Over the Airport is a perfectly satisfying series read.

Vicki has become obsessed with learning to fly, and everyone else, conveniently enough, is obsessed with helping her realize this. The asexually oblivious Dean's old war buddy Bill Avery has conveniently opened a small airfield near Fairview. Vicki talks her boss into getting reassigned to Chicago, sweet talks her parents, and all systems are go for flying lessons.

While Vicki's lessons go well, someone's clearly trying to sabotage Bill's airfield. Prime suspects include the mogul who needs Bill's land for his own airport and the mechanic weirdo that Vicki suspects of being Darnell, another war buddy of Dean's who went psycho killer/AWOL. I'm trying to be less spoiler-y (and long-winded), but the ending isn't much of a surprise. Obviously, the culprit(s) are caught, Vicki gets her pilot's license, and Bill's airfield is saved.

Why did I enjoy this book? There was action all the way through, and it held my attention enough to finish in one setting, without having to force myself along. I like Vicki's mother and sister in this story, although I miss the other stewardesses. And all the male characters irk me: see below.

This book was published in 1953. Dean and Bill are old enough to have old war buddies. So, thirtyish? For some reason, I never pictured Dean being that old. Of course, it's not as though most series books have any relationship to real time.
Bill: rest of the series as Dean: the previous books in the series. Vicki's two great boring/platonic loves. I prefer Vicki, but I have to admit that Cherry has more romance.
It really, REALLY bothers me that Vicki has to grovel and get permission from her father to take the lessons. She gets it, natch, but still. She's an adult.
Bill reminds me of a bad romance alpha male. "I am going to treat you like CRAP, and believe murderers instead of you, but it is okay because I have charisma! Plus, I'm totally hot!"
In that vein, all the guys unrepentantly belittle the work of stewardesses.
Good continuity: in the earlier books, Vicki's little sister Ginny is proclaimed to be an ugly duckling, who will, just like Vicki, soon emerge as a beauty. In this book, Ginny starts to be described more flatteringly.
Shoe love: "low heeled play shoes. . . yellow cotton, sling back and open toes, with a flat bow atop."
It's odd to me that Vicki Barr would be published in Britain, considering the Shirley Flight series would be competing. I admit they're very different, though.
For the curious: the book has solid blue textured boards and is published by Sampson and Low (a la Nancy Drew). It lists to itself on the front and black flap and the back cover has a Dana Girls ad.

C &L Mystery Stories for Girls #2: The 13th Spoon

2009-06-22T04:25:00.009-04:00

Sorry for the long break--I've been out of town for several weekends and got out of the habit of posting. I got a lot of reading done, though, so expect more frequent posting this week. And, finally: The 13th Spoon.

Carol Breck is a college girl working as a secretary to Alan Hoyt. His two most prized possessions are a Watteau fan from his great-grandmother and a set of 12 apostle spoons that he has amassed over the years, starting with the "master spoon," featuring Christ. He receives the 13th and final spoon, St. Simon, as a birthday present from his friend Major Walton. Soon after, Carol wakes up to a robbery in progress. Mr. Hoyt has been injured, and the spoons and fan are all gone.

Carol is taking the place of Claire, the previous secretary. Claire is a beautiful, rather shallow girl, who is supposedly going to Charleston to care for an invalid aunt. In actuality, she plans to elope with a rather questionable young man. He stands her up, and Claire is left in the position of being jobless and having spent all her money on a trousseau. She accuses Carol of committing the theft, but she is not believed. In the end, Claire becomes the trophy wife of a wealthy South American, Señor Manuelo.

There are some strange chapters from the point of view of an amnestic man, who is pretty clearly being manipulated by some criminals. As the book progresses, some of these chapters are from the perspective of the criminals themselves--primarily the former fiance of Claire. The man slowly regains his memory and figures out that he is Frederick Parsons, a former protege of Mr. Hoyt. Parsons returns six of the spoons to Mr. Hoyt as his dying act. Carol makes an appearance, and tracks down three of the thieves. Six more of the spoons are found in their lodgings, and Carol also tracks down the fan. Carter, the former fiance, slowly takes over these chapters. In the final chapters, at a party celebrating Carol's successes in finding the thieves, he arrives, bearing the master spoon.

The 13th spoon really refers to two different spoons: the 13th one that Mr. Hoyt obtains (St. Simon), which he says he treasures the most for being from Major Walton, and the master spoon (Christ), which is the most valuable and separate from the 12 apostle spoons.
This book has excellent fashion. Clair has a "rose -colored wrap, . . . beaded Juliet cap, and . . . gold embroidered mules," for pjs, as well as a "filmy primrose dance frock." For the party in the final chapters, Major Walton buys Carol a "lovely grapey chiffon embroidered in the same soft color," with a hat with a "transparent droopy brim," and a "pale fluffy summer fur scarf." The housekeeper, Mrs. Biggs, wears a "darling rose chiffon."
Carol has a really fun college chum named Alice. They plot to open a store to sell "character jewelry" and flabellum to their classmates. Carol gets her idea for the flabellum from a visit to Major Walton's fan collection.
Another fun college chum, Beatrice, is nicknamed "Beefy." Eek.
At one point, Hoyt tells Carol to send some delphiniums over to Burpee, to prove that their color, a particular bright blue, exists. Fordhook Farm, the family home and experimental farm for the Burpee seed company, is located in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. This story takes place in Warrington, Pennsylvania.
Pem again psychs me out by hinting (I thought) at romance with at least three characters: Mr. Hoyt himself, Major Walton (even though they're both significantly older than Carol), and Mr. Hoyt's hot young nephew. Nada happens.
Alice "was in the throes of modernity and spared herself all capital letters" in her letters to Carol. Here's one example in full:
dear sherlocka we are set to arrive on the exact second pray thank that thoughtful and astute employer of female labor the hoyt for asking us en masse as it were beefyof course is a free woman but the undersigned has arranged a sub for the week i begin my vacation that much sooner because of this event please wire at bs expense what color your garments will be don't want to duplicate harmony above all is our motto until then--and perhaps afterwardtoo i remain respectfully alice whelen p s luckily b is rotten with riches i shall do my utmost for the dear girl

I. Loved. This. Book. It is fabulously twenties and fun. It's also very interestingly written, with all the different viewpoints, and much more complex than even this long summary/review indicated. It also has a very different feel from The Jade Necklace, which shows off Pem's versatility as an author. I just bought The Secret Stair on Amazon, and I'm impatiently awaiting its arrival. In the meantime, next up will be Betsy Hale, my first true series book from Pem, and Vicki Barr's Peril Over the Airport.

C&L Mystery Stories for Girls #1, The Jade Necklace

2009-05-05T06:42:00.005-04:00

Roslyn Blake is the orphaned child of a scientist/explorer and a mother who died when Roslyn was four. Since her father's death, she's been under the guardianship of the Chiltons, consisting of the horrid father, the lovely mother, sweet and beautiful daughter Muriel, and son Bob, the wannabe inventor. Roselyn's ambition is to be a professional pianist, but Mr. Chilton appropriates her personal funds that she was to use for lessons to buy this folly of a house, Belleview, out in the country.

Almost as soon as they get there, they're put upon to host a Chinese lord (Mr. Wang), his valet Hop Kee (and the valet's pet monkey), and his older friend/advisor (Mr. Han). Roslyn has a snuff bottle and what she believes to be an imitation jade necklace, both posthumous gifts from her father. The latter disappears, and she alternately suspects Hop Kee and his monkey. She thinks she's recovered it from the room of Mr. Wang (placed there, she believes, by the monkey), but she's actually stolen the real thing that her necklace imitates. Oops.

In the end, Mr. Chilton moves to New Zealand, to sponge off of his wealthy cousin; Mr. Wang (who is half-American, the son of the former owners of the house) proposes to Muriel and buys the house from Roslyn for his mother--giving Roselyn the money for piano lessons; and Bob goes to University, courtesy of his aunt. The necklaces are each restored to the appropriate owners.

Roslyn keeps telling herself that she'll be of age in three years. I'm not sure if "of age" means 18 or 21, therefore I'm not sure if she's 15 or 18. Whichever, Muriel is 4 years older.
I've read far too many Agatha Christie novels. I've been conditioned to believe the brother and the adopted daughter will always fall in love and was sadly disappointed/honestly confused when this didn't happen. I mean, they call each other Bobsy and Rosey!
The Honorable James Chilton is really almost TOO bad. He's unpleasant to read about, and it was distracting to be thinking things like, "How's Pem going to get out of this one? Killing him? How?"
That said, Pem does give you some insight into the guy. He's been disowned by his wealthy British family, and he thinks he knows more about money than he does. He enjoys the misery of others, especially if it's directly controlled by him. He makes Muriel wretchedly embarrassed by his matchmaking efforts with Wang--reading about it made me just wince in sympathy.
There's definitely some racial stuff in this book about the Chinese. Think "How do they even see through those eyes!"
Pem is just so good at writing about emotions and feelings, with a mixture of showing and telling. Roslyn's passion for music, her love for her adoptive family (especially her relationship with Bob), and her frustration with Mr. Chilton and his use of her money come across as being very genuine.
The family's pet name for Muriel is "Mew," which I think is rather cute.
Roslyn wears"the old yellow silk that had come from Bangkok and the gold woven band that had been a savage's bracelet," while Muriel has a "soft green" gown with "rhinestone fringes." Mrs. Chilton wears"coral sequins," and other guests at a ball wear a "mound of pink satin," a"beaded cerulean crepe," and a girl has a gown of "flaming red, with sparkling heels to her red velvet slippers and a huge red ostrich-feather fan."
Finally, this story takes place in a fictional town in Pennsylvania, where Pem was from. Bob goes to Lehigh University in the end, and Mrs. Chilton moves with her sister to Clinton, which is near Pittsburgh.

It's hard to explain why I like this so much--all I can say is that it's in the details. Highly recommended. Next up, The Thirteenth Spoon.

