On this episode, Deborah and Mary Grace read John D. Fitzgerald’s 1967* novel The Great Brain, the first book in the series featuring John, the narrator, and his older brother Tom, the eponymous Great Brain, who wreaks havoc on their late 19th-century Utah town with his devious moneymaking ventures. Mary Grace, who did not read this book as a child, suspects that this sometimes harrowing read is Deborah’s revenge for making her read The Owl Service.
The first edition cover gives a good sense of Mercer Mayer’s illustrations.
Here’s the Amazon review Mary Grace mentions that gives parents a heads-up about disturbing content in the book.
Here’s a June 2023 article by New York Times opinion writer Carlos Lozada, who was born in Peru, about his love for The Great Brain, which he read after his family moved to the United States. Lozada jumps into the article’s comments section to share more Great Brain love with readers.
In this episode, Mary Grace and Deborah reread Alan Garner’s Carnegie Medal-winning 1967 novel The Owl Service, which tells the story of three teenagers, Alison, Gwyn, and Roger, who find themselves reliving a Welsh legend of love and betrayal. Word to the wise: read it, but not right before bed like Mary Grace did!
The Owl Service has had many editions, and many covers, over the years. Here’s the first-edition cover.
Here’s the current edition that Mary Grace and Deborah read this time around, except it’s much cooler-looking in real life because what looks orange in the photo is actually a shiny copper color.
At the beginning of the book, Alison becomes obsessed with a set of dinner plates with pictures of owls or flowers, depending on how you look at them. As Mary Grace mentions, the plates in the book were inspired by a real-life set that Garner saw at someone’s house. She rashly promised to put a photo of the plates on the website, but it turns out that it’s copyrighted. You can see it at the Bodleian Libraries‘ Facebook page.
The podcast is hosted by Buzzsprout at rereadingourchildhood.buzzsprout.com and is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other podcast platforms. You can listen to it on Buzzsprout here.
Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective, which was published in 1963, is the first of Donald J. Sobol’s 29-book series featuring Encyclopedia, the boy detective who always gets his man (or boy, or girl). The solution to each crime is revealed at the end of the book. In this episode, Deborah and Mary Grace match wits with Encyclopedia, and with each other, in identifying the culprits.
Here’s the cover of the first edition. The current edition has a different cover but still features the original illustrations by Leonard Shortall, who went on to illustrate many other Encyclopedia Brown books.
You can find Two-Minute Mysteries, a collection of Sobol’s syndicated columns for adults, here.
Sobol’s New York Times obituary, published on July 16, 2012, is here.
Mary Grace recommends the Danny Dunn books for fans of Encyclopedia Brown. Clarifications: Danny Dunn does not, in fact, go to the moon, as Mary Grace thought he might have, but he does go to outer space in Danny Dunn and the Anti-Gravity Paint. Also, the scientist in the book is not his uncle but his mother’s employer, Professor Bullfinch.
Deborah recommends the Henry Reed books for Encyclopedia fans. We discussed Henry Reed, Inc. on the third episode of Rereading Our Childhood.
On this episode, Mary Grace and Deborah celebrate the beginning of a new school year by rereading “B” is for Betsy,Carolyn Haywood’s 1939 novel about a little girl navigating the complicated world of first grade. It was the first in a long series of books about Betsy and her friends. This was the first book that Mary Grace remembers checking out of the library and reading.
You can find the twelve books in the Betsy series on Goodreads here. As Deborah mentions, Haywood also wrote several other series, including one about a boy named Eddie and one about a boy named Penny. You can find these series on Goodreads here (Eddie) and here (Penny).
Here’s what Mary Grace wrote on her blog about rereading Dorothy Canfield Fisher’s Understood Betsy (it’s #7 on the list).
Here’s the original cover of “B” is for Betsy. It gives you an idea of the illustrations, which Mary Grace isn’t a big fan of.
Here’s the cover of the current edition, which Mary Grace and Deborah read:
Haywood’s New York Times obituary, from January 12, 1990, which, as Mary Grace mentions, erroneously says that “B” is for Betsy was Haywood’s first book, is here.
Here’s the cover of Haywood’s actual first book, When I Grow Up:
The Free Library of Philadelphia blog post