FIFTEEN by Beverly Cleary [chapters 9 & 10]

Chapter 9 - The Purdy's Telephone Does Not Ring

At the beginning of the chapter, Jane lets us know she is a girl with a plan too. "But first she would go to college and have a career. Just what career, she did not know - an airline stewardess, or a writer of advertising copy for a big department store, or perhaps a job at the American embassy in Paris - something like the girls in the pages of Mademoiselle, who always managed to be clever about clothes, and to be seen in interesting places with men who had crew cuts." 

Jane is all daydreams about Stan and honestly can't worry about watching the kid. Mrs. Scruggs insists on talking about milk when Stan might call. For the love of Pete, Mrs. Scruggs, shut up and hang up! Finally she does and Jane starts lunch. Patsy's repast is the stuff of nightmares, chopped liver and bacon - call DSS Jane, that's child abuse! Lunch was a lot more work before microwaves, just saying. 

All the childproofing that the wise, if chatty, Mrs. Scruggs put in place is off and when the phone rings - just a friend of Marilyn Scruggs - Patsy goes wild while Jane is distracted. But she is ultimately a good little nugget and Jane gets her fed. Then the little brat spends precious potential-Stan-calling time saying "I'm fine." to her mother over and over again. 

Jane comforts herself by thinking that Stan might not want to call her at a stranger's house. We find out that Jane makes 50 cents an hour. Well, back in the good old days you could get a pack of smokes for a quarter so...

When the job is over, Jane can't help but mention the possibility of a phone call. Marilyn Scruggs shows that she knows the skinny. 

Jane gets home to find her mother hogging the phone. Once she FINALLY hangs up, she has to call back because of that stupid Sir Puss. It's almost as if that cat hates romance!

Jane goes up stairs, fondles her back-scratcher and starts knitting Stan a sock. But the lack of Stan calling is ominous. Finally, Jane resigns herself. He's mad and he's not going to call. 

She is pining and Mr. Purdy tries to lighten the mood to no avail. Mom gets it, though. 

Goodbye, sock. 

• If she were a pin curl girl she would make a radio request.
• If she were an intellectual she would write hokkus.
• If she were earnest, she would write to the Teen Corner in the newspaper for advice.
• If she were a cashmere sweater girl, she would date a bunch of other boys and forget. 

But she's just a Jane Purdy type of girl and has no idea how she is going to get through this. 

She questions why she even tried to be like the wretched Marcy. She decides to be herself from now on. And we are all so pleased for her. She planned, "When she saw Stan she would act glad to see him, because no matter what had happened that was the way Jane Purdy felt."

Meanwhile, Julie - wing-woman extraordinaire - is at a cool-kid party and is hiding in the closet to call the now zen Jane. She cares not about the kiss and is the best friend ever. Turns out Stan is in the HOSPITAL! He isn't mad, he's sick! Too bad about the appendix Stan, but HURRAH!! Jane wonders how she behaves in this situation. I think we all remember how this next part...blooms.

CHAPTER 10 - Birnam Wood 

Jane wonders for three days what to do and settles on sending flowers. It's lovely to get flowers. And it is fun to get them because you know the person who sent them will love them. Unless they are a lady of the evening. They don't care for cut flowers - beauty cut down in it's prime and all that. I believe I learned that from the TALES OF THE CITY books - another wonderful Bay Area set masterwork. 

Jane decides to send some nice MASCULINE flowers. She checks with her mom who thinks a "loving hands at home" bouquet from the garden would be a very nice thing to do. Oh Mom, how tacky. (Although the ANNE OF GREEN GABLES books make homemade bouquets seem lovely.) But Jane needs some testosterone fueled MAN FLOWERS! She decides to visit DeLuca's Flowers after school tomorrow. 

After school the next day she is on her way. It is her first time doing something grown up (since dinner in the city, that is) and she is feeling confident. She has a hard time saying "masculine flowers" out loud but Mr. DeLuca is on the case. He's no Mr. Nibley, he knows what is what and saves the day with gladiolas. "Nothing sissy about glads, is there?" he asks, knowing full well that there is not. Anyone want to write the fan fic about how Mr. DeLuca and Mr. Nibley fall in love? 

One little wrinkle - there's no delivery under $5 and the flowers are $3.50. Now I would have tipped Mr. DeLuca the other dollar fifty and got them delivered. But if Jane had thought to do that, we'd miss out on a delightful story. Instead, she decides to just drop them off at the hospital, cool as a cucumber. She starts writing out the card. 

Then she sees the flowers. 