Pemberton Ginther

2009-05-05T05:12:00.005-04:00

Well, I was right to be tempted by Pemberton Ginther's The Jade Necklace. Before the first chapter was even over, I was bowled over by how great the writing quality is compared to other series books of the time. Her writing reads like a really good period book, not just a cliched, cranked out Syndicate manuscript (although heaven knows I love those, too!). I ran right through this book and straight into the next one, The Thirteenth Spoon, which was every bit as good. At this point, I'm actively pursuing ANY title by her.

Pemberton Ginther was the pen name of Mary Pemberton (Mrs. George A.) Heyer. She was an artist as well as a writer, and she illustrated many books, as well as painting and working in stained glass--a real renaissance woman. From what I can tell, her art career pre-dates her career as a writer, beginning in the 19th century. She then wrote several series in the 1910s and 20s: Betsy Hale, Miss Pat, Beth Anne, Nancy Lee, and Hilda. I've not yet read any of these, so I'm not sure what their focus is (mystery, romance, adventure, etc.), but I certainly intend to investigate.

The titles that I've read, as well as a third, The Secret Stair, were originally published by the Macrae Smith Company in 1928 and 1929 and then republished in 1932 by Cupples and Leon. While I've never examined a Macrae edition, the page numbers match up, so I assume the two editions of each are identical. I imagine the dust jacket art is different, although I've been unable to find pictures online to confirm this. The frontispieces of both of the books I've read are initialed "FW," so they are not illustrated by her.

The fact that these weren't written specifically for the Mystery Stories for Girls series probably explains why they're so different from the other titles. The heroines and subject matter are a little older and their problems/situations are more adult--another title, The Door in the Mountain, is especially childish in comparison. At 305-308 pages, they're also almost a hundred pages longer than The Clue at Crooked Lane, for example. Pem is also very thorough in fleshing out characters--there are no colorless sidekicks, but a lot more emotional turmoil. There's fewer series stereotypes, and they just don't have the same feel as a typical series book. I'm very curious to see how her actual series books read.

I'll have reviews of the books I've read up shortly. This actually started out as the review for The Jade Necklace but got FAR too long. Can you tell how excited I am to finally find another good author/book?

Lilian Garis Books for Girls, Nancy Brandon

2009-04-28T02:28:00.004-04:00

I got interested in the Lilian Garis books for girls recently, for several reasons. They all have original, different cover art (Thelma Gooch!), with glossy frontispieces and internal illustrations. They're also more affordable/easier to find than some other series books from that period(20s-30s), which happens to be my favorite era of series books. I've also been in the mood for books along the lines of the Patty Fairfield series (I love, adore, and WORSHIP Patty Fairfield, btw), with a focus more on fun and frivolity.

That said, I've never knowingly read a title by Lillian Garis, although she wrote under so many pseudonyms, it's hard to say. I mean, the woman wrote hundreds of juvenile fiction titles, but I've somehow successfully avoided them all. Do I own the entire Melody Lane series? Yes. Have I read a one of them? Nope. Do I own/have read the entire, utterly obscure Arden Blake series, by Cleo, her daughter? Yes. So I have no excuse for this lapse, besides the fact that her writing has the reputation of not aging well/being pretty bad. All of the books in this series consist of pairs of books about a protagonist (i.e., 1st book=Female Name, sequel=Female Name's Noun)

So my first foray with Lil is with Nancy Brandon. Nancy's mother is a businesswoman, and Nancy--who despises all activities domestic--wants to follow in her footsteps. Her first venture is in running a "whatnot shop" on her summer break from what I assume is high school. While doing so, she learns that (a.) business is harder than she thought and (b.) one must attend to at least SOME domestic responsibilities. She makes new friends because she's so great and popular, and there's a vague mystery involving a local professor who disappears at will. It's completely obvious that he's going underground somehow, but all these simple townfolk are evidently too, well, simple for that conclusion. In their defense, though, it's never clear to me why it has to be a secret, anyway.

Nancy's mother is young and pretty and mistaken for her younger sister. That part is all very Nan/Patty Fairfield.
This book is unusual in that Nancy is fatherless (no explanation, just that her mother is a widow), rather than motherless. I also liked the angle of Nancy's mother working and being successful in the 1920s and Nancy hating housework.
In case you couldn't figure it out from the summary, nothing really happens. Which can be okay--almost nothing ever happens in Patty Fairfield--but with Lil at the helm instead of Carolyn Wells, it's just boring.
Lil has that annoying tendency to tell rather than show. Which is particularly annoying when she's TELLING us how great Nancy is while SHOWING us that she's rather obnoxious.
Isn't it weird to be reading about a Nancy that isn't Drew?
The one aspect that I thought was well-written was Nancy's relationship with her younger brother Ted. They alternately fight, then have friendly moments that are rather understatedly tender.
Other props? Lil describes characters' looks and fashion constantly. Yellow is Nancy's color, btw. She's tall and willowy, with shiny black curls and dimples. Attire worn through the book includes "a simple blue ratine," a sport costume, with "a very fancy jacket and a light wool and silk plaid skirt," "all the known signs of college life . . . a worsted tam o'shanter (in summer), . . . a sweater to match, with a tan golf skirt and --heavy stockings, ending in good, strong, walking Oxfords," "brand new, quite modish heliotrope dress," "her oldest gingham and her most battered big straw hat," " a frame of grey veils, set over a small summer hat," "yellow and white tissue dress," "black satin bathing suit," "geranium georgette," "silver silk dress and black-satin-trimmed-with-silver grapes hat," and, my personal favorite, a "howling yellow gingham."
This book is a romance-free zone. *sigh*

This book was okay, I suppose, if not exactly what I was looking for. I think I'll get the sequel, Nancy Brandon's Mystery, but probably not the other (gulp) sixteen books in the series. Upcoming? I just got Pemberton Ginther's The Jade Necklace, which is very tempting. I also got five of the Josephine Lawrence Books for Girls, by Cupples and Leon, for much the same reasons that I got Nancy Brandon. I know five sounds excessive just to try out, but a seller on ABE had them in dj for $4 each, with nice combined shipping.

I got a first-time home buyer tax credit this year, and some of it went to new porch furniture. So the reading for the last couple of posts (and probably the next several) has taken place with Jules the dachshund on these:

Brad Forrest Adventure Series, #5, 6, & 8

2009-04-28T00:31:00.003-04:00

I purchased this set of books on a whim--the description sounded like good potential for the ridiculous, a la Christopher Cool. And while they're nowhere near Chris Cool levels of amazing, they're pretty campy. They're also extremely short--I can put one away in about 35 minutes. It was written as a Canadian series (a bit unusual) with eight volumes published in 1965, along with what are believed to be eight ghost volumes. Each title is in the format of Brad Forrest's Location Adventure. New York Adventure deals with heroin smuggling/the UN (yes, really), Yucatan Adventure is about Latin American revolutionaries, and London Adventure is a classic Cold War/defected/kidnapped scientist plot.

The front of each book has what sounds bizarrely like a brief bio for a company newsletter, which I believe I must reproduce in full.

"Bradley Raymond Forrest was born in Ottawa but he grew up in Toronto where his father's newspaper empire has its headquarters. Mr. Forrest owns a farm in Quebec and a Montreal house, so during the holidays, Brad learned to speak French fluently.

He is taking political science at the University of Toronto, and he plays hockey, golf, and football; he is keen on skiing and small-car [as opposed to large-car?] racing and, as a flier, he has his multi-engine ticket. Hunting and skeet shooting have made him a fair shot, and mountain climbing, skin diving and riding have kept him very fit. Although Mr. Forrest is very wealthy, he believes that his son should earn his holidays, so Brad has done all sorts of jobs in the newspaper business when not engaged in disentangling himself from his many fascinating and sometimes [no, always, trust me] dangerous adventures."

I mean, really. The awkward changes in tense, the random punctuation, the never-ending sentences . . .

Brad has NOT done all sorts of jobs in the newspaper business. He has been sent to multiple locations to do such things, but inevitably ends up involved in international intrigue. Furthermore, his dad's job activities are described more as a diplomat than a news tycoon.
There's never any explanation of the non-existence of Brad's mother. I assume she's dead, but it's not stated in any of these three volumes.
Why is it almost never a dead FATHER? I guess it ruins the whole "must be rich enough to go on constant expensive adventures" thing.
The wealthy blond athlete is in a frat. I know you're shocked. There's just as many mentions of him doing school work as there are of him doing newspaper work. AKA none.
Girls are not mentioned AT ALL in these books. A little weird, considering he's supposed to be 18, good-looking, great guy, tons of money. While they're short (younger audience?), there's plenty of violence (older audience?), so I'm not sure why.
He also doesn't have a chum. Instead, he has a different secondary helper character in every book. So another oddity. Brad Forrest has issues with close relationships?
I swear, this boy kids kidnapped/held captive more than Nancy Drew. We're talking multiple times per book.

I really wish the ghost titles had been published, particularly the adventures in Toronto, Nassau, and Anchorage. Of the existing titles, I wouldn't mind getting my hands on Madagascar, Calgary, and Hallifax. Speaking of fatherless main characters, my next review will be one of the Lilian Garis Books for Girls, Nancy Brandon.

Judy Bolton #9, The Mysterious Half Cat

2009-04-20T15:14:00.005-04:00

This might have to be my favorite Judy Bolton book of the moment.

The book opens with Judy dreaming a strange dream in the hammock--Blackberry splits in half, with the tail end following Peter and the head end following Arthur. Judy buys a dream book from a beggar, trying to figure it out, while the boys are just concerned with which half of the cat contained the heart. *eye roll*

The Boltons are getting ready to welcome Dora "Scottie" Scott and her little sister Carol for a visit. She was friends with Judy in Roulsville and is now coming back from Alaska to look for relatives. Judy's excited to have her back at first, but Scottie is now moody and honestly pretty unpleasant most of the time. Carol has a bizarre brain malformation that makes her "language deaf" and needs expensive experimental surgery to fix it. Where, oh, where, can their old miserly grandfather be?

