Boy. Rough week at the public library. Two books nearly killed me:Book with an Orange Cover (or Book/Clone I've Read Like a Bajillion Times Before) is the heart-warming, mildly funny story of a kooky relative (in this case an aunt) doing One Big Plot Thing (like oh, I don't know---turning a big ol' house owned by a cranky but generous patron into a B&B). Much chaos ensues.
There's nothing wrong with this book---heck, it's well-written by a write who's way way more famous and deluxe than I'll ever be; it's in present tense and full of warm hearts and mild fun. It even has a warm and snuggly afterward---but goodness me. If writing for the great big world of kiddie lit really has drifted into a choice really between grindingly violent dystopias and warm and snuggly family stories, then it's a good thing I took that job full-time mixing paint.
Because my stuff is doomed.
Book with a White Cover not only nearly killed me, it drove me nuts. Again, another way more famous (and deluxe!) author than I writing a stream -of-consciousness type dealio with kids who write profoundly, meaningfully, subversively in their school journals.* No worries, though. You can keep every kid straight because they have different fonts, which strikes me as a terrific publishing idea, since you can't actually, technically, exactly discern any differences in the voices and points-of-view without the font shifts.**
After I finished White Cover, I knew it was a good thing about that full-time paint-mixing gig.
Thank goodness for Iva Ibbotson! I've been a fan of her writing since I stumbled across her women's fiction back in the 'eighties*** Now she's way more famous (and super-duper-dee-luxe!) for her children's books, all of which I have read and loved; none more so than The Ogre of Oglefort---which totally saved my reading week.
Thank you, dear Ms. Ibbotson!
"Your mother thought you might make me a familiar," said the Hag.
"It could be something quite simple---a spotted salamander perhaps?"
Dr. Brainsweller looked worried.
"Oh dear," he said. "Of course if Mummy thinks....
But I tried once and ...well, come and look."
He led them to a cupboard
and pulled out a plate with something on it.
It looked like a very troubled banana which had died in its sleep.
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*Also known as the One Big Plot Idea.
**Well. There is one Shy Kid who writes shy stuff, subsequently getting his groove on toward the end.
***I understand a lot of these have been reissued as YA---track down a copy of Countess Below Stairs or The Morning Gift. Great stuff!
