Fifth Grade Magic (1982) by Beatrice Gormley

 

Gretchen is jealous of a long blond-haired classmate named Amy. Amy is Mrs. Sheppard's favorite student. She doesn't do stupid things like pass around a signed picture of the teacher drawn in an unflattering light.

 

 



 

Worst of all, Amy was chosen over Gretchen for the lead in Polly's Pies in Peril, the fifth grade spring play. No auditions were held for the play, so Gretchen didn't have the chance to show off the acting she'd been practicing with the other girls every day at recess.

 



 

While Gretchen is in her room crying over this turn of events, she remembers something Mrs. Sheppard always says about a fairy godmother not magically appearing to solve all your problems. Gretchen spontaneously calls out for her godmother, and a child sized fairy dressed in a too large uniform appears. After the obligatory initial shock, Gretchen explains her situation and asks Errora for help. The first order of business is to cut off Amy's hair. This, Errora says, will break the spell the girl has over the teacher and secure Gretchen the lead role in the play. The next day at school, Amy's hair is so short that she resembles class clown Dennis Boyd. Mrs. Sheppard is weirdly disapproving of the haircut, but she doesn't take away Amy's part in the play.

 

 

Errora's next attempt at getting Gretchen into the play is a little more invasive. She suggests that the girls switch bodies, a la Freaky Friday. The only problem is Amy doesn't know what's going on and her outbursts about being Amy trapped inside Gretchen's body have everyone thinking she's gone crazy. Also, Gretchen can't abide Amy's overbearing stage mother, who forces her daughter to audition for underwear commercials. Gretchen quickly rushes back home to reverse the spell.

 

 

Errora's last magic trick is to give poor Amy the chicken pox (Gretchen is her understudy). Unfortunately, Gretchen used her class photo for the spell and Errora got Amy and Dennis mixed up. Dennis, who didn't want to be in the play at all, had been assigned the role of the villan. With Dennis out sick, Mrs. Sheppard is forced to beg Gretchen to take over his part. Gretchen is hesitant at first because she'd really had her heart set on the lead, but she ends up doing a great job. In a clever twist, Errora turns out to be a child fairy who snuck out with her aunt's "injuctulator" (magic making device). This was one of my favorite books as a child. There is a sequel focusing on Amy (who turns out to be a very nice girl) called More Fifth Grade Magic.





Ready or Not (1953) by Mary Stolz + Giveaway



Mary Stolz was quite a prolific author back in the day, though she never reached the popularity level of Judy Blume or Norma Klein. In this, one of her earlier books, Stolz explores what it's like to be young, poor and in love.

Morgan (named after Morgan la Fay, but still seems like a modern name for 1953) is sixteen years old and lives with her widowed father and younger brother and sister in a cramped NYC apartment. The family moves every year or so when the father is able to find cheaper digs to better support his children. When her mother died three years ago, Morgan took over her role and runs the house as meticulously as she can on such a tight budget.

When Morgan's nine year old brother Ned asks to have dinner unsupervised at his college age friend's home, Morgan agrees, but only after a brief meeting with said friend. Don't tell me these were the good old days, people. This was after the Albert Fish murders. But I'll cut Morgan some slack since she is young and naïve. Morgan is unimpressed with Tom (Ned's friend) at first, although she notes that he is handsome. She has always had fantasies about a fictional boy named Colin sweeping her off her feet. She is also concerned that Tom is patronizing the family by befriending a boy from the wrong side of the tracks.

However, one day Tom's mother invites Morgan and her siblings over for doughnuts and it is love at second sight for Morgan. We learn that Tom, besides his habit of befriending little boys in parks, is a guy who cares deeply about issues such as war and the unfairness between social classes. Morgan, while intelligent, is more of a simple-minded kind of gal who's main concerns are what she's going to make her family for dinner and what movie she'll see with her friends.

Morgan and Tom's relationship progresses despite their differences. You'd think that, given the year the book was published, their courting would be very chaste, but the subject of waiting for sex until marriage is actually dealt with briefly. I'm not sure if the author intended the romance to be the most important part of this book, though, because there's not much to it. Morgan displays some unwarranted insecurities a few times and then Tom goes away to camp (presumably as a counselor) while Morgan gets a job in a cafeteria. They write letters, but because Tom will be going to college and then into the Army, their future together isn't set in stone.

While the novel is chiefly about Morgan, we also get peeks into the other characters' minds. We explore the problems of Morgan's father, a subway employee who would rather be a poet and Verna, Morgan's friend who must deal with an emotionally abusive father. A lot of time is also spent on younger sister Julie's growing pains. (Dark and brooding Julie, if she had been a few years older, would have been a better match for Tom than Morgan, in my opinion).