Judy tries to distract Scottie with a mystery. Wing Lee, the Chinese laundry man (almost as good as a Chinese cook!), has been hearing strange ghostly noises in his cellar every week. Judy lies in wait and hears them talking about splitting the cat in half. They decide that the beggar has something to do with the mystery and follow him to his house on upper Grove Street. Scottie's been excessively interested in the guy--I'm sure you can guess who he is. He gets beaten up by boys looking for his hidden riches. Judy's figured it all out by now, but the grandfather says he can't claim his family now that he's not got any money--he's not claimed them all along, because he's afraid they'll take his money, and now that he trusts them, he needs it back, to give them a show of faith. Yeah, weird/not much sense.

Of course, Judy scares the boys into giving the money back, she puts it in a bank, so that he won't be tempted back into his miserly ways, and Carol successfully has the surgery. The Scotts move into a house across the line on upper Grove Street, which furthers the Judy Bolton Gentrification Project, and everyone lives happily ever after.

I don't see how Lorraine ever agrees to marry Arthur a few books down the line. I mean, she's supposed to be so jealous, and Arthur only decides to marry her after Judy turns him down. He seems so clearly to prefer Judy in these early books.
Blackberry ex machina: he stays in the house with the beggar when he's injured. Judy et al. only discover the now seriously ill beggar in searching for Blackberry.
Peter doesn't show the night they sneak into the miser's basement.. Judy's so upset about him not coming (and possibly scaring them with his flashlight) that she CRIES. When they straighten things out, she apologizes and wants to know how she can make it up to him. He responds by kissing her in the middle of the road. *sigh*
When Judy asks Honey about where Peter was, she says, "You know yourself, Honey, that any kind of an adventure is lots more exciting to share with Peter than with Arthur." Was there ever any doubt about who she ends up with?
Everyone in these old books stays out as late as I ever did--parties end at two and three in the morning, they go breaking into houses at midnight. People in the thirties didn't have the eight o'clock curfews, only go with chaperones, etc. that you might expect.
It's a little odd to me that Horace, Peter, and Arthur, who are grown men with jobs/in law school, gallivant around with these high school girls. However, this happens all the time in pretty much any pre-1960 book, so I guess I should take it as gospel.

It's odd that I like this book so much when I think the main mystery (beggar/grandfather) is so stupid and the guest secondary characters (Scottie/Carol) are SO annoying. But to me, this is the last classic Judy mystery--she graduates from high school at the end of the book, and the next volume ushers in the whole engagement scenarios, and the next has her working for Peter, which starts off the whole pre-Roberta arc. This the last one with them all running around in a group, before a new crowd of secondary characters are ushered in. And, honestly, the kiss. It's almost as good as when Peter kisses her after she's nearly strangled to death in The Yellow Phantom. I love that she totally almost died, and all she can think about is how she can't wait to tell Pauline that Peter kissed her.

What can I say? I'm a sucker for romance. Nancy Drew would NOT approve. Anyway, next up, randomly enough, is a few volumes from a Canadian series, the Brad Forrest Adventure Series.

Judy Bolton #4, Seven Strange Clues

2009-04-08T11:48:00.006-04:00

Seven Strange Clues is the first Judy Bolton book with all the key players and struggles in place. Honey made her first appearance in the previous book, the Arthur/Peter thing is nicely set up, and Judy realizes definitely that Honey likes Horace--and that he likes both Honey and Irene.

A poster contest is being set up by the local department store for the schoolchildren, with health as the theme. I picture WPA-type posters from the same time period. Judy is persuaded to enter by Honey, so that Honey's won't be the worst. Way to be a kind friend, Honey. Judy has the two young men renting part of the family's garage make a work bench in the cellar and invites Honey and Irene to share the space and her paints. Kay Vincent, an unpleasant classmate, unexpectedly shifts from insulting Irene to befriending her, but Judy is unable to discover her motives.

Soon, mysterious things start happening in the cellar. Judy hears whistling, she and Horace hear glass breaking, and Honey hears voices. Blackberry makes the cellar his new haunt and sometimes turns up there unexpectedly. An apple from Judy's still life gets eaten, and she accuses Horace of stealing it. Judy goes to the Dobbs' house early one morning to talk with Honey about the events, and meets up with her as Honey returns from a walk. As they head towards school, they, along with all their classmates, realize that the building has gone up in flames. Kay awkwardly yells the school fight song--fiddling while Rome burns, no? Once the fire is out, Judy joins a committee of the boys to investigate. It's found that a window was forced before the fire was started. Uh-oh.

The girls' posters were almost all in the school building when it burned--everyone but Irene and Kay's. A little suspect? Judy is shocked when she is announced as the winner, since her poster was (a.) pretty terrible and (b.) destroyed in the fire. They discover that somehow Honey's poster, which she never turned in, was submitted as Judy's. So now both Honey and Irene are upset with Judy, Honey because she thinks Judy did it and Irene because she wanted to win the wristwatch and thinks Judy lied about her poster.

Judy invites Honey and Peter over to ponder the (seven strange) clues with her and Horace. Everyone but Judy thinks they're meaningless. Irene joins them and says that Kay has ended their friendship abruptly. However, she's able to provide Kay an alibi for both the fire and the night Honey's poster disappeared. They explore the cellar again and find a secret tunnel, with the remnants of whiskey bottles, leading to the garage. Oops. Guess those nice boarders/garage renters weren't so nice.

Judy's suspicions are aroused and then confirmed when she questions Dickie, Kay's brother. Kay copied the poster from a magazine ad, and she sent Dickie to get the magazine from her desk that morning, so she wouldn't get caught. He accidentally dropped a match in the desk and then dropped the poster in his panic--burning the edge that's missing and causing him to step on it, leaving the footprint. One of the boarders is the son of a man who worked with Kay and Dickie's father in running a speakeasy, and they returned to town to recover the whiskey, of which Mr. Vincent then cheated them.

So Mr. Vincent can no longer run for Mayor, Irene wins a prize, and Honey is acknowledged as the first place winner. Dr. Bolton hires Irene to work in his office, so she can quit at the silk mill. Irene and Honey reconcile with Judy, and the closing of the school sets up the events for the next book, The Ghost Parade. I'm honestly not that fond of that book, because everyone kind of hates Judy in it.

I appreciate that Judy is allowed to be a bad artist. You know that Nancy Drew would have modestly painted the best poster ever. It's so bad that Horace thinks the bananas are strange leaves and says, "It takes all tastes to make up a world," when she wins. It's so bad that when Irene thinks Judy won, she says, "Perhaps you can understand how that awful poster of yours won first prize. I can't."
This is the book that establishes Honey as an artist, which she later makes her career. It characterizes her to the very end of the series.
When Irene tells Judy that Kay lent her paints, Judy exclaims, "Irene, the sky is falling! We must go and tell the king."
Kay's picture is copied from a Cream of Wheat ad, showing two Dutch children bowing thier heads over their breakfast. Lorraine's immediate opinion? "'Imagine Kay drawing a picture of children saying grace,' . . . She voiced the very thing that Judy was thinking." Love it.
This is totally golden age Judy Bolton: she still "bet[s] something precious that . . ."
Peter is the only one of the group that is able to identify the smell of whiskey in the cellar. Interesting.
Judy realizes that Honey likes Horace when she hides that her poster was lost. Honey thinks Horace burned it accidentally and will feel bad about it.

So, one of my favorite Judy's. I had forgotten that Dickie was technically the culprit, so I actually got a bit of a surprise at the end. I have to say, going back and getting the first ten with all the internal illustrations was one of the best things I've done as a collector. I love them to death, and I've never paid more than $30 for one (note: my copy of The Riddle of the Double Ring has a dust jacket from a later printing). Next up: The Mysterious Half-Cat.

Mildred A. Wirt Mystery Stories #1, The Clue at Crooked Lane

2009-04-07T08:43:00.008-04:00

Mildred Wirt Benson is best known as a ghostwriter for the Nancy Drew series. However, she was extremely prolific and wrote for many other series, such as Ruth Fielding, Dana Girls, and Kay Tracey, as well as several titles in her own name. One of these series is the Mildred A. Wirt Mystery Stories, published by Cupples and Leon in the 1930s, of which The Clue at Crooked Lane is the first.
There's no illustrator listed, but the expression on Peggy's face reminds me of the early Tandy artwork for Nancy Drew. Something about the profile and the tucked chin, looking up.

The Clue at Crooked Lane fulfills pretty much every series book stereotype ever: amnesia, missing person, missing will, a secret drawer, gypsies, a miser, motherless girl with motherly housekeeper. It's all very Mildred Wirt. The motherless girl in question is Margaret "Peggy" Palmer, the daughter of Major Palmer. Her best friend Rebecca convinces her to come with the other girls to a gypsy camp to get their fortunes told. While there, the police raid the camp, and the old gypsy gives a bracelet to Peggy. Naturally, it's the stolen property of an actress, and the police immediately accuse Peggy of stealing it. When the actress, Marilyn Marlowe (yes, really), is asked to identify Peggy as the thief, she does so, even though it's clear Marilyn has no clue who took it. Peggy is only released when her friends track down the old gypsy and get her to confess. She now has an enemy in Miss Marlowe, who was shamed before the police.

Peggy's Uncle Jack sells antiques, and she sometimes helps him unpack shipments. While doing so later that night, she discovers a secret drawer in a desk, which contains a locked onyx box. Her uncle says it needs to be returned to the original owner--it was purchased at an estate auction at Sleepy Hollow, some 100 miles north. She and Rebecca drive up the next day and meet Linda, the only person living on the estate. Her uncle Elias disappeared three years ago with a ton of money belonging to a charity and has now been declared dead. He left all of his money in an old will to a distant cousin, in spite of the fact that he had been caring for Linda for several years since her parents' death. Peggy is convinced that the onyx box must hold a newer will, and Linda promises to come down to visit Peggy and see the box.

