daemonluna

... and then there's contemporary fiction from the 1960's and 70's. Of which, I pulled five photocopier boxes full out of the fiction section of the last school library I subbed in. Problem novels and moral messages were big. The writing style's also changed a bit. And don't try and tell me, oh, they're historical now! Nope, just old and outdated. Some stuff doesn't age well. Besides, if nobody's touched it in the past fifteen years and it hasn't circ'ed since 1987...

I mock, yes, but I'm sure that some of the hottest stuff today is going to be just as dull and didactic or irrelevant in twenty years. I mock with love. Or at least, good intentions. Or something.

But enough from me. Behold!

Hot Rod Thunder by Joe Brennan, (c) 1962.

Chris Hana heard the pistol shot of his rear right tire blowing. His hot rod axle ground down on the right rear axle and the front end seemed to point to the sky. The scream of brakes filled his ears, and the smell of burning rubber filled the air. The wheel was being pulled out of his sweating hands. The car was skating as if on glare ice.

Chis had long dreamed of having an official hot rod club in Hillspoint, but now he had let himself be talked into a secret race that he knew could mean the end of his dream of legal hot rodding.

The people of Hillspoint wanted a law that would keep drivers like Tony Medford and his gang off the roads, but that law would affect Chris, too.

Chris goes into battle against Tony Medford ina story that catches all the excitement and danger in hot rodding and drag strip racing.

(Because golly gee whiz, it's all just good, clean fun! "Legal hot rodding..." that sounds kinda kinky...)

Headsparks by Robert Cole (c) 1975

First there was the incident in the drugstore. Then a man in a Volkswagen was yelling at her and Cathy was running. Her room was safe but Cathy was angry, confused, and frightened enough to admit to herself, "Something is wrong with me."

What could be wrong? She and her sister got along fine; she loved her parents; she wasn't doing badly in school. But what did she want to do after school? What was she going to do after her boyfriend went off to college? These and other pressures of growing up were closing in, and she panicked.

Cathy's story is both disturbing and reassuring, a fictionalized case history of growing pains. Dr. Cole is a highly respected psychiatrist and the prizewinnng (sic) author of Children in Crisis and other adult books exploring American social problems.

(Problem novel, problem novel, problem novel. Good for your children! Like broccoli! Because it's written by a doctor! And the doctor in the book tells the girl that she should set goals and think about becoming a nurse or secretary. And then everything is All Right because her boyfriend comes home from college and he still loves her.)

Accident by Hila Colman (c) 1980.

This complex novel about the aftereffects of a motorcycle accident dissects the conflicting emotions of the two young people involved, one of whom is physically hurt while the other suffers psychological damage.

Fifteen-year-old Jenny Melino is delighted when Adam DeWitt asks her out. She's often heard her mother's customers int he bar talk about him while she serves sandwiches. That date she's looking for, however, turns into tragedy when Jenny is thrown from Adam's motorcycle and awakes in the hospital, paralyzed. Adam, though unhurt, is also traumatized and he begins to question the values he has always taken for granted. What no doubt would have been a casual friendship becomes something much more complicated as the lives of Jenny and Adam grow more and more enmeshed. The climax comes when Jenny finally moves on to a rehabilitation center, where both young people must confront their deepest feelings about each other and themselves.

An accomplished storyteller weaves an intricate tapestry of human emotion in this absorbing story for teen-age readers.

(Gee, don't you love it when the cover blurb tells all! And in such flowing, enthralling prose, too.)

Mixed-Marriage Daugher by Hila Colman (c) 1968

Although the mixed marriage between a Christian and a Jew is no longer a rarity, it still may produce strains not found in other homes. Here Hila Colman, who takes a special interest in the social problems of our day, writes of a seventeen-yaer-old daughter who feels caught between the two worlds of her parents.

The event that precipitated the crisis for Sophie Barnes was the return of her family to the small New England town in which her mother had grown up. Suddenly she was expected to identify with her Jewish relatives in a community patently anti-Semitic, and Sophie rebelled. Mr. Barnes had taken the position of school principal, and he faced vehement opposition from Mrs. Taylor, the narrow-minded president of the school board and mother of the boy whom Sophie had started to date. Sophie's own mother and grandmother berated her; there was nowhere to turn.

This strong, outspoken novel, in which the heroine painfully gropes toward maturity, will make provocative reading for young people also searching for an identity of their own.

(This pretty much says it all. Gee, I'm glad I don't have to worry about anything but buying shampoo.)