It's a three foot long ode to being a man. And Mr. DeLuca is so pleased and Jane has already paid. She's stuck. Marcy would have said, "Just wrap them plainly you silly man!" But Jane and I try to be thoughtful customers. She decides to just be herself and deliver the damn things. 

Of course, she has to walk right by Nibley's. There is a herd of boys out front, including the loathsome Buzz, who objectifies her legs. Jane hits that work, junior grade with a zinger. Her dad would be proud! Well, she has learned at the feet of a master. 

Then Marcy comes out and is a stone cold bitch, bringing up the dance. Jane smacks her down, twice! This new Jane Purdy takes no guff from anyone. Julie and Liz, who make a much nicer couple than Julie and Buzz, are headed into Nibley's. Julie reacts with just the right amount of concern and offers to go with Jane. She demurs. She'll be okay. Liz sounds a little superior about having read the Scottish play, but maybe Jane is reading into it. She'll have to read it as a junior so why bother now? 

She makes another witticism and a boy in a "second year letterman's sweater" - Ooh, a bigwig! Maybe a SENIOR! - offers to accompany her. She declines this offer as well. He seems smitten with this original recipe Jane Purdy. 

Jane gets to the hospital to learn that Stan has been discharged. The nurse just gives Jane his address - it was a different time - and she giggles to herself and carries on. 

She gets to Poppy Lane and meets Stan's horrifying little sister to whom he is probably the world's greatest hero. Stan's mother is a delight and asks if she is the Jane Purdy Stan speaks of so highly and invites her to dinner sometime. The little sister says, "Boy does Stan like you!" And now I love her. 

Jane's ordeal is over and she is ecstatic! She is even feeling kindly to that old troublemaker Sir Puss. He is having none of it. He has a lot of personality for a cat. 

Then Stan calls and says the flowers were sure pretty. Yeah, Stan, sure pretty MASCULINE! He says he was a little mad about the Buzz situation, but only because he wished it was him. He asks her to go to the steak bake and movie and she says yes. I predict a 99% chance of kissing! 

This is going to be the longest 2 weeks of Jane's life. 

FIFTEEN by Beverly Cleary [chapters 7 & 8]

CHAPTER 7 - THE LONG, DARK, DANCE-NIGHT OF THE SOUL

Jane confides in Julie and sets the WHS telegraph in motion. Julie will do recon and report back. PLEASE don't let it be Marcy that Stan is taking. In the meantime she throws away her back scratcher and unravels Stan's Christmas socks. Julie finds out that it isn't Marcy and offers Jane a babysitting gig the night of the dance. 

Jane decides to put the dance behind her and concentrate on her studies and get a scholarship to one of those Eastern women's colleges. Oh Jane, we've all dreamed of attending Vassar. The babysitting job is for a lovely nerd in a comfy house, perfect for a solid study night. But Jane opts for self-reflection. 

As usual, the Krushes perfectly illustrate her state of mind and Bev gives a perfect description of the all consuming sadness you hopefully leave behind when you leave high school. "Ten years from now I'll look back on this night and laugh, Jane thought. But she knew in her heart it was not true. In ten years she might look back, but she would not laugh, not even then. This night was too painful to laugh about ever."

CHAPTER 8 - GIRL FOR SALE

Janie calls first thing in the morning. It turns out that Stan's date, the diminutive Bitsy, is an old family friend. Julie wasn't a fan if her size, but admits that she was perfectly darling. Nonetheless, the girls let their claws out a little. Turns out Stan is a wonderful dancer according to Julie. 

Then the doorbell rings and Jane has to hang up. It's Stan and he's hell bent on talking this out. Jane wants to be stone-hearted, but accepts a ride to her her babysitting job, albeit cooly. 

Turn's out, Stan has a car! It's a very old car, but Jane can't help herself. She loves it and tells him so. He says he wanted her to be the first girl to ride in it. Minds out of the gutter, pervs. Jane channels her inner Marcy and waves a "Hello there!" to a girl from her math class. Oh Jane, be careful, girl! 

It gets even better. It turns out that Bitsy was a previous engagement and Stan would have preferred to take Jane. There is a delightful litany of ways that Bitsy annoyed Stan. Then Jane gets a little nervous because they are essentially parking. She decides to get a chaperone in the person of Julie. 

As they drive, Jane works on her "new Marcy gesture" of brushing her hair out of her eyes. Are you nervous that Jane will become a Marcy clone? Fear not, and read on. 

Jane is fascinated by the word carburetor - "this is the first time she met the world in conversation." 