The next day, Peggy discovers that a clerk has inadvertently sold the box to Marilyn Marlowe, who denies it when questioned. Uncle Jack sends her and Rebecca to pick up an old clock in the mountains, but they get a flat along the way. When they go for help, they stumble across an old miserly recluse living on Crooked Lane. He's kind, but clearly confused and not remembering his past. I'm sure you can guess who he is, but we've still got more than 100 pages to go. Peggy goes back to visit him weekly, because she's concerned that he's not eating, and she senses a mystery about him.

Linda comes in and is disappointed about the box. While with Peggy, they interrupt a hold-up at a jewelry store and get the police--the thief sees Peggy and promises revenge as he's captured. Peggy attempts again to get Miss Marlowe to give up the box, but she throws Peggy out. Peggy's solution? Breaking in to the house. Sweet. She has no luck with the box, but overhears two maids talking about it. Afterward, the gardener tells her that Miss Marlowe is at her mountain summer home. Conveniently, Rebecca's parents invite her and their friends to a house party up a their own mountain lodge. Peggy goes over for attempt #2. Again, Miss Marlowe tosses her out, and again Peggy breaks in. Just, wow. To throw in one more stereotype, she's forced to hide in a closet and is discovered. She escapes with the box, blows the fuses--which kills the lights, and absconds on a high speed automobile chase. For real. It's pretty amazing.

She turns in at Crooked Lane and discovers a robbery in process--the thief from earlier has escaped and is hitting the miser over the head. She leaves the box in the car and runs. The thief captures the miser and Peggy, but they gain control of his gun in struggle. She locks him in a wardrobe (see the frontis), but the miser has been injured. At this point, her friends are searching for her. Once found, they send for an ambulance and the police. Of course, the knock to the head causes the man's memory to return, and when Peggy asks if he's Uncle Elias, he says yes. The thief robbed him three years earlier and hit him over the head. He's had amnesia and the delusion that he must make enough money to make up the loss, which is why he's a miser. He and Linda are reunited, and Marilyn Marlowe, who is the distant cousin and has destroyed the will by now, gets absolutely nothing.

The book blatantly says, "Rebecca liked whatever Peggy liked. However, she found it difficult to keep up with her more energetic friend." This is almost always the definition of a secondary series book character, but I've never seen it so blatantly stated.
The book is very Nancy Drew in that, once the police find out who Peggy's father is, they immediately back off and are worried.
Uncle Jack has a Chinese cook named, I kid you not, Squint. Ouch. I have to admit a secret fondness for Chinese cook characters, though. The Adventure Girls at K Bar O, for example.

While there's no romance or fashion, The Clue at Crooked Lane makes up for it in adventure. The mystery is pretty lame--it's obvious to anyone who reads these kind of books who the miser is--but it's better written than most. I'm still on a hunt for good sleuthing chums, though! Next up, I did decide to go with an old favorite: Judy Bolton and Seven Strange Clues, to be followed by The Mysterious Half-Cat.

My Favorite Things

2009-04-05T22:12:00.003-04:00

I've been considering re-reading some of my favorites and posting reviews, rather than sticking to new-to-me books. Which, naturally, got me thinking about just what books for a series are the best. For me, the ones I enjoy/re-read the most don't always match up to the ones that I think are the best written. For example, I think The Vanishing Shadow is probably the best written Judy Bolton book. However, there are several others that I reread more because they showcase her romance with Peter--to me, that's more enjoyable/easy to read about than her kidnapping in Vanishing Shadow. Of course, sometimes best/favorite coincides, as in The Adventure Girls in the Air. It can also get complicated with a series like Beverly Gray, where my favorite story arc is (surprise!) the travels on board the Susabella, but my favorite stand alone titles are Beverly Gray, Sophomore and Beverly Gray's Romance. I like those particular books on their own more than any of the individual titles within the Susabella arc.

Favorites:

Nancy's Mysterious Letter, 1932 edition.
The Vanishing Shadow
Beverly Gray, Sophomore
The Adventure Girls in the Air
Behind the White Veil (Vicki Barr)
The Ghost Wore White (Connie Blair)
The Missing Formula (Madge Sterling)
Kristie at College/Quarry Ghost (not series, but excellent)
Peggy Plays Off-Broadway (Peggy Lane)

I tried to narrow down a Trixie Belden, but I think of that series differently than others. They were the first series I ever read, my mother's old deluxe editions (1-15), and I've never attempted to replace them or expand on my collection. I reread all of them at least once a year. The most memorable scenes for me are Trixie finding the white dress with the Peter Pan collar and the flared skirt--and getting her first orchid from Jim; when Brian finds out that she's been acting like a mooning nincompoop over Honey's ridiculous cousin so that she can use her diamond ring to save Brian's car; and two scenes in The Happy Valley Mystery: Jim reassuring her after the dance and giving her an id bracelet on the plane back to New York.

Storing Books

2009-04-05T06:52:00.004-04:00

I'm always curious how serious collectors store all those books--Jenn Fisher's collection is about the only person's I've seen pictured. You can see my own library above, although I've added since then (I know you're shocked), and the shelves are all pretty full. If you want a tour, the far left bookcase is all Nancy Drew and Dana Girls. After that, I have them organized alphabetically by series name. I group formats together because I think it looks better (white spine Nancys, OS Nancys w/o dj, wrap dj Nancys, etc.), arranged by number within the format. To get even more anal, the formats are done in the order they were introduced (purple Dana Girls, turquoise DG, wrap DG, etc.), which gets complicated with Nancy Drew, since there are overlapping formats (i.e. cameo editions), and I also have some British and French editions. The few single titles I have are alphabetical by author.

My issue right now is that while all my series books are on the shelf, my regular books are still boxed from my move last summer. Clearly, I don't have the shelf space for them. I've bought another tall shelf and a different desk with a finished back. The current plan is to move the desk away from the wall, then use that space for two more shelves. I've also tentatively started selling off series I don't like in my Bonanzle booth--Kay Tracey is my test of this at the moment. I should also disclose that my favorite series, Judy Bolton and Beverly Gray, are housed on the built-in by my fireplace in the living room.

P.S. Please ignore my beginning attempts at stripping the fireplace. Thanks.

And in a final random note, there's no less than 3 Cherry Ames board games up for sale on eBay right now, and two others have sold in the past couple of weeks. A little odd, but it seems like there's a rush on certain things every now and then. The first one sold for almost $90, which may have encouraged some other people to list.

C&L Mystery Stories for Girls #9, Escape by Night

2009-04-05T04:19:00.007-04:00

Honestly, I had trouble believing that this book was by the same author as The Dormitory Mystery. It was published in 1941 and falls in patriotic war propaganda territory, to the detriment of any character/plot development.

Wendy, an orphan, lives with her crippled* Uncle Ed and yet another harsh-but-secretly-loving housekeeper, Sarah, in what used to be the Edgewater Inn, formerly operated by her parents. She's received a letter from a Mr. Schmidt requesting that he and his family be able to stay at the inn all summer--and he'll pay well for the privilege. Wendy talks her uncle into taking out a loan so that they can fix up the inn and take guests again. She wants the money that the profits would bring, so that she can go to college for hotel management.

She gets the inn ready with the help of her buddies, Duke and Eva. Neither is as charming as Chubs. Miss Abbott, a nurse/nutritionist/former inn patron, also hires on. The Schmidts come, along with several other guests, who all just happen to want the south wing. In her rush at the sudden influx of guests, Wendy brilliantly hires a maid and her sister without checking their references. Some normal guests also come, but they get driven away by strange events (snake in the bed of a child, salt in the soup, theft of Mrs. Schmidt's pearl necklace).

Wendy has several suspicious encounters with the guests, and she basically ignores them all. For example, she overhears Mrs. Schmidt and the maid speaking in a foreign language, which, when caught, they claim is Czech. Mr. Schmidt also asks that a "high line" (something electric/radio related?) be installed in his young son's room, supposedly for the son's experiments. Miss Abbott, who nursed oversees in the first World War, also recognizes one of the guests, but can't place him. When a hometown boy in the military brings comrades to stay in the hotel, the guests are pretty clearly attempting to spy on the group. At this point, Wendy's finally figured out that SOMETHING is wrong, but her suspicions don't solidify until the regretful/fearful wife of one of the men confesses that they are Nazis. Well, that and when escaped German POWs are found on an island in the lake. That Wendy, she likes to be sure before she takes action.

Wendy decides to poke around in the room with the high line, which is full of radios. She accidentally does something to one of the radios. When the men unexpectedly come in, she has to hide in the closet (series stereotype #549). She overhears their plans for a mass synchronized bombing of the US. And a bunch of "Heil, Hitler!"s. Of course, she gets caught when someone on the radio asks the men about the signal, and they seach the room. She gets bound and gagged, and they seriously toss her over a cliff into the lake. She saves herself by praying that she hits water(not the jagged bottom of the cliff) and arching herself into a dive. They somehow don't notice this, and she makes it to shore and gets rescued by a woman and her daughter. They take her to a doctor, he takes her story seriously, and they alert an FBI agent staying at the woman's hotel. The gang gets rounded up, Wendy is a hero to her country, and the publicity ensures that the Inn will stay full of guests.