I'm offering the book I just recapped plus another surprise juvenile vintage book as a giveaway. All you have to do is be the first to email me (kchandler0@live.com) with your name and shipping address. Don't be shy. This blog doesn't get very many visitors currently, so odds are you'll win! I have too many books as it is, so if this giveaway gets any response there will be a few more in the future.

Too Much Trouble aka Tink in a Tangle (1984) by Dorothy Haas

 

Tink is a creative kid who is always getting ideas, most of which only come to trouble. She blames this on her red hair. Her mother is a beautician and is also the reason I have known from a young age that pink is death on red heads. An elderly neighbor refers to Tink as the "Daughter of the Harvest Moon." Tink finds a old book that tells of superstitions to bring luck and other things. For example, seeing twins is supposed to bring good fortune. Tink decides to combat her red hair curse by practicing what she reads in the book.

 



 

One of Tink's ideas is to make a home beauty salon for her friends while her mother is away at work. An annoying girl named Jane Ellen invites herself in on the fun and Tink accidentally gives her a very bad, very real haircut. Jane Ellen hardly reacts gracefully to the mishap. She accuses Tink of wanting to make Jane's hair ugly like hers. However, Tink's mother teaches Tink to be the bigger person and makes Tink invite Jane Ellen to McDonald's as an apology. This results in Jane Ellen thinking she and Tink are best friends. More bad luck.

 

Tink reads that dancing with a broom will bring good luck. She chooses the largest broom she can think of: the janitor's broom at school. She gets in trouble again. Tink has all her friends use some of the suggestions in the book and they all have bad outcomes. Tink's self worth begins to suffer as she reviews all the trouble she has caused. In the end, the principal and Tink's mother reaffirm her belief in herself and reassure her that they appreciate her just the way she is. Tink is signed up for dance lessons, where she is required to wear pink leotards and dance slippers. She also gets to see the harvest moon.

 

Stay tuned, because in my next post I'll be featuring a free giveaway of two of my old books. 

Fatso Jean, the Ice Cream Queen (1990) by Maryann Macdonald

 

There were plenty of children's book in the 50s and 60s designed to make fat kids feel bad about themselves. Here is a later such book. The author actually refers to Jean as "Fatso Jean," the name the nine year old earned in the ice cream truck line one day. A boy named Frankie makes up a song about how she loves ice cream and would burst a seam if she breathed.

 

 

Jean doesn't wear cute clothes like the skinny kids because all the clothes in the "Largette Shop" are ugly and navy blue. Her family tries to intervene and suggest activities, but Fatso Jean is lazy and would rather lie around waiting on the ice cream man.

 

Because of the other kids' bullying, Jean decides to go on a crash diet. Her eventual success with this approach is hindered by her low self-esteem, in this book called her 'Inside Voice.' Jean finally breaks her fast and gains back the weight.

 

 

 

An elderly neighbor gives Jean a huge pink bike that belonged to his daughter in the 50's. Jean doesn't ride very well, so she practices in a vacant lot with her mother. She then asks Mr. Greenbaum if she can paint the bike white so it won't be so embarrassing to ride in front of the other kids. Enter the Mean Team - Frankie, Elliott and Crystal. After calling her fat and laughing at her bike, they invite her along to Flagpole Hill, where the more advanced riders practice tricks. Of course, Jean crashes and wrecks her bike.

 

Jean's next endeavor is to practice diving until she's as good as Crystal. This doesn't work out either. She does find out that a mentally challenged boy she knows needs money to make it to the Special Olympics. Jean makes a brief try at baseball, but the Mean Team shows up again with another one of their rhythmical insults.

 

 

This turns Jean to ice cream again. While in the grocery store buying supplies, she runs in to Jimmy, the boy in need of funds for the Special Olympics.

 

Jean perfects her ice cream recipes, but her parents finally tell her she has to stop. Jean takes the remaining ice cream over to Mr. Greenbaum's and comes up with a plan...make the ice cream over at his house and sell it with the profits going toward Jean's tuition at Kamp Klutzo, a fat camp she reads about in the newspaper.

 

Jean uses the name the kids used to taunt her with, "Fatso Jean the Ice Cream Queen," as her business name, and begins selling the ice cream without her parents' knowledge. While out selling one day, she discovers Jimmy, who has a new job cleaning up the park, has been giving Frankie money in exchange for help with his batting. Jean tries to defend Jimmy because he needs the money for the Special Olympics, but the author makes it look like Jean is in the wrong for trying to keep Jimmy from being taken advantage of and that he is giving his money away out of pride.