The picture is delightful - Julie and Buzz are very excited about the car. Cleary writes, "With the two boys under the hood, Jane and Julie looked at each other and, without uttering a word, carried on a conversation." And then describes the conversation perfectly. Then they talk about the car out loud because all the real stuff was said silently. 

Then Buzz freaking ruins it all because he is going for the laugh rather than reading the room. I've done it myself. Then Jane, being all Marcy-fied sells her first kiss to Buzz for 50 cents which he gives to Stan. Gross on all counts. 

Stan is pissed. He is quiet as they drive away and he throws the half-dollar in the bay. 

Jane realizes a small part of her wanted to pay back Stan for the long, dark, dance-time of the soul that she just went through. She's so self actualized. She wholeheartedly apologizes and Stan accepts it. 

But he is pale...so pale.

FIFTEEN by Beverly Cleary [chapters 5 & 6]

 CHAPTER 5 - Dinner in the City

Jane is ready early and her gloves are driving her bonkers. Don't worry Jane, in 10 years you will only need them for the opera. Stan is the man in the gray flannel suit, but without all the trauma. Well, there is a little trauma - he couldn't get the car so they have the loan of the Doggie Diner truck for their big excursion. Jane is a good sport not like that bitch Marcy. Who is dressed like a whore - in HEELS! And a silk blouse! Has she no shame?

Jane is hungry. This will be important later. Poor Julie is wearing a girdle and it is constricting. I feel you Julie. Everything is golden until Buzz turns out to be racist and spouts "fried lice" like the lout that he is. Stan, however, is a citizen of the world and the most honorable boy ever. He knows in fricking 1956 that it is wrong to make fun of the way people talk.  Particularly people who speak more languages than you do, Buzz.

Parking is, of course, a nightmare. Jane talks herself out of being caught up in Buzz's litany of weird foods. She wisely realizes that "It Smells to Heaven" would seem horrible to people not familiar with it. "It was only a question of what you are used to. So wise, our Jane. 

They decide to go to a cool hole-in-the-wall where the locals eat. Fricking hipsters. Stan greets an old school chum who waits tables there. He is sophisticated!

They decide to each order a dish and pass them. This is how I like to eat unfamiliar foods too! That way the person who orders it can describe it and if you don't like it they just get to eat more of their favorite. But I have never eaten with Marcy who - when Jane says she'd like chow mein - says "Only tourists each chow mein." AHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Stan, angel, sticks up for Jane, and her terrible choice in Chinese food. 

They toast the coming semester and the food arrives. Jane is flummoxed. There are little brown hands in the wonton sauce. She gives chopsticks the old college try while Marcy gives Stan the old college try. The shrimp roll is HOT. She drops food on her blouse. She is in misery. But when Buzz wises off, she slaps him down handily. Maybe she is getting an idea of how to handle him from watching Marcy with her "don't care" attitude. (Which is clearly covering up for the fact that she cares deeply. Still don't like her.)

Jane is not having fun and feels like she has ruined the date with her shitty attitude. They do fortune cookies and hit the road. The couples split off and plan to meet up later. Then Stan gets Jane a back scratcher and the sun comes from behind the clouds, metaphorically - it's dark and foggy in real life. She gets a burger and milk at a nearby diner and Stan apologizes for the way the dinner went. Marry him at once, Jane. A spouse who can apologize even when it's not their fault is more precious than gold! It turns out that it was Jane's sweet lack of response to having to ride in the Doggie Diner truck that stole Stan's heart. 

CHAPTER 6 - Why Doesn't He Just Ask, Already??

Jane's back scratcher is tied to her mirror - shades of Betsy? She is knitting Stan a pair of Christmas socks and could not be more adorable. Kismet and the Woodmont High administration made their schedules and lockers compatible and she has a reputation of being "Stan's girl" among those who pay attention to such things. 

Turns out there's going to be a dance featuring Bob Starr and his All-Stars and won't Jane and Stan look wonderful there! Mr. Purdy mines comedy gold with his Doggie Diner material, barking whenever the phone rings. But it isn't Stan, it's Julie. Buzz has asked her to the dance and he can get the car that night. Maybe they can double! But Jane would prefer a solo car date. Really, Jane - down girl! [arf]

At school, Stan is clearly avoiding the dance issue and speaks of having to rush to the "libe". The libe, Stan? Really? I am irritated with him for the first time.  Jane is left hanging by her locker with Liz Galpin, girl beatnik. In the corresponding picture, Liz looks super-cool and artsy and Jane looks like the saddest girl in all the land. 