"I used to want to be a boy when I was young," Sophie confided to Ricky. "But I've changed my mind about that."
"Well, being a boy isn't all that great. A boy may have more freedom, but he also has more things to worry about. No one's ever going to take care of him; he has to look out for himself. And then there's the draft, and learning how he feels about killing people. I don't understand how a guy who wouldn't shoot a woodchuck in his backyard can be trained to take a gun and shoot people, to drop bombs that are going to kill women and children. Why do they do it? Is it patriotism? Is it fear? What's behind it?"
"Thank goodness, I'll never have to make a decision like that," Sophie said. "I have all I can do choosing a shampoo when I go to the store, let alone having to decide if I'm willing to go to war or not."

The Gate of Eden by William Corlett (c) 1974

The Gate of Eden explores the emotions ofa boy who encounters, for the first time, a friendship he can trust and respect. His home life is secure but not always sympathetic, and he does not seem able to fit with ease into his parents' busy plans for the future. The narrator of the story (the boy in later life) traces the growth of his new friendship; the influence of the man, Mr. Falconer, on his developing literary tastes; and the threat to the relationship posed by uncomprehending parents and a possessive girlfriend. Ultimately, it is the boy himself who destroys the situation through his own lack of understanding.

William Corlett's novel describes an emotionally turbulent year, and has much to say about the way in which our lives touch and influence the lives of others. It is a book about friendship: its strenghts, its responsiblities, and its sometimes tragic disappointments.

(Slashy. Slashy, slashy, slashy. In fact, I skimmed through the end of this one, and came away with the incredibly vague, nebulous notion that Mr. Falconer, a former teacher, was fired for being gay and attracted to a student. Kids! Don't be gay, or you'll end up a crazy hermit! Who likes books!)

She and the Dubious Three by Dorothy Crayder (c)1974

Why did the hippie couple refuse to speak to Maggie? And why did they pull their hippie baby away from her? Was there something wrong with her? Or was there something strange about them? Moreover--was the baby even theirs?

The glamourous Italian train invited adventure and Maggie was now ready for it. Or so she thought when she became involved with the dubious three.

Travelling alone all the way from Tilton, Iowa to Italy to visit her Aunt Yvonne, who was staking her to this expensive trip, Maggie had overcome many fears. But before the mystery of the hippies was solved she had more frights--and more adventures--than she bargained for. And she learned many things: That a nudge can be as significant as a bloody knife. That a friend in need is a friend indeed. And that beautiful Venice is all too easy to get lost in and to chase a villain through its back alleys and canals and over its lagoons is hard.

In which much is made of "But he's a hippie baby!" That's okay, the hippie thing is just a disguise because of a custody dispute. Things we learn: hippie babies are dirty, but come clean in the wash. Venice is confusing. Crazy rich aunts are good because they give you money.

Go, Shorty, Go! by Paul Dietzel, Head Football coach, West Point, and Everett Houghton (c) 1965

Excerpt, Chapter One:

"Out of my way, Shorty!"
The big fullback, his shoulder pads spreading almost to either side of the doorway, came charging out of the locker room.
John Patrick Boyle, all five feet seven inches of him, stepped aside. He watched with envy and admiration as Harry Cutter, Hillcrest High's star senior, jogged smoothly towards the practice field. He would have given his eyeteeth to be in those big shoes whose cleats clicked so solidly against the stadium walk.
But he was too small--too small for football. Last year, as a freshman, he had tried out for the squad. He had lasted just two days, even though in one of the wind sprints he had beaten everybody. Mr. Forester, one of the assistant coaches, had been firm but polite. "This is a game for big, strong boys, sonny," he had said. "We're afraid you'd get hurt."

(The thing I love about this one, is the "Head Football coach, West Point!" emblazoned on the front. That, and the fact that I think John Patrick Boyle, all five feet seven inches of him, should bribe his way onto the football team by offering his teammates and coach blowjobs. Locker room smut! Somehow, I don't think that's gonna happen. I like my version better.)

May I Cross Your Golden River? by Paige Dixon, (c) 1976

At first he thought it was simply a pulled muscle that had made his ankle stip working for a minute. "Too much tennis," said his brother. But it didn't go away as an ordinary strain would, and other things started to happen. So Jordan went off to the Mayo Clinic to see what the problem was.

It turned out to be a rare mascular-vascular disease, the one that killed old-time baseball star, Lou Gehrig. And it was going to kill Jordan Phillips, too. It might be two months and it might be two years. But sometime, in the not-so-distant future, it would get him. When you're eighteen and life looks great, and you love sports and your girl and your big family, the idea of death is not easy to take. Not for you nor for anyone who knows you.

Why did it happen to him? The doctors had no answers. Nor could they help him face it. That he had to do for himself. More than that, he had to help his family face it, too.

Just what are life--and death, and how do people learn to accept both? The answers were not easy to find, and some of them came from unexpected sources.