The front flap synopsis tells you the entire story, spoilers and all, including the ending. Not that there's much doubt about the ending, but it's still annoying.
It was never clear to me if Mr. Schmidt wrote to Wendy about staying at the Inn completely out of the blue, or if she had advertised for guests. My impression was the former, which is kind of weird.
Duke isn't a romantic interest; the book really doesn't have one. I got some vibes from the Steve the Hometown Hero military boy, but nothing ever came of it. Duke and Eva are also not together. Not a drop of romance in the whole book.
They give a dance at the Inn for guests and locals. Wendy wears "a pale blue crisp pique," Eva a "white organdie, full-skirted and ruffled." A real guest worries that her short summer frock isn't appropriate, and Wendy reassures her that any natives in long dresses are her fellow graduated seniors, who are just "delighted at a chance to wear our class-party clothes again!"
When the POWs are caught, it's not known that they're escaped prisoners--just some people found on the island who don't seem to speak English. Miss Abbott attempts to interrogate them and find out their identities. She tries a couple of languages, then says, "Heil, Hitler!"They click their heels and return the phrase. Um, wouldn't escaped POWs be a LITTLE more cautious?
I don't want to know what sort of people are going to Google up here now that "Hitler" has been named on this blog.
Only after the guests are arrested does Miss Abbot remember where she's seen the guy before--he was her patient in Paris, a captured German naval officer.
I'm a nurse specializing in spinal cord injury rehab, so I hate to use the word crippled. However, the book doesn't elaborate on Uncle Ed's condition, other than to say he uses a wheelchair.
The orphan living with housekeeper is very typical. However, her uncle is completely uninvolved in the mystery, unlike other parentless heroines. He sits and carves in his workshop, while his teenage niece runs the hotel.

In case you couldn't tell, I didn't enjoy this book. I'm not quite sure what I'll review next--my huge TBR pile includes the final two Sara Gay books, a few Sally Baxter, and some Mildred Wirt Cupples and Leon titles. I'm still on the lookout for The Pledge of the Twin Knights.

Shirley Flight #6, The Great Bullion Mystery

2009-03-30T11:03:00.004-04:00

I hate to quote Red from That 70s Show, but seriously, sometimes Shirley is a total dumb ass. She's surrounded by even dumber people, which is about the only reason she gets away with it.

And end rant. In this book, Shirley has taken a temporary assignment on a "flying boat" or amphibious plane, going from Southampton to Canada, by way of Reykjavik. At the last minute, they're loaded up with special cargo: 500,000 pounds in gold bullion. Mrs. Dellery, another of those mean old ladies with a heart of gold, is Shirley's special charge. Mrs. Dellery is extremely demanding (she has Shirley sit with her, then pumps her for information about herself), which earns her a lot of grief from the obnoxiously, annoyingly chauvinist steward, since this prevents Shirley from assisting with the rest of the on-flight duties. Mrs. Dellery also attempts to smuggle a small gun onboard, which causes further conflict between Shirley and the steward over what to do.

Once in Reykjavik, Mrs. Dellery somehow convinces Shirley to ride with her and a menacing chauffeur to her house outside of town. Stranger danger, Shirley! I got so frustrated with Shirley after this point--everytime she rightfully gets her hackles up, someone (usually Mrs. Dellery [or *spoiler* one of her alter egos]) offers her a stupid explanation, that she swallows hook, line, and sinker. From at least the car ride, Mrs. Dellery is clearly up to no good, but Shirley ignores her instincts until she's taken prisoner in the house and ordered to remove her uniform. She does so and hides. Once the other two give up on finding her and leave the house, she finds an empty wheelchair and a grey wig. Shocker! Mrs. Dellery is not really crippled or elderly!

Somehow Shirley gets out of the house, determined to make it back to the plane before it leaves Reykjavik. There's a genuinely tense struggle in the Geyser Plateau that I really enjoyed. She's walking and spots the evil chauffeur and decides to lure him out of the car to steal it. She deliberately shows herself, then leads him on a dangerous chase through the steam and snow and hidden boiling springs. She manages to get the car and make it back to the plane but can't convince the guard that she's really a flight attendant, since she's wearing native costume. She also sees someone who looks exactly like her, wearing her uniform. Finally they're convinced and let her onboard.

Once on the plane, a girl claiming to be an Icelandic flight attendant getting training shows up unexpectedly. In a Transcontinental uniform. And Shirley's not at all suspicious. For real. Until she sees a British passport poking out of the girl's bag, and even then, she tries to think of an innocent explanation. She does start getting suspicious about a group of mining engineers, but when she tries to tell the obnoxious steward, he refuses to listen. And it's too much of a breach in protocol for her to directly approach the flight crew. She finally decides to open the engineers' cargo for proof, but of course by the time she finds the tommy guns, it's too late to go for help. They take over the plane. The female impersonator is really the male leader of a notorious gang, who plans to leave them abandoned in middle-of-nowhere frozen Canada. Luckily, Shirley uses the equivalent of knock-out drops from the first aid kit to spike their coffee. They're captured, the crew and passengers are rescued, and Shirley is vindicated in front of the steward. Since she's somewhat less dumb than everyone else.

While there's a huge amount of guards for the loading of the gold, there's absolutely no security on board the plane. NADA.
I hated the character of the steward. He's even more stupid than Shirley, impossible to please, and takes bribes. He won't report Shirley's suspicions because he would have to admit that he (a.)took a bribe and (b.)helped smuggle a gun into Iceland. I know he's supposed to be seen as a silly villain, but he was extremely annoying.
I need to find pictures of old planes. This book mentions a bar, tables, card games, etc.
The gang leader is described as short and slight, a master disguise artist. I can vaguely believe that he could make himself up convincingly as an old woman, but not as a gorgeous young girl.

I've been a bit disappointed in the Shirley Flight books so far, especially considering how much I enjoy other World Distributors series (Sara Gay Model Girl, Sally Baxter Girl Reporter) and the early Vicki Barr books. Next up is Escape by Night, which I admit was not much like The Dormitory Mystery.

Shirley Flight #3, Desert Adventure

2009-03-29T10:08:00.008-04:00

Shirley Flight was published by the British company, World Distributors, in the 1950s and 60s. My copy of this book doesn't list a copyright date, but the inscription in the front is dated January 1959, and the first four titles are listed on the back cover. Shirley is an air hostess for Transcontinental Airlines and a trained nurse (as air hostesses were required to be at the time). The books differ from the Vicki Barr series much more than I would have expected. There's a definite international flair, and Shirley's family really isn't mentioned. The Vicki Barr books use flight as a way to get around to solve mysteries, while Shirley Flight mysteries center around the plane itself. There are also male stewards on board, and Shirley's experience of sexism is an element in both books I've read.

In this book, Shirley and her passengers are setting out from Beirut to Bahrain. Onboard, passengers include Wally the pop star, Mrs Rutter the harsh old lady with a heart of gold, and Carmen Vidette, an obnoxious ex-Folies Bergere chorus girl on her way to a gold-digging marriage with an Indian prince. The first hint that something is wrong occurs while the plane is still on the tarmac, with Shirley discovering and apprehending a native in the crew cabin.

Once in the air, the plane gets caught in an electrical storm, screwing with their flight instruments. They get off course, then lose most of their engines. The pilots make a forced landing in the middle of the desert. After ten days, it becomes obvious that they're going to run out of food, water, and strength before the plane can be repaired. Then they get captured by a band of Arabs, who, naturally, are the members of a secret society that vows to kill all white people. They've been after Carmen, whose interracial marriage for profit displeases them. Luckily, they manage to hide her identity somehow. Wouldn't they recognize her, though, if they really had a hit out on her?

They're taken to a hidden valley, where the origins for this vow are explained as shipwrecked English prisoners in the 1790s taking all their treasure. Now no white people can leave the valley alive as long as the treasure is gone. Shirley manages to convince the ruler to let them live by saving the life of his sick son with her nursing training and the onboard first aid kit. The ruler still keeps the vow by making them stay, albeit alive, in the valley.

The son befriends Shirley, though, and tells her about a secret passage out of the valley. The passengers plan to sneak out every night, repair the plane, and then finally make their escape. Of course, Shirley finds the secret treasure room and figures out the cobra belts worn by the assassins are the the key to the room. Really. So the treasure is restored, they have a feast, then get to fly off to England. At the last minute, they put the son on board the plane, so that he can see England.

The 50s Brit xenophobia/colonialism is pretty offensive. Shirley says things like, "You big boy bring big truck 'long medical stores!" to communicate with her very adult ground foreman. The narration also explains that the local phrase, "If Allah wills it!" is used as a scapegoat for the natives' natural neglect and laziness.
The sort of love interest is First Officer Tony Luckworth, who is described, I kid you not, as "ferociously moustached." Maybe that's him on the cover? He has a lucky teddy bear that's stolen by Carmen. Random much, for sure.
All non-BBC English British accents are spelled phonetically. In particular, Alf, one of the stewards', Cockney speech is featured, with extensive use of Cockney rhyming slang.
Shirley cures the son by giving him penicillin (an antibiotic) for what she believes to be a viral infection. Sense, it makes none. She also sets up an oxygen tent, opens the windows, and kicks out the oh-so-backwards-and-superstitious, incense-waving Arab physician.
I have no idea who is supposed to care for the son, who is a child, once he gets to England. It's never explained.
They describe the rather large amount of luggage brought for the son, but both SF and VB talk about how critical the weight of the cargo (and even the passengers!) and its distribution are on board the plane.

So that's Shirley Flight Air Hostess in Desert Adventure. Up next, The Great Bullion Mystery, which is also rather strange, if more Nancy Drewish.

Bonanzle

2009-03-29T08:36:00.004-04:00

Long time no post! I was out of town for about three consecutive weekends and got out of my reading habit. I read two Shirley Flight books this weekend, though, so expect posts on them shortly.

I also got a copy of the other Alice Anson title in the C&L Mystery Stories, Escape by Night, for which I have high hopes. I managed to get the only copy in dj on ABE, Amazon, and eBay, for only $17--got to love the Best Offer feature. And it is MINT. I'm also very excited about some early, early Dana Girls books in dj that I got, By the Light of the Study Lamp and In the Shadow of the Tower, both listing to latter. They were $19 and $25, respectively, in dj (with all the listings on the back), four glossies, etc. While I don't love Dana Girls in general, I do LOVE the early cover art (very thirties/sophisticated for a children's book).