George asks Jane to the dance and she LIES about having another date. Oh Jane, you don't owe that future billionaire any excuses. Just say "No thank you." and leave it at that. His feelings are hurt, but Jane is a girl in love and has too many feelings of her own to worry about. 

Things are getting weird and people are making assumptions. But Jane evades the truth. She is on a slippery slope relationship-wise. She finally just spills the story of the George incident to Stan. He is inexplicably relieved. What now??

Academics take a back seat as Jane worries the situation in her mind. She once again inadvertently provides comic relief to her class and feels the stirrings of self-loathing that can only be caused by a teenaged boy. 

Gosh, I'm sorry to leave you with such a cliff hanger. Blame Ms Cleary for the fantastic pacing of this book!

FIFTEEN by Beverly Cleary [chapters 3 & 4]

CHAPTER THREE - A Perfect Date

Jane washed her hair two times in the last three days and clearly it is a cry for help. She finally decides what to wear had has to press her garment. There is so much pressing of clothes in these malt shop books! And so many rules about what to wear. Gloves? No gloves? Hats? No hats? For the love of all things holy...girdles? SO much grooming. 

And there are worries about the date itself - will Stan be a hot-rodder? Will he be like the dreaded George and order an ice cream cone to go and talk about rocks? Oh the horror!!

Jane worries about her parents as she continues to groom herself. Will her mother wear stockings? Will her father make some of his awful dad-jokes like the hilarious "It spoiled his appetite to realize he had a pinhead for a daughter." bit. They are having "It Smells to Heaven" for dinner. Seriously, Mrs. Purdy? Why tonight of all nights??

Jane has some lipstick anxiety. Was lipstick a sticking point? I remember Natalie Wood in REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE fighting with her dad over it. 

Jane's parents clean up nicely, and Stan does too. Of course her dad can't resist the "cat coming in on little fog feet" joke - it's clearly one of his greatest hits. And Sir Puss is a complete jerk, cleaning his ... area. Stan is cultured and laughs at the Sandburg reference. 

There is a slight problem in that Stan just STANDS THERE. Why, oh why won't he sit? It finally occurs to Jane that he is too well brought up to sit while a lady stands and she grabs a seat. Sitting and standing has become so complicated thanks to boys.

They finally leave and Stan hopes it is okay to walk. Jane is thoroughly relieved. She does some real estate data analysis which adds up to Stan being of about the same social class. Whew! He wants to be a veterinarian - he has plans! 

At the movie, Jane folds her hands in her lap so he doesn't think she is the type of girl who expects to have her hand held sitting in the dark. She is one step away from giving him a scrap of her dress! She notices the admiring glances of some Woodmont High girls and glories in them. 

At Nibley's, she makes note of the social configuration of the room in a perfectly teenaged way. There are some excellent observations about the mood in the room - Cleary is excellent at bringing these to light. LOVE ME ON MONDAY is playing, but I believe it to be a made up song. Prove me wrong. Songs do add so much to courtship in books, do they not? Even fake songs. 

Mr. Nibley is the worst! "Aren't you out pretty late? Don't you like chocolate coke floats anymore? What kind of fertilizer is your father using on his begonias this year?" READ THE ROOM, NIBLEY!! Finally he pisses off and the conversation begins. What to talk about? Jane is mesmerized by Stan's lashes and ID bracelet and can't think of a thing. But he gets her started on babysitting stories and they are off to the races.  Stan is not one of those backward jerks who think it is unladylike to make a little money. 

Then Marcy and Greg come in and they are the WORST! Marcy drinks coffee. Marcy appears to already have had a date with Stan.  Greg is the big man on campus, but Jane clearly prefers Stan's calm strength. Jane doesn't like to play softball (kindred spirit!) and realizes that Stan is already in with the in-crowd. 

It seems that the date went well. Stan says, "I'll be seeing you." which is kind of vague. Jane starts to spiral. She felt so young and unsophisticated. She goes to the window and sees Stan wrestling his bike out of her bushes and calms right down. She smiles - he probably had a curfew and needed to haul butt home and was embarrassed of his mode of transport. He's just a kid like her! "Things looked different now, and all because of a bicycle."

CHAPTER FOUR - Let My People Go!

LOVE ME ON MONDAY is the soundtrack to Jane's life now. Stan waits until Tuesday to call her. Oy. He offers to drive her to her babysitting job. Dreams do come true! She doesn't mind riding in the truck at all. Take that, Marcy, you cow. They head over to the no-down-payment-to-vetrans side of town. She is a babysitter with a plan. Stan remembers the dress she was wearing the first time they met. They pull into a neighborhood that is going to explode into 1960s teen-angst-ville in 10 years. Jane and Little Joey Dithridge threaten to chop each other into little pieces and Stan says his goodbyes. 

