Comments on: Enduring Appeal

By: Eilis Flynn

Eilis Flynn — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 20:42:08 +0000

Nancy, I think Honey West lasted thirteen weeks (I think; it’s been years since I did my research for that workshop on heroines), so that would have been brief! It was even before Batgirl’s balletic fighting (until I read about that, it never occurred to me that she wasn’t allowed — I figured she wouldn’t have enough arm muscle to give enough of a punch.

And my second book was based on a Japanese faery tale, you’re right. (Did I ever mention my mother published a book of Japanese faery tales back in the 1930s? We’ve got it around somewhere.)

By: Nancy

Nancy — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 19:54:36 +0000

Monica–I read a lot, too. Every summer, I filled up many, many library cards. I didn’t have Choose Your Own Adventure, though my son does, or Judy Blume. I had Beverly Cleary (identified with Beezus but had a secret fondness for Ramona.

As you can probably tell, I’m a real TV geek, but I’m never leaving my books behind!

By: Nancy

Nancy — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 19:52:03 +0000

Eilis–I think Honey West lasted such a short time that it just sank from sight, which is sad. I have few memories of it, but I suspect it may have been ahead of its time (an era in which TV’s Batgirl wasn’t allowed to hit anyone, only kick *sigh*. I wanted Hardy Boys books but wasn’t allowed to have them. My parents didn’t consider them a “girl” thing, alas. Don’t you have a book out based on a Japanese fairy tale?

By: Monica Belus

Monica Belus — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 18:21:32 +0000

The Weekly Reader -aahhh, such delicious nostalgia!!! I remember with such anticipation receiving my Weekly Reader so I could grow my collection of books. I have never been much involved with movies or television, and I often feel that I don’t fit in with much of society – I would rather read than watch; live it than see it. I have with such sadness noticed that many of my students are just the opposite – today one actually emailed me that she believed the time she spend reading the assigned novel was a “waste,” because she missed the quiz that accompanied it. Reading a book was as a waste of time? I will never understand this. Much of the drivel on television is a waste of time – not reading a book. And it was _Water for Elephants_ – a fascinating and utterly exciting look at the circus of the 1930s. The novel was chocked full of drama, rich in details, there was action and love, karma and suspense. Ack!!

Childhood was such a simpler time – why did we want to grow up so fast? I remember reading a lot and surrounding myself with literature – I too loved the Nancy Drew books, the coming of age stories by Judy Blume, (I must, I must, I must increase my bust….), and the Choose Your Own Adventure series. Strangely, as an adult I have developed such a greater appreciation of children’s and adolescent literature than I had then.

Books – what I remember with happiness from childhood.

By: Eilis Flynn

Eilis Flynn — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 18:58:35 +0000

A lot of my influences reflect yours, Nancy — Honey West (stumbled upon one day after school, and while I had wonderful memories of this short-lived show, try as I might, I found little about it when I was putting together a workshop on kickbutt heroines of pop culture), the Legion, every superheroine I could find and not a few superheroes, Star Trek. I was influenced more by the Hardy Boys than Nancy Drew (never finished one to this day); we had the Hardys around because my mother translated those into Japanese), various anime and manga because we lived in Japan, fantasy of all kinds because that was what my older siblings all read, and my mother leaned toward faery tales herself. But I didn’t discover the Parrishes until I was almost out of my teens, in a used bookstore!