As you probably figured out from my widget, I've started a booth on Bonanzle for all my extras. I also decided to sell off my Kay Tracey books. It seems silly, when I've spent so long collecting them, but I really don't care for them (how can one series have such a combination of the bizarre and the boring?), and I need the shelf space in a bad way. I haven't sold anything yet, but I'm optimistic. I really love the community feel and got several welcome messages within hours of opening it.

I also got a message saying that the copy of The Clue in the Stagecoach that I have listed is a first edition. Points are synopsis on front flap, lists to self on back flap, and Dana Girls to Bamboo Bird on back cover. However, I found a completed listing on eBay, with the same info, only listing to Haunted Lagoon, so I'd think that was an earlier printing? *shrug*

Mary Lou #3, The Mystery of the Secret Band

2009-02-25T02:30:00.005-05:00

Of all the Mary Lou books, this one had the most original plot. Mary Lou is asked by her father to stay at a guest house in Philadelphia and help the manager discover who has been stealing from the residents. Her side project is to find Margaret Detweiler, a local girl who has disappeared. Of course, the two cases end up being related.

Mary Lou poses as a guest of Mrs. Hilliard, the manager. She gets to know most of the guests and suspects several of them (an old maid who felt she should have inherited the house, the daughter of another guest, who elopes with her young man) before she moves on to the real suspect: a girl calling herself Pauline Brooks. ML realizes her mistake when she sees Pauline with another girl, Miss Jackson, and another guest id's Miss Jackson as the servant who cut out after two of the earlier thefts. ML realizes that there's a "secret band" of thieves working together to rob hotels.

Her search for Margaret Detweiler turns up that the girl was fired for theft from the store where she was working. Margaret was then offered a job by a mysterious Mrs. Ferguson, who witnessed the discovery of the theft. Of course, it turns out that Fergie is the head of the secret band (she planted the stolen item on Margaret), and Margaret is too good a girl to steal--she only stays with the loot, "under duress."

In the end, ML calls her dad to come help, and he's able to get everyone arrested, while ML drives out to the abandoned house to find the loot. She gets locked/boarded into the house by the local guy keeping watch. Mrs. Hilliard realizes something is wrong when ML doesn't come home that night and alerts Detective Gay. They come to the rescue and release her, arresting the watch guy, and finding Margaret in the process. They take all the loot back to the rooming house and distribute it to the residents, making a Merry Christmas for all.

Max is ridiculously upset about ML leaving over Christmas, because she's going to miss some important dance, and he's the class president. He then shows up in Philadelphia for a couple of days to surprise her (sweet, because she's homesick) and proposes a secret elopement (creepy). What does he think they're going to do, find a JotP, tie the knot, consummate the marriage in the back of his roundabout, then reveal everything on graduation? Yeah, actually just that. Well, the roundabout is implied. ML is appropriately horrified. How Beverly Gray of her.
In case you didn't figure it out, the previous two books took place over the summer between junior and senior years, and this book takes place over winter break of their senior year. ML is still 16 until spring.
The secret band? Wasn't the word "gang" in use by this point?
You know immediately that Pauline is going to be a bad guy because she's wearing "too much lipstick." If she were okay, it would have just been "bright" or "a lot."
Illegal activity for this book: when ML gets trapped in the house, it's because she BROKE IN a window, then the guy covers it up when he notices it. It's not an intentional entrapment.
Nothing happens to Margaret, even though she's been consorting with thieves for almost an entire year. I know she's supposedly coerced, but you think she could have told SOMEONE, if she's really so innocent.
Pauline and the other girls disguise themselves as drunk men to get in people's rooms. I was kind of surprised by the mention of drunkenness/portrayal of drunken behavior. I did check; Prohibition was repealed in 1933, so it wasn't actually illegal, though.
ML has a squirrel coat. And goloshes. And fashionable long snow pants.
The Philadelphia thing pretty much confirms the Pennsylvania location for the first book/Mary Lou's hometown, Riverside.
Edie does this in the other two books, but it's at its most annoying here: the upfront foreshadowing. Seriously, the end of every chapter is some variation on this: "Little did she realize at that moment how thankful she was to be . . . " Constantly. SHOW me, don't TELL me, Edie. Take me by surprise for once.
Unlike some other breeder sets or canceled series, it doesn't hint at any ghost titles in the end. It actually ends in such a way to finish the series pretty satisfactorily, really.
I love quaint inscriptions and bookplates. It's odd that this was owned by a boy, but I love he put that he was junior varsity, first team.

So, this series wasn't too bad. Lots of good fashion, very 30s, a little romance, three very different mysteries and settings, great cover art. My biggest complaint with the series is that I feel the secondary characters are lacking. They're either good or bad, without any real personality traits. These books totally need a Chubs. They're also not very gripping. It's not like the early Beverly Gray or Judy Bolton books, where I'm completely absorbed and have to finish and then read the next one, etc. I will say they're ahead of the times as far as being mystery-focused and stand-alone.

What's next? Shirley Flight, maybe? I did get inspired by aviation memorabilia on Antiques Roadshow this week. Speaking of which, I just love it when people are overwhelmed and cry on that show. Especially old ladies.

Mary Lou #2, The Mystery of the Fires

2009-02-24T17:17:00.006-05:00

Well, thankfully, I quite liked this book, which gives me hope for the final volume, The Mystery of the Secret Band. It reminded me a lot of the Kay Tracey book, The Message in the Sand Dunes, with traces of Doris Force at Cloudy Cove. In other words, the basic idea of being on vacation at a beach cottage and being all chummy with the vacationers at other cottages.

ML, her mother, Freckles, and Jane are off to their cottage at Shady Nook (which there's a convenient map of in the front) for the summer. Sticking with the pattern of the last book, ML's dad is off on a case and doesn't show up until the final chapters. When they arrive, they're told that their friends' (the Hunters) cabin burned down last week, and arson is suspected. The main suspects are Cliff, who technically owns the cabin since his dad died and needs the insurance money, and Ditmar, an out of work architect, who needs the contract for the rebuild. Soon though, Flicks' cabin and inn/restaurant is torched, as well as the Smiths' house. David McCall, who is way unreciprocatedly into ML, manages to get Cliff arrested. Another suspect, Rebecca Adams, who is certifiably crazy, crops up.

In the end, ML figures out it's Mr. Frazier, whose overpriced inn is benefitting from the closure of the cabins and the rival inn, with the paid help of Rebecca's brother, Tom. Tom and Frazier catch ML eavesdropping and manage to get her committed by pretending that ML is actually Rebecca. In the end, ML manages to signal Norman and Max, who are out looking for her in their car. Tom and Frazier get arrested, and Cliff gets released.

Cliff is described as "homely," but very personable and a good guy. He's known for his card tricks. I like the break from the typical gorgeous athlete type. He and Jane have a sort-of-romance.
The mental institution bit is seriously scary. Every time ML tries to tell them who she is, they think it's part of her illness.
The institution is described as a pretty nice place of its type (which is definitely unrealistic for the time), and Rebecca decides to go live there voluntarily.
ML follows the Nancy Drew mold by not being super interested in any of the boys who are obsessed with her, even though she's grateful to Max for rescuing her.
ML rescues the Smiths' little girl from the fire, in series stereotype #322.
ML's dad seriously does nothing. He helps get the bad guys arrested, AFTER ML figures out who they are, and the boys rescue her.
ML is supposed to be 16, and David McCall is 22. Rather icky, no? Cliff is around 19(sophomore at Yale), ftr.
ML knows how to signal because she's a Girl Scout, which is also mentioned in the previous book (she uses it as a reason to not get rewards for good deeds). I don't really like these references, even though it's not surprising, since Edie was a troop leader. ML's just too old and not that much of a goody-goody.
As you can see in the map, Shady Nook is on the Hudson. Adirondacks, possibly? It takes them a full day to drive there, so that would be in keeping with a Pennsylvania locale.

So again, Edie gets points for scary situations, and I like Jane's character a bit more after this book, even though she's still a little bland. I'm optimistic for the next (and final) book, The Mystery of the Secret Band, which seems like it will actually involved her father and yet another setting (urban).

Mary Lou #1, The Mystery at Dark Cedars

2009-02-24T16:15:00.005-05:00

The Mary Louise Gay books were originally published as a breeder set by A.L. Burt in 1935. They either never caught on, or Blue Ribbon Books chose not to continue the series when they bought out Burt in 1937. Edith Lavell wrote two other, probably more famous, series, the Linda Carlton series and one of the many Girl Scouts series. I've never read either, so I can't make any comparisons.

I had been warned in advance by Jennifer's description that Mary Louise is not exactly a law-abiding citizen. And, boy, was she right. Her m.o. seems to be, "As long as someone's guilty, you can do anything. ANYTHING." She's the daughter of a police detective, but neither he nor the police plays too much of a role. Her mother is very much of the, "Yes, dear," variety and is completely extraneous. She has a little brother known as Freckles (Joseph) and her best friend is named Jane. As far as I could tell, Jane's only personality traits are being less fearless than Mary Louise and more interested in boys.

Mary Louise has an eccentric miser of a neighbor, Miss Hattie, who lives at Dark Cedars, her decrepit mansion, with two simple-minded servants (Hannah and her husband) and her niece, whom she treats like a servant. It's this niece, Elsie, whom Mary Louise and Jane befriend and enter into the mystery. There are mysterious sounds at night, and then Miss Hattie's safe is burgled for gold and paper money. Elsie is the immediate suspect of everyone, but, a la Murder on the Orient Express, there are actually multiple culprits. In the end, Miss Hattie gets her money back, and Elsie is sent to live with a more sympathetic relative.