(All together now... problem novel! Also, this is the number one book that sounds dirty but really isn't. (Second place went to Tight End, tied with Career Girl. More on that last one later. And inevitably, the one with the fatal, debilitating disease is always the star athlete or prom queen...)

Yankee Driver a sequel to Redline 7100 by W.E. Butterworth (c) 1973

As an independent driver, Mark Wilson had won the New York State Callenge race, averaging 95.566 mph, but he never dreamed he would race at Talladega, the fastest track in the world, the very top of Grand National stock car racing. Yet here he was, a ranking member of the Paul Owens Racing Corporation and holding his own very nicely.

Mark had come to realize that the name of the game here was money, but that knowledge didn't help very much when the axe fell and he lost his spot on the Owens racing team. With the hush money he was paid by Amalgamated Motors, Mark and his mechanic, Henry Jackson, tall, black and skinny, set out to rebuild a wrecked police Ford into a racing car that could take the Grand National.

During the exciting days that followed, Mark found out that there were advantages and disadvantages in being an independent driver. If you won, you got to keep all the money, but if you lost, you were out of business. A horrifying wreck and a close finish wind up this powerful story of Grand National racing and of the drivers who run the risks and reap the rewards.

(Aw, he's got a black sidekick! Very progressive for 1973. Bet they don't get to smooch and smooch each other though. Yay, sublimated homoeroticism! Or I could just be overtired and vaguely punch-drunk, your call.)

Me Too by Vera and Bill Cleaver (c)1973

"For a long time, Lydia regarded her twin. Except for the eyes, it was like looking at her own image in a mirror. Nothing could be judged by looking into Lornie's eyes. They spoke no language..."

Left to look after her retarded twin for a whole summer, Lydia Birdsong determines to be the one, out of many, who have tried, to really change Lornie. One day, Lydia hopes, her sister will be just like her, and no one will be able to tell them apart. Before they were born, perhaps she and Lornie shared the same heart, then maybe through the heart, with love, Lydia can reach her.

The headstrong Lydia anticipates nothing less than success. She embarks on her mission, probing the deep questions about Lornie that keep her in her distant places, immune to experiences Lydia cherishes. But time and again, hopeful glimmerings are dashes as Lornie retreats into her familiar language and behaviour, outside Lydia's world.

Lydia's summer experience is far from disheartening, as it brings her to a new understanding about responsibility and love and success, and ultimately, to deal with the new-found knowledge that happiness is not "normal" or exceptional, it just is.

(Novel study companion to My Brother Steven is Retarded (one of my previous non-fiction finds while weeding), perhaps?)

Brannigan's Dog a novel by Fran Grace (c) 1981

"Jennifer Julian flung herself into his arms. Branigan mumured, 'Red!' It was a pet name. She wore one red garter, just for him. 'It's been a long time!' Her shining black hair tickled his cheek. 'Kiss me, Mister!'

If it weren't for Jennifer Julian in fact (and fancy), if it weren't for his pard and best friend, Denver, a sturdy mix of Husky and Labrador, Casey Branigan's life wouldn't be worth a plugged nickel. He's hounded by the Squat, Ugly Man (his stepfather), and the man's squat, ugly daughter; by those dirty mavericks, the tank twins (the high school's water polo heroes); and by that sharp-shooting mortician in drag, the (un)Worthy Editor of the school newspaper, Quimby Holmes. Even Candy Sweets, glamorous ex-TV star of toothpaste commercials, is a downer; she sets up the notorious dance-scam that leads to the fire that leads to Wierdo City that leads Casey to the Flaky Farm...

But he isn't fifteen for nothing. He's percieved a thing or two about arson and the power of bad press; about his Real Father whom he's searched out in Berkeley, CA; and about who he--the true Casey Branigan--chooses to be.

("Sharp-shooting mortician in drag," there's a phrase you don't hear every day. I dare the writerly among us to use it in a story!)

Career Girl by Joan Weir (c) 1979

All her life, Patti Maxwell has dreamed of becoming a prima ballerina. For eight years she has worked her hardest as a student of the Upper Canada ballet school. Finally, she is graduating and, as top student, has been promised a position with the school's professional touring company. When Mrs. Brownlee, the wealthiest member of the Board of Directors, decides that the position promised to Patti should be given to her own daughter instead, Patti is determined to work even harder. But she discovers that people can sometimes be hurt by amibition, and being a Career Girl has its own particular problems.

(No, not that sort of working girl. Yeah, that's what I thought too when I saw the title. But there are Invigorating Moral Lessons herein, about the Virtue of Hard Work and Being Kind to Those Less Fortunate. Oooh...)

p.s. Sekrit message to the local bunch: Firefly, take two, our place tomorrow! (Saturday) Around four, 'til late. Potluck again?