 

Jean decides to try to double her sales to cover the cost for Jimmy's needs and her Kamp Klutzo deposit. I find it a little unrealistic that several businesses would allow a nine year old to cater their events, but that's what happens. Jean explains to her parents that she and Mr. Greenbaum are conducting "secret experiments" together which they take to mean she has a new healthy hobby. Then, just as things are going well, Jean and her ice cream wagon are hit by the Mean Team on their bikes while trying to save them from being hit by the ice cream truck.

 

 

 

Jean lands in the hospital with a broken arm, dashing all dreams of Kamp Klutzo. The Mean Team come to visit and apologize for hitting her. "Maybe the Mean Team wasn't that mean after all. Crystal and Elliott, anyway. Maybe she had never given them much of a chance." Uh, yes they are. They bullied her consistently throughout the book. Crystal offers to help make ice cream and Elliot says he'll make the deliveries. Jean says he'll have to paint "Fatso Jean" on his bike. "But you're not really that fat anymore," Elliott objects. "It was true. Her legs didn't look like tree trunks anymore. Her stomach didn't stick out like a watermelon." Now that Jean isn't fat anymore, it's okay for the Mean Team to be nice to her. Everyone is surprised that Jean was working to help Jimmy. Because she was fat, they all assumed she was greedy (which she was really supposed to be in the beginning of the book...how? I'm not sure. Having an emotional eating problem isn't the same as being selfish). Frankie invites Jean to be on his baseball team.

 

While it's nice to see a story about a child losing weight by playing (instead of being put on an exercise regime), there are still so many things wrong with this book. As a kid, I remember thinking how terrible and awesome the Mean Team were and how lucky Jean was to get into their good graces at the end. I would've had Jean make some new friends and gain some confidence in herself as a person as she was losing weight. 



A Sundae With Judy (1949) by Frieda Friedman

 

This is the first book that really got me interested in older books, though at the time I purchased it at a used book store, it was only about 40 years old. Not that vintage. The book is written in an endearingly optimistic tone, almost as if it's a modern book looking back on the 1940s. Daddy leaves his money out on his newsstand for people to make their own change when he takes a break for dinner. Judy is endlessly cheerful. The Marshalls look out for their neighbors. Yet the book also deals with serious issues like prejudice and poverty.

 

 

 

Judy Marshall lives in New York City and her father owns an ice cream/general store. She loves to help out even though her older sister Elaine taunts her about her plumpness when she samples the goodies.

 

 

A new girl, Mayling Lee, moves into the neighborhood. Judy marvels at the fact that the girl is Chinese and instantly invites her to join The Saturday Club, a group of her friends who meet up every Saturday. Judy is also excited that Mayling owns a piano, something Judy longs to have someday. To Judy's amazement, Mayling offers to give Judy free piano lessons. Mayling is also kind enough to buy a sundae for Butch, a dirty little boy who stops by the shop every day for a free piece of candy.

 

 

At the next meeting of The Saturday Club, Judy broaches the idea of having Mayling as a member. The girls seem agreeable to the idea until club president Margaret objects. Judy resigns, and the other club members except Margaret follow suit, saying maybe they could form a new club.

 

Next, a young man, who turns out to be their neighbor Mrs. Kersten's nephew, moves into his aunt's apartment. He takes an interest in Elaine. Judy sees Tom at the Automat and they eat together. Judy comes up with the idea of Tom working at the ice cream parlor while the Marshalls are eating dinner. Elaine is jealous when she hears about Judy and Tom having this talk. Elaine, if he's interested in an eleven year old you shouldn't want him anyway!

 

Judy and Mayling visit Butch's family because the boy hasn't been seen in school or the ice cream shop in several days. They learn from Mr. Fenton that the family just had a new baby, Mr. Fenton lost the job and has a leg injury. Later on, Judy has an idea to help raise money for the family's rent. All the kids will get together and put on a show! Sounds like one of those old movies. Judy and Mayling plan to play the piano, a girl from The Saturday Club will toe dance. There will also be a harmonica player, a comedian, and a pair of African American twins from school who sing on the radio will perform. During their rehearsal, Mayling's mother notices that Judy's skill level during her performance is not up to the other children's. She gently suggests that Judy be the master of ceremonies instead. Judy is very hurt by this because her dream is to be a concert pianist, but she agrees to take the job. 