The book's opinions of "colored" people and gypsies would not pass current muster. At one point, Mary Louise gets important testimony from a black woman, the wife of a deacon, and her father tells her that the word of a colored woman doesn't mean a thing. And he's clearly not talking about "to other people," he's saying she's not trustworthy.
A lot of the book is based around Executive Order 6012, ordered by President Roosevelt to prevent the hoarding of gold during the Depression. It was illegal to own any gold coins, bullion, or certificates. So Miss Hattie's stash is illegal. Elsie is considered a likely thief, because she's thought to be too ignorant to know that she couldn't use the gold. In the end, the true thief of the gold is a gypsy, as gypsies only traded in gold and silver.
Edie talks a lot about clothes. Mary Louise and Jane give Elsie some of their clothes, including a green print silk dress, a wooly white coat, and a pink lawn dress, along with several items of lingerie. Elsie's old clothes are a dated purple calico, and she's envious of Mary Louise and Jane's bob hairstyles.
The most shockingly illegal events of the book? ML&J stash away in Miss Hattie's nephew Harry's roadster (shades of Nancy Drew and Beverly Gray), and, when he stops, take his locked leather satchel. ML then cuts it open with a pen knife--completely destroying the bag. Luckily for her, some of the stolen money is inside it. It wouldn't be that bad, but at this point ML has no reason to suspect Harry more than any of the other relatives, and Jane is extremely upset at the proceedings. ML tells her that they'll replace it--if he's innocent.
They talk about being near Harrisburg. Pennsylvania, maybe?
ML's "boy-friend" is Max, Jane's is Norman.
At one point, ML is bound and thrown into Miss Hattie's closet, which was pretty scary, I have to say. Very Nancy Drew of her, too.
ML's mom is way too trusting of her, clearly for no reason. I just think it's bizarre to have such a clearly Nancy Drew/Penny's Parker & Nichols character with a mother.

So, not bad, but not the greatest. In 3-book series, though, I almost always prefer either the first two (Arden Blake) or the last two (Adventure Girls), so hopefully this is a case of the latter. Next up, the second book, The Mystery of the Fires.

C&L Mystery Stories for Girls #7, The Dormitory Mystery

2009-02-24T15:14:00.004-05:00

Cupples and Leon published 10 mystery stories for girls in the 1930s and 40s, as a companion series to their mystery and adventure series for boys. They're probably best known for the titles by Mildred Wirt, The Twin Ring Mystery and Mystery of the Laughing Mask. While those titles are rather expensive, the rest of the series can usually be had for less than $20 apiece, even in dj. The order of the books isn't entirely clear--they're unrelated, so it doesn't really matter, but The Dormitory Mystery is seventh in order of publication dates, although my copy lists itself as the third of six titles on the front dj flap.

Honestly, I sought this particular title out because I liked the cover art, and the blurb made it sound like it was going to be a "college girl" type book, which I love. I was kind of wrong on both counts in the end. First off, the main characters are juniors in high school. They're all interested in drama and theater, and the dorm aspect comes in when the main character, Martha, is selected to participate in a summer drama program at Central University. She beats out her classmate, Angela Lee, who is a total Madonna-faux-British-accent pill. Somehow or another, Angela manages to get a special appointment to the program, and off they both go.

Once there, Martha meets the crazy "Dean" Jones (as far as I can tell, she's just the dorm mom). It's obvious that she's looking for something valuable on the property. Martha loves her roommate, Chubs, who collects pitchers. The mystery really gets underway when Martha buys Chubs a pitcher at a pawn shop, that exactly matches the design on their fireplace. They find clues through it, it gets stolen, they find a matching one, etc. By talking to the original owner, they find out that jewels have been hidden in the dorm, which used to be a fancy mansion.

The entire time, Angela and Dean Jones have been battling them to get all the clues and find the jewels--and not very subtly either. At one point, Dean Jones seriously locks Martha and Chubs up in their room, for not loaning the pitcher to Angela, supposedly as a prop for a play. I mean, really, that's kidnapping, no? In the end, the jewels are found underneath a stone frog in the garden, and Dean Jones is revealed as Angela's aunt. I have no clue how either knew about the jewels.

At first, it reminded me of the Girls of Central High series, with Angela Lee being very similar to the Hessie Grimes character.
This book has lots of light-hearted, funny moments. I'd read another Alice Anson book for this feature alone.
Chubs' real name is Roberta. Safe to say, "Chubs" wouldn't cut it in a modern book. That said, Chubs is probably the most likable character in the book, is still considered to be pretty, and is admired by both boys and girls. She's very funny, loves to eat, and has a temperamental little roadster. Besides, she's a collector--what's not to love?
Pen(elope) Price is another fun character. She's a good comic actress who has a lab set up in her room. They use her Bunsen burner and microscope to read the clues in the pitchers.
Martha's "boy-friend" is named Jock. *snicker*
Dean Jones is a BITCH. Like I said, she locks them in their room, confiscates the pitcher at one point, and randomly enforces strict rules.
At one point, Angela trips Martha going down the stairs, and Martha sprains her ankle. They're in competition over a part, and Angela is trying to take her out. I mean, for real, that's totally the inspiration for Showgirls right there.
There's a MUCH too long section in the beginning about the events leading up to Martha's summer program, involving different characters and a different setting (her high school). It barely relates to the rest of the book, and I was getting very impatient to get to the "real" part.
The book takes part somewhere in the Midwest, within about 50 miles of Chicago.
At one point, Martha's friend Lucia's sister invites them to the May Festival at Mount VERNON college. This book was published after the first Beverly Gray books--possible reference or coincidence?
The cover art ticks me off, because it shows the final hiding place for the jewels, which isn't discovered until the almost the very end of the book. I spent most of the book thinking wtf, frog? I'd have rather seen the silver pitcher on the cover.
There are several references to the Depression in the first chapters. Supposedly Angela's father has lost most of his money due to it. There's also references to then-contemporary actresses and some other pop culture items.

In case you couldn't tell, I quite enjoyed this book. The good guys were likable, even if Martha was sort of boring, and I seriously hated the bad guys (Angela and the Dean). Next up? The Mary Louise Gay series.

Judy Bolton #35, The Hidden Clue

2009-02-23T05:08:00.008-05:00

I have to say, I liked this one more than the past few Judy's I've reviewed. And then I realize that it's because it's basically revisiting the Roberta books. I'm not the rabid Roberta fan that a lot of Phantom Friends are, but the Roberta books are seriously an improvement on these final volumes in the series.

The premise is that Judy and Peter are still taking care of a Sister, and her Younger Brother (seriously, that's what they're called) from the orphanage that burnt down, until the matron gets back from her honeymoon. The girl refuses to give any details about her or her brother's past, including their names. Of course, Judy immediately assumes that the children have been kidnapped. And I have to say, it was oddly satisfying to have her proved wrong--the children ran away from their foster parents, but their biological parents were definitely dead. Of course, once on the run, the kids accidentally choose to share a getaway vehicle with criminals and a bunch of loot, so Peter is able to get in on the action. Once Judy's obviously in the wrong, the children get adopted by the librarian (who Sister has bizarrely accused of being her mom all along) and her husband.

I think what I liked most about this book is that it considered a lot of moral and ethical implications of blissful ignorance and the rights of adopted children to know about their origins. Judy's opinion is that she always wants to KNOW, and that it's always better to have the truth. Pretty much everyone else, including Horace, Dr. Bolton, and the officials at a foundling home believes the opposite: that as long as the present situation is good, you're better off not knowing what happened before. Judy's biased, though, by her conviction that the kids' parents, or at least their mom, is alive and virtuous. Apparently, Judy's as caught by the parallels to Roberta as I am. Only, again, she's wrong.

Holly again features as sidekick, although she annoys me less than usual. Again, I would have preferred more Horace and Honey in her place.
I seriously dislike the Sister character. She's obnoxious and lies, which is played off as a mixture of trauma and imagination. I don't care, she's horrid. The best part? To an extent, Judy agrees with me. I also like that Judy isn't able to win her over; Sister instead prefers the woman who adopts her in the end.
Good continuity: Horace quotes rather serious moral texts at her. In the earliest books, he's said to have considered the ministry, which gets revisited in a couple of the prior books.
They're in Chicago, and they mention that they visit Roberta after the criminals are caught. However, nothing of this reunion is shown, which puzzles me. I think a nice chapter about the visit, emphasizing the parallels--and, ultimately, the differences-- of the situations would have been very much in place. Maybe this is another example of G&D brushing the whole Roberta storyline under the rug?
Blackberry gets sent to the pound! I was seriously pissed on his and Judy's behalf. He's shipped off when their neighbor in Chicago complains about him to the super. Seriously. Pissed. The guy just does it after one word from the unpleasant tenant.
I've always thought that the cover art looked more like a pulp novel cover than a Judy Bolton. The doll looks like it's about to go on a killing spree. I don't love the paperback format (the cover is . . . pixelly. and it doesn't blend with my other Judys on the shelf), but I'm not willing to shell out $50+ for a PC.

I WAS able to win a copy of The Search for the Glowing Hand, which means the only JB volume I lack is The Pledge of the Twin Knights. Which, by the way, is referred to as The Pledge of the Black Knights at the end of this book. I love it when the end of a text refers to a ghost text for the next title, or there's an obvious title or plot change from what was expected when the book was published, and the next volume was (or was not) released. That said, I'm thinking the next books up may be either a Shirley Flight or The Dormitory Mystery, by Alice Anson.

Judy Bolton #34 The Puzzle in the Pond

2009-02-17T02:04:00.006-05:00

Let's start with the cover on this one. It probably helps that I have a truly gorgeous copy, but I love the level of detail in the artwork--it doesn't just fade away in the background. And as a fellow redhead discovering that yes, there are in fact shades of orange that one can safely wear, to the point of a mad love affair, I totally approve of Judy's outfit. Love the ballet flats and the delicate watch (bracelet?). The rest of the scene is true to the book, down to the boy (Danny), the beavers and their dam, Judy's camera, and the table leg. To be honest, though, I have to say I consistently like the cover art in Judy Bolton more than about any other series (exception: the bizarrely puppet-like cover of The Forbidden Chest).