Jane dreads parental pushback to all the time she is spending with Stan. So far, she's playing it cool. And cool she is when she orders coffee next time they are at Nibley's. And Stan pops the questions! Does she want to go on a dinner date to THE CITY?? Hell yes, Jane screams at the top of her lungs. Oh wait, that was me.

She knows her parents are going to flip but she seems 100% down to sneak out if need be. It won't be a solo date - Marcy (gag), Greg, Buzz and a rando girl to be named later will be coming with. And the Krushes KRUSH the illustration of the envious girls and Jane's pure pleasure. Even though some animal from Memorial Junior High School (my husband's former Junior High - maybe it was him) has defaced Stan with a Maynard G. Krebs beard. 

The best part of the whole thing? They will be taking the CAR! Bev Cleary is excellent at getting into the mind of kids as evidenced by every single thing she has written, but she is also adept at teens and clearly understands the importance of a car. 

The dinner is going to be Chinese food and Jane is a little nervous. She has found Chinese food to be slithery in the past. This is a minor worry as "Jane lay awake, tense from coffee and excitement." She adorably imagines the date and Sir Puss makes his dreadful presence known. Her father's response reminds her of her biggest worry - getting permission to go. 

The next day Jane scores Julie the spot as Buzz's date before she has even brought her plans up to her parents! They fantasize about the great event. It seems that they are going to play the old - "Jane/Julie's mom said she can go - can I?" Card that works when your parents know your friend's parents but not too much. 

Jane is a boss! Her opening salvo is "Stan is taking me to the city for dinner Saturday. I think I'll wear my gray suit." Damn girl! Way to just put it out there as a done deal. It doesn't work of course. There is much discussion. The phrase "This Stan Crandall" works its way into the conversation. Jane has lots of good ammo:

• Most of the kids are 16.
• The city is only 10 miles away.
• You get a lot for your money in Chinatown. (Okay, that's Mr. Purdy helping out.)
• Stan can borrow the car.

But when her mother asks if Julie's mom has given permission, Jane tells the truth. Good girl! Her mom brings up the fear of juvenile delinquency that was so prevalent at the time, but Jane assures her that she and Stan aren't like those teens. STAN HAS PURPOSE!! It is Stan's commercial driving license that does the trick for Mr. Purdy. He is on team romance. 

Julie has gotten permission as well and everyone is happy. The girls have to decide on hats, gloves and rounded collars - so baby-ish, but what can you do? - and there is excitement in the air. Mr. Purdy doesn't understand all the excitement. He is to be pitied. 

Jane imagines, as many do, that having a boyfriend will make school perfect. I have not found that to be the case. At Nibley's on Thursday Jane and Julie project their voices a little more than usual when they talk about going "to the city for dinner with Stan and Buzz." It's adorable and I would have done the same thing. Although a boy who is monologuing finds it irritating because everyone is way more interested in the girls' plans than his indeterminate IQ score.

The day before the big day Jane has an easy-peasy babysitting job and daydreams all through it. And the picture on page 107 proves that teenagers have always been untidy and forevermore will be. 

Brace yourselves - you know what is coming next!

SUMMER FOR SEVEN by Janet Lambert

 

Seven teenagers is a lot of teenagers to have on your farm. Oh the DRAMA!! But Dria's Gran is determined to fill up the house with a bunch of her friends to make her summer special. Here are the dramatis personae -

• Rob - Dria's boy-next-door, hard-working and stubborn
• Joey - Rob's little brother, only 13 or so but destined for butler-hood
• Holly - Dria's best friend, something of a spoiled snob
• Millie - A bobby-soxer, a little loud, a little sloppy, lives on the wrong side of the tracks and just lost her mom.
• Willie - Millie's twin brother. Smart but wants to get ahead by any means necessary - feels looked down upon by the "haves".
• Chad - A local boy Dria met on the farm the previous summer.

Well, Janet has sure mixed them up into a stew this time around. Rob, Chad and Willie are working as farmhands, Holly, Millie and Joey are working a farm stand and Dria is prepping STAR DREAM for some horse shows. 

The drama is mostly Holly being a snot to Millie and/or Willie and Dria cleaning up after her. I am sure it will come as no surprise at all that Millie learns to have better grooming habits and Holly learns to not be such a bitch. Will learns he's as good as anyone else and he loves farming. Joey learns not to hit Dria with his car again. (A weird and seemingly unnecessary plot twist at the end.) Rob and Chad learn they both love Dria and Dria learns she loves showing horses. 

Gran ends the book praying to live another year to see her "summer children" again. I would like that too...

DON'T CRY, LITTLE GIRL BY Janet Lambert

 

The first 72 pages of this are the whirlwind love story of Tippy Parrish and Ken Prescott. They are IN LOVE and he is soon to ship off to Korea. They spend a brief time together and she shows her military aplomb when he ships out. She will wait for him. She has a tablecloth and everything!

The next 62 pages are Tippy trying to fill her days and have a little fun. Ken has insisted on it, so she tries. She finally has a bang-up snow-storm weekend at West Point where she nearly forgets to pine for Ken. 

BIG FREAKING SPOILER AHEAD!!!

And the last 56 pages is her dealing with his death. Yep, our beautiful, if a little creepy, Ken is no more. And Tippy grieves and it's kind of beautiful. Lambert knows her way around the military as well as around loss and if there was ever a character poised to make us feel her pain, it is Tippy. 

There is a bunch of Peter Jordan and a big scoop of Alcie - who marries Jon Drayton!! Bobby tries to help out and their fighting and lousy relationship gets a bit of a makeover. It's all quite delightful except for the senseless death part. 

But don't worry, as I type this I am a quarter of the way into RAINBOW AFTER RAIN and if you have a hard time figuring out the point of that title, well, perhaps you need a nap.

Don't forget to check out CARLY'S MALT SHOP for an excellent, more detailed review!

STAR DREAM by Janet Lambert

Okay, I am not going to lie, this looked super-horsey to me and I almost stopped in my tracks and didn't go on. But I have to say that Dria Meredith is a lovely character. She is capable, friendly, a good sport and hard working - just like all of Lambert's protagonists. And her defining characteristic is a love of horses and old people. Typical teen. 

The premise is that Dria's dad is estranged from his mother. She was widowed young and took over her husband's business and made it a huge success but was angry when her son decided not to take over, but went off to live his own life in the newspaper business. But when Dria's mom needs to go to the Mayos for health reasons that are, in true Lambert fashion, pretty vague, Dria is to spend the summer with the old battle-axe. 

There is also Aunt Emily who is a spoiled brat and her daughter Camilla Lou who is one of Lambert's patented shallow/snotty girls. But there is also Gran, who is lovely. And it is Gran's farm so her word is law even though Mama (Dria's grandmother makes everyone call her Mama so she doesn't feel as old) thinks the world is hers. 

And then there is Star Dream. He is a horse. Dria falls in love with him. And there is Chad. He is a farm-helper, friend of the family. He loves Dria. But it will be AGES before that comes out...

Dria helps everyone get along and in the end Gran decides to let Emily and Camilla Lou paddle their own canoe (with Mama providing the paddles, metaphorically) and moves in with Dria's family. And she gives Dria the horse. 

You may notice that this is a much shorter post than usual. I am not note-taking in as detailed a fashion because it was taking me AGES to get through the books. And I really want to move along. Hence the shorter posts. 

FIFTEEN by Beverly Cleary [chapters 1 & 2]

 

Here is our lovely Miss Cleary! We probably know a lot about her. If you don't know anything about her, read A GIRL FROM YAMHILL and/or MY OWN TWO FEET. She passed away this year at the age of 104. If one of the other Cleary-book group read leaders wants to give a snapshot of her, they can. Or you can read her wikipedia page. 

I am going to spend my background paragraph on Beth and Joe Krush. They illustrated this book beautifully! They were both born in 1918 and met in art school in Philadelphia. They worked separately but helped each other with deadlines and such. Their styles are amazingly similar. There is a quote I found from Joe that I just love from a very interesting article in honor of his 100th birthday. 

"I don't consider myself an artist," Krush tells me. "I'm an illustrator. Most artists, if they're painting something and you don't understand it," that's your problem. "If I illustrate something and you don't understand it, I failed."

I think the illustrations in FIFTEEN are just adorable! They do add so much to the story [which is delightful in its own right.] The Krush's papers are divided between the University of Southern Mississippi and the Kerlan Collection at the U - home of some of Maud's papers! They're definitely BT adjacent. 

Another interesting tidbit - Joe Krush was a courtroom sketch artist at the Nuremberg trials. The Krushes were married during WWII so I wonder what Beth was up to at the time. If you are curious you can see this interview with Joe which I have not yet watched, but plan to someday!

Since I love links, here are a few that give an idea of how other people percieve this book. FANCY links!

From SLATE we have "Stories for the Square Girls", from THE PARIS REVIEW we have Sadie Stein's love letter to FIFTEEN, and CARLY'S MALT SHOP (which I adore for her Janet Lambert reviews) has a lovely overview. There is also an entire homemade site dedicated to the book and I am trying to find out the circumstances under which it was created. I'll let you know what I find out. For now, it is unattributed, but rich with information!

Here is the schedule I am hoping to keep for the remainder of the group read. We shall see how well I hold to it. 

MONDAY, AUGUST 23 - 1&2

THURSDAY, AUGUST 26 - 3&4

SATURDAY, AUGUST 28 - 5&6

MONDAY, AUGUST 30 - 7&8

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2 - 9-11

And now, join me as we look at the book that taught me about horse meat, Chinatown, fog, disappointment and not settling for any partner who wasn't nice! I will be posting my stream of consciousness from my most recent re-read and putting some questions at the end. No pressure to answer the questions, I have been TERRIBLE this group read about taking part - many travels, many travails - but I have loved the posts and responses as an observer. Also, I believe roll call is starting soon, so make sure you mark your subject heading so that those who don't want to read about FIFTEEN can avoid it, and live their misguided, Stan-Crandell-free lives. 

(Just kidding! Opinions are opinions and we are all entitled to them! But if you don't root for Jane, your opinion is horrible...)

CHAPTER 1 - "HELLO THERE" AND A BOY

When we meet Jane, she is visioning a boy. She's counting convertibles and stepping on cracks. She has the perfect boy in mind. I wonder if he will show up. Then we are introduced to Marcy who is the worst. "Hello there!" she says. Ick. Jane compares herself to Marcy unfavorably - there is a metaphor involving cashmere sweaters that I don't get, not owning any myself. 

Jane considers the only boy she has dated - George - who carries money in a change purse. Oh, George, honey, no... He is not enough to get her into the gossip column in the school paper. It seems a horrible idea to have a gossip column in the school paper. 

So we are post-war and Levittowns are springing up. Jane considers the two new neighborhoods in Woodmont. First there are the Bayaire Estates offering "no down payment to veterans." But Jane isn't headed there today. Today she is going to babysit in one of the "California modern, architect-designed, planned for outdoor living" houses. The Nortons are FANCY.

Neither Jane nor her best friend Julie like babysitting for the Nortons. Sandra is a holy terror. But they pay and someday when those girls need money they will take anything they can get. Mrs. Norton is a "Hello there" girl all grown up. Her house is antiseptic and her family smokes a lot. Probably not Sandra, but you never know. 

So Sandra, demon that she is, lets Cuthbert the dog out and Jane has to go under a bush to get him out as Marcy and Greg go by seeing the whole thing. Humiliating! Sandra is starved for power and forces Jane to speak French. Fortunately, Jane is a good student who remembers much of her French. But then she can't remember how to say "bottle of blue ink" and Sandra threatens to spill it on the rug. (And she looks completely demented in the picture. I had never noticed before because the boy looks so dreamy!)

Luckily a very nice, strange boy comes in and through the power or pig-Latin is able to save the carpet. Sandra falls asleep and Jane is able to relax. And daydream about this boy!

QUESTIONS - 

Babysitting horror stories? Let 'em rip!

The Dansiks were three boys I baby sat for (6, 8 & 10) every Saturday. The parents owned a deli and the mom had no time for housecleaning so I would do a little cleaning while the demon-children played in the yard. One day they buried the garden hose, nozzle down and filled in the hole and made the walls of the hole collapse in, trapping the hose. It didn't seem a big deal, but Mrs. Dansik lost her mind. She had never thanked me for the housework anyway, or for keeping her spawn alive despite their predilection for bad decisions. So when I was fired, I was not disappointed. Although I missed the sandwichs. I got my job at the public library as a children's room page the next month and the rest is history. 

Meet-cute stories? I want to hear them!

I worked in a bookstore my freshman year of college. I went home for the summer, but got my job back the next fall. When I came in for my first shift, there was a very cute boy in stone-washed jeans and a magnificent mullet working behind the counter. Reader, I married him. 

CHAPTER 2 - THE PURDY'S TELEPHONE RINGS

It is completely adorable how Jane hints around to get the Doggie Diner truck to swing by the house. Sadly, Sir Puss, the family cat, puts the kibosh on it. In Jane's opinion the only qualification a Purdy dog needed was "a good appetite." HA!

Jane talks to  her best friend Julie on the phone and is cagey about meeting a boy. At first I thought she was a bad friend, but then I realized she just didn't want her parents to hear and start asking incessant questions the way parents do. She overhears her mother refer to her as "a sweet, sensible girl" and wants to hurl. 

AND THEN STAN CRANDALL CALLS!!!! 

AND HE WANTS A DATE!!!!!!!!

The details of the call are adorable. You can revisit pages 44-46 to watch the magic happen.

After Jane accepts, she needs to get her parent's permission and it is not going to be easy. Mr. Purdy catches on right away - "Aha! Horse meat! The plot thickens!"The whole Doggie Diner thing is ripe for comedy. When Mrs. Purdy begins laughing at "horse meat" Jane nearly busts into tears and wails, "It's U.S. government inspected horse meat!" I don't think of this book as being funny, necessarily, but boy, Cleary is excellent at adding those details. 

Mrs. Purdy is clearly on team George and says he is going to grow up nicely. But Jane wants a boy who is fun NOW! The Purdy's figure out why George is possibly a social liability and thaw and finally acquiesce. Jane is immediately thrown into a fantasy of going with Stan. If I've learned one thing from Jane Lambert, it is that going steady was only for fast girls! Is Jane fast??

Julie is awesome, frankly I am more a Julie than a Jane in real life - see girdle struggles in chapter 5 for details. The whole family being able to hear you on the phone issue is an irritation that today's kids will never know. Who was your ride-or-die in high school? 

[Sad story, I didn't have one! I went to three different high schools and while I usually had a nice group of music nerds to hang out with, there was no Anne Marie Walton - my elementary school best friend from whom we heartlessly moved away. I have several now, so it all turned out okay. And it makes me extra-kind to the kids in the library at the high school who sneak their lunch in so that they don't have to eat alone.]

GOING STEADY??? How were your parents about dating? Was there an age set? Did they have to meet the person first?

[My older sister was wild and I had no game, so it wasn't a big deal. Although my mother did warn me against "petting" which is the one word that I can't abide to this day. The less said about that, the better.]

And that's it for the first two chapters! I hope you enjoyed reading them as much as I did. I can't WAIT to hear how Jane's date goes. Julie and I will just be sitting here eating iceberg lettuce and dreaming about fries until she gets back to spill the tea.

MISS AMERICA by Janet Lambert

 Oh my gosh, you guys - Tippy's back!! We last saw her as the Jordans were stalking her as she flew in from Germany with her parents in CONFUSION BY CUPID. But now we see the same scene from her perspective and it is lovely to have this little nut-job back in the best gol-dang country in the world!

Frankly, this book is a lot of Tippy being Tippy. She wants everything to be chill. She can stay with Penny or Caroll, but I can never keep track of which one she chooses. There is a dash of Trudy giving her solid advice. It turns out that the David Parrishes and the Josh MacDonalds have going in on a house near theirs for the 'rents. Tippy makes a project of turning it into a home to take the pressure off the older Parrishes. 

But mostly there's a lot of Peter Jordan. He looooooooooves her! And she loves him. But she still pines for Ken Prescott. He's always there, in the back of her mind. Talking about little men, assuaging her fears and calling her (barf) cherub. 

In the meantime Alcie lets slip that she intends on marrying Jon Drayton - Well that was fast! - and Tippy's dream of them marrying each other's brothers dies a quick death. Peter wants to take Tippy to the kissing rock - it's a West Point thing - but she demurs. Then later when she decides to bite the bullet, he realizes that she might not be all in. He decides to wait until he knows he is her one and only. I don't know, Peter. It looks like she and Ken are going to last forever. 

At the end she sits on her dad's lap - CAREFUL, HE'S WOUNDED!! - and finds out that Ken is headed to Korea. But first he will be in Washington DC where the Parrishes will visit, should Tippy desire. Tippy desires. And then she feels all funny inside and we are headed to the next book. I kind of want to leap over STAR DREAMS. It's about a horse, for heaven's sake, but needs must and I will power through so that I can find out what happens when Tippy and Ken meet again!

I should mention that this book seems to take the Korean conflict far more seriously than history does and it is nice to see it get some respect. Lambert does love our military! And there are some interesting bits where Penny opines that women could cure the world of war if they got more involved in politics. Gosh, I hope that happens! 

All in all, it wasn't Tippy's best.  I'm going to claim LITTLE MISS ATLAS as that. But the set up for the romance with Ken has me tingling. In a very chaste and Lambert-like way...