Trying to channel Elsa

I’ve just recovered from a nasty bout of influenza–followed by a nasty bout of spring cleaning and decluttering. I singled out about two hundred books, I think, for disposal or donation.

I also made a resolution: I would read and review each of my school stories, and then donate them. There are always new books to read. I don’t need to hoard them.

Then, of course, today I pulled out the first of the pile, The Fifth Form Rivals by Winifred Darch, and a few pages in I am remembering why it is one of my very, very favourites of all time. The pangs! (And look at that cricket bat on Pat’s shoulder: it’s a metaphor.)

This is why I love ebooks. They take up no space, so you never have to face getting rid of them.

A note on Pulse

I have been too shattered by the events in the Pulse nightclub to say much that is coherent. Our brothers and sisters, and our allies, were killed and hurt for just existing. What can you really say about a tragedy like that?

Only four things, really:

Gun regulation in Australia works to prevent tragedies like this. Hatred is terrible; hatred with an assault rifle is deadly.

This was a particularly horrendous and heartbreaking act; do not forget that homophobia and prejudice kill, in big or small ways, every day.

Love, not hate and further prejudice, is the only way to face hatred and violence. May love win.

My heart is with the survivors and the families. We all grieve with you.

Xxx Eleanor

Review: Penelope’s Prefects (1950) by Judith Carr

Penelope’s Prefects by Judith Carr
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half-ish stars.

School Story Type: Madcap Schoolgirl.

Given a scholarly, vague and forgetful Prefect for the ill-reputed Middle School, the Middle School monitress, Penelope, decides to reform her form with the help of her self-appointed “prefects”, her best chums. Given that Penelope is not exactly a model schoolgirl herself–it’s beyond me why she’s monitress in the first place–her gang’s efforts to bully the form into line only cause more chaos.

The plot is predictable enough: ill-advised attempts to improve things, followed by rebellion by other girls, pitched physical skirmishes and predicaments and furious mistresses and seniors. Detention and punishments inevitably follow, including the fairly barbaric one of being locked in a cupboard for half an hour a day. But you know all will be well in the end, and Penelope and her “prefects” will win out.

The girls often seem too young and idiotic for their age, and there is a preoccupation with stockings and suspenders, including trying to wrestle them off each other to put the seams straight, which feels quite strange out of historical context. All the manic energy is a bit tiring after a while, too, and I found myself wishing Penelope was just a wee bit more self-reflective, and that her schoolfellows had a wee bit more personality. But these are prettyy minor complaints.

All in all, this is an amusing and sometimes sparkling example of the madcap schoolgirl subgenre.

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