Unfortunately, the book itself is only okay. The book is set at home in Dry Book Hollow, which is my preference for Judy books, and Peter is trying to round up the rest of the Mott gang from the last book. The scheme she stumbles into here is the refurbishing and selling of furniture looted during the great Roulsville flood, which, naturally, she discovers while attempting to take pictures of beavers near the Jewell sisters' house. She also meets Danny there, who lives at a nearby orphanage, although his original home lies abandoned near the dam. Eventually, by staking out the house, they find the real crook (Earle), clear Danny's dad, and reunite Danny's dad and the matron of the orphanage. Everyone lives happily ever after.

Holly the neighbor (introduced in The Black Cat's Clue) has decided she has a crush on Horace. However, consistent with the events of the previous book, Honey and Horace are "practically engaged." Holly ends up meeting Roger, who's her age, and moving on.
Honestly? Holly has always annoyed me. She could have been replaced by Honey, and I'd have been much happier.
It's mentioned that it's been 6 years since the flood, which I believe would put Judy at 21. I've been wondering about that, since her age hasn't really been mentioned since The Rainbow Riddle, where (I think) she's 18.
All the fashion fun is on the cover. *sigh*
Blackberry ex machina: he gets into the abandoned house, pushes the orphanage matron's wedding ring where it can be found, and then escapes to the Jewells' house.
I like the symmetry of returning to the flood. The Vanishing Shadow is seriously one of the best-written, most genuinely terrifying girls' series books ever. I love, love, LOVE it. The villain scares me to death, and the dance after the spelling match is just perfect. Also, great fashion.

I know I said I didn't have any until #38, but I forgot I had picked up one of the new paperback copies of #35. I also have hopes of getting a copy of #37 in the next week, but we'll see.

More eBay success

2009-02-16T23:31:00.003-05:00

I have to say, one of the few good things about less traffic on eBay is that there's not NEARLY the competition that there used to be. Case in point: I paid close around $15-20 for the second and third books in the Mary Louise Gay series, and lost a few auctions that went for more. I've searched for over a year for a decent copy of the first book (and lost an auction or two that went higher than I wanted). A copy finally turned up this week, and I won it for only $7.99. I love the dust jacket art for this series, so I hope that the stories are equally good. Especially after all this time and effort.

So expect to be hearing about the adventures of Mary Lou in the coming weeks.

Vicki Barr #10, The Search for the Missing Twin

2009-02-16T17:46:00.007-05:00

Vicki Barr doesn't really deserve her lackluster rep--the early books are great, and Behind the White Veil is one of the best girls' series books ever. However, it's unusual for a collector to only collect Vicki Barr, and her sister series, Cherry Ames, is much more popular.

That said, this title isn't the greatest. It takes place after the shift from stewardess to pilot, which fits the changing times it was written in, but is much less interesting. I LIKE to read about Vicki knowing every passenger's name and counting the silver and everyone smoking. The secrets of landing in snow are also interesting, but they're not at all charming.

In this book, Vicki is commissioned to look for (surprise!) a missing twin sister (Jennifer) of a family friend (Mary Verga), who disappeared in a shipwreck 15 years before. After tracing the dress Jennifer was wearing to a nurse to name and occupation (Jean Lane, adopted daughter of H. A. Lane the oil man), Vicki is eventually able to reunite the family. Seriously, the plot is that simple. There are NO subplots. You see now why I thought this book was rather boring, no?

Fashion is minimal again. "White sports clothes" and "pretty pink dress."
The twins are 17. The plot would be much more plausible if they were of age, and custody weren't an issue. Vicki convinces the Lanes that the Vergas won't interfere, because they're "very understanding" and "not wealthy." Very understanding, indeed.
Romance is surprisingly minimal. Cherry and Vicki both have a central romantic figure in the first volumes, then typically have one romantic interest per book thereafter (often never to be seen again). Good old Dean and Bill are the only menfolk featured, and not at all in a romantic context.
This book is rather unusual in that it takes place over several months. It begins in December and ends the following August or so (the end of summer), often skipping a few months in a sentence or so.
Mrs. Verga and Mary spend a total of a year and a half in hospitals after the wreck, strictly for emotional distress and some broken bones. Can you imagine that happening now? Naturally, Mrs. Verga has amnesia for a couple of months after the accident.

Not the greatest, but could be worse. I think it would have been better with a subplot, preferably with some romance involved. I am really pleased with the physical book, I have to say. I got it for $7.99 with free shipping on eBay, and it is IMMACULATE. At first I thought the dj was a repro, but it's just that nice.

Recent Purchases

2009-02-10T16:25:00.005-05:00

My bookspending addiction has been in decline for about a year now, due to a combo of home-buying, having most easy-to-get books in my series of choice, and the downfall of eBay.

Lately though, I've been working on building a set of Trixie Beldens for my mom, which has thrown me back into my old haunts, plus I've finally gotten results from some of my saved eBay searches. I've been able to get two Shirley Flight books for less than $20 with shipping apiece, and I also got three more Christopher Cool Teen Agent books, which means I currently only need Ace of Shadows. That series really needs its own post someday. It's AMAZING.

Rounding out the list are Saboteurs on the River (Penny Parker), Courageous Wings (a single title by Nancy Drew ghostwriter, Mildred Wirt Benson), The Search for the Missing Twin (Vicki Barr), and The Ghost Wore White (Connie Blair, which I already owned, just not in dj). So some of these titles should become reviews soon, along with The Puzzle in the Pond. Of course, I probably have a dozen plus Dana Girls titles in my TBR pile, but frankly, I dislike almost all DG books.

Judy Bolton #33, The Secret Quest

2009-02-10T14:57:00.007-05:00

Confession: I'm not really into the later Judy Bolton books, even though it's probably my favorite series ever. Unfortunate, considering you have to donate a kidney to get some of these higher numbers. Or in my case, about six months and $50 for a copy with a frankly crappy dust jacket.

Peter and Judy are still living at the hotel in D.C., just having wrapped up The Whispered Watchword. Sister Honey has just come in for a week of sight-seeing, but series plot stereotype #422 Unintentional Exchange of Suitcases (perhaps most memorably deployed in The Mystery of the Brass Bound Trunk) occurs. Naturally, the suitcase belongs to the two anachronistic old aunties Jewell, who have their nephew's top secret scientific papers stuffed in an antique coffee grinder. Could it be anything else?

Of course, they're unable to get in touch with these ladies, although they meet the nephew, whom Honey falls for immediately. Honey also wants to get back to Farringdon because some suspicious character is now working at the design place and interfering with her job. So, J+H bail on D.C. after a couple of days, head back, Horace is horribly jealous of nephew and has been beaten up by unnamed other suspcioius character (UOSC), and Judy and Honey head out to the isolated farm of the two sisters Jewell.

Once there, the pace escalates dramatically. UOSC (spoiler!) is posing as the nephew and playing poltergeist. Of course, Judy immediately recognizes him as being an escaped prisoner on the FBI's most wanted list. They organize a daring escape to telephone for help, but are chased by UOSC , who breaks his leg and nearly drowns in the process. He also has a name at this point, but frankly I don't recall it. Dr. Bolton and Horace arrive in the nick of time, and everything is put to rights. Speaking of which, as much as I love this series, it does annoy me a bit that Judy is forever having to get rescued, although it's usually by Peter.

The book ends with Horace and Honey reunited (I hate that they never get married, but Margaret Sutton was also upset by this when the series was axed abruptly), and Judy and Peter moving back to Dry Brook Hollow, so that Peter can round up the rest of the gang.

Fashion is minimal in this book, which is pretty typical of Sutton (I think we'll call her Margie, that seems pleasantly familiar). The two sisters wear "quaint" gingham dresses and sunbonnets. Honey is pissed about the suitcase exchange, because she has semi-matching suits and pillbox hats for her and Judy, with fabric she's designed. Speaking of pillbox hats, there's a subtle shout-out to Jackie O: when they see the President in a chauffered limo, they're taken aback by the beauty of the First Lady.

Blackberry the cat does feature in this book: he finishes his tenure as a rat-catcher for the Capitol, he almost gets stuck in a cannon, and he goes for help at the end.

I do like the Honey/Horace in this book. They're two of my favorite secondary series characters.

They go to church in Washington, and one of the readings is Akhenaten's hymn to the sun. I'd like to go to THAT church.

With the awkward pacing (seriously, the events in the 4th paragraph take place over a few hours at most) and flat characters, not my favorite Judy book. What is? Probably The Vanishing Shadow, The Haunted Attic, or Seven Strange Clues. I'm a 30s girl at heart. I'm not optimistic for #34, but at least I have it. After that, I've got nada until #38.

Getting ready to embark . . .

2009-02-10T12:43:00.000-05:00

For about two years now, I've been seriously collecting vintage girls series' books and obsessively reading and posting on many, many blogs. So, I finally decided to start my own. The plan is to focus on reviewing the books, but we'll see.

My favorite series are Judy Bolton, Beverly Gray, Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden, and several more obscure ones (Adventure Girls, Peggy Lane, etc.). Basically, if it was written for girls, in series format, by Burt or Grossett & Dunlap, between 1920 and 1979, I own at least one volume of the series. I love references to vintage fashion and fun cover art. I also have a few boys' series books, in particular the Christopher Cool series, which is serious campy fun.

Unless someone has a firm objection, I probably won't be reviewing books in any particular order, since I've already read most of these. The exception to this will probably be the final Judy Bolton books, since I've been reading them in order for the past couple of years (stalling out in the thirties, not surprisingly). I'm finally back in business after several months, now that I've gotten my hands on a copy of The Secret Quest.

So, let's set off on our maiden voyage.