 

The show is a hit and brings in more than enough money for rent, and some job offers for Mr. Fenton. Judy does a wonderful job as master of ceremonies and even gets a used piano out of the deal. In the end, there is a photo in the newspaper of all the kids together. Judy's mother remarks that this is how things in the United States should be, with people of all colors and from all backgrounds and religions working together. I'm sure this kind of statement wasn't popular with everyone at the time.



The Popular Girls Club (1972) by Phyllis Krasilovsky

This is one of those books where the narrator remains nameless. This book is about a girl whose friends mysteriously stop speaking to her and exclude her from their new club.

It's not as though other girls don't try to befriend her. A nerdy girl named Clara invites her over to make leaf placemats, but the narrator is worried that she'll never get into the club if she hangs out with "Dr. Cyclops." The protagonist's own prejudices are apparent pretty early on.

Also, she bonds with a very shy girl named Amy over cookies in the cafeteria. But when Amy works up the courage to invite the protag home to help bake some, she turns her down. The girl bemoans the loss of her friends, even though she has to admit they could be mean and shallow at times. She tries to contact her best friend of the group, Rosemary, but the group is always together and make fun of her when she tries to ask why they are acting this way.

Look at that groovy room! The illustrations really add to the story, even though the way the book is set up is a little young for the intended audience. Anyway, the girl reflects on how other girls were jealous of her group of friends and worries that she really does smell like they are now saying. We learn that the girls didn't like anyone to be too different from them because "it would be like planting a cactus in the middle of a row of tulips." All the girls belonged to the same church and wouldn't think of inviting the two black kids at school along. Her parents begin to get worried about her and buy her a kitten to keep her company. Then the popular girls plan a Halloween party and of course, don't invite the protagonist. It's especially hurtful not to get an invitation because it's the first boy/girl party the group has had. The protagonist meets up with Amy on Halloween and the two see that the party really isn't all that it was cracked up to be. The girl finally relents and becomes friends with both Amy and Clara. Rosemary calls to apologize and the Popular Girls Club (they don't actually call themselves that) breaks up. We never really find out why they were so cruel to her, except that one of the girls might have been out to take her best friend.

I've been thinking about writing Amazon reviews instead of this blog so more people will see it and because most of the reviews of old books over there are like, "I was 8 when I read this book," and don't actually tell anything about the book. Or maybe I will do both. Until next time...



The Trouble With Wednesdays (1986) by Laura Nathanson

 

 

Becky's biggest problems at the beginning of this book are her messed up teeth and her lazy parents who expect her to do all of the cooking and cleaning. Her top two eye teeth are longer than they should be, causing a mean girl at school to call her a vampire. However, things are going to get so much worse.

 

Becky's orthodontist is her father's cousin, who is seeing her at a discounted rate. (There is a thing about Becky finding out at the end that she hadn't been going there for free, but it really doesn't make what he does any more horrifying so I wish this part had been left out.) Right away, Dr. Rolfman behaves inappropriately with Becky, feeling her up in the dentist chair. On subsequent visits (not sure why she would have to go every week for a retainer, but she does), he gets even bolder, rubbing up against her before she can escape out the door. Becky immediately confides in her parents what has happened, but they do nothing. Her mother tries to reassure her that the end result of getting straight teeth will be worth it while her father plays dumb. In one frustrating scene, the dentist molests Becky right in front of her mother. The reader logically thinks she is about to be rescued, but the mother turns her head to what is happening. This is a calculated move by Dr. Rolfman to show Becky that no one will help her.

 

Becky becomes extremely depressed and withdrawn. She stops caring about her appearance and avoids her best friend. Finally she runs into her teacher on the way home from a particularly traumatizing appointment. Ms. Markham guesses right away what is going on and contacts authorities.

 

The story ends on what is probably an unrealistically happy note. In the epilogue, which takes place nearly a year later, Becky's parents have put down the liquor and pills and have become loving and attentive toward their daughter. Becky switches to her friend Hilary's dentist with apparently no post traumatic stress so she will even be able to get her straight teeth. Dr. Rolfman is put in a mental institution near his grown children. As typically happens, he had had a history of being inappropriate with young girls before Becky. Even though the story wraps everything up too neatly, as with Don't Hurt Laurie by Willo Davis Roberts, you are glad to overlook it because the likeable protagonist has been through so much that you want a happy ending for her.

 

Through all of this there are some classroom scenes with Becky's sixth grade gifted and talented group. The dialogue doesn't ring as true here as it does in other parts of the book. Still, the author had potential and it's unfortunate that she apparently didn't go on to write any other books.