
I feel like I should put a disclosure in this review -- Lizzie Skurnick is my best friend.
The problem with such a disclosure is, of course, that Skurnick and I have never met. (I hope Skurnick isn't now on the phone to her lawyers, reporting me as a potential delusional stalker). But having read Skurnick's essays on teen books, Shelf Discovery, I am convinced that somehow we are friends. How else to explain how she wrote about my favorite books? She has snuck into my house and looked at my bookshelves; she has remembered the titles I have forgotten; she has eavesdropped on my fifth, seventh, ninth grade self as I sat and talked books with my friends.
One big difference exists between the child/teen reader I was and the one I am; at age ten, eleven, thirteen I said I loved a book; that someone had to read a book; I knew I was getting something important from a book. But to put it into words? No. Skurnick takes those best loved books, treats them (and the young reader) with respect, and, as an adult, explains why, exactly, that book worked so well for the reader. At times I nodded along with agreement (yes, that's exactly why!); and at others, I was hit with the sudden realization of just WHY a book meant so much to me.
Skurnick on V.C. Andrews: "Andrews writes like a non-native speaker who has done time in a jail where they only show 1960s sitcoms and One Life to Live, and my small heart aches and blood runs from many small paper cuts as I read her, beating my small fists on the pages." Not only does Skurnick explain Andrews' style, she also imitates it. Honors it. And here is the thing -- upon occasion, as here, Skurnick brings the snark but done the right way. With love.
Because Skurnick is writing about the books she loved, these are books that were published in the 60s, 70s, and 80s (with a handful of titles, like Understood Betsy
Reading this is like a discussion with a friend; Skurnick throws out a reference to Canby Hall totally assuming we will know exactly what she is talking about; and we do. And smile a little. And wonder if somewhere we have one of the Canby Hall books, to revisit. The jacket covers shown for the books are not the current ones but the ones that we had; and no matter how much we may think they are "bad" now and know that they wouldn't be picked up by any reader today, they are ours, our firsts, so we love them best and want that. exact. copy from eBay to replace the one lost or stolen or thrown out or sold at a garage sale.
A handful of the books reviewed were also reviewed at Skurnick's Fine Lines column for Jezebel; but even those essays have been revised. While some adults will (like myself) remember reading these books (even if we forgot the title of Beat the Turtle Drum
Having finished Shelf Discovery, I want to reread old favorites with the new insights from Skurnick. I want to track down the books I had never heard of. But I also want to pick up the phone, call Skurnick (tho if we're friends I guess I can call her Lizzie) and say, what, no A Summer to Die
Twitter Review
© Elizabeth Burns of A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy
5 comments:
YOUR PARENTS SENT YOU TO CAMP TO KILL YOU.
One of the most awesome YA novels ever! There's a rightness to this book equivalent to that wonderful scene in A Little Princess where Sara refuses to forgive Miss Minchin. Julian Thompson needs a post-dated Printz.
When I was a teen and reading these books, very few of my teen friends were reading the same titles--if they read at all. Those, I think, are the parents who are shocked today. Oh, what they missed!
I think my Canby Hall books are up in the attic someplace. :)
This sounds like a book I have to read.
I'm so glad you liked it -- and I felt exactly the same way, like I was listening to an old friend. I so clearly remember reading these 70s classics, with their awesome painted covers. Great review!
Very anxious for this one to come in to my library! I read The Grounding of Group 6 over and over and over...And when I clicked on the link to To Take A Dare, the cover instantly brought back memories. Yes, I loved that one too! And the girls of Canby Hall...And I'm sure many others in there, too! Thanks!
LOVE this book! Love how funny Lizzie is, how she doesn't write about the books in some academic nonsense sort of way but responds to them exactly as a teenager would/did. I feel like she is my best friend also - like she had my childhood - it's just wonderful.
Post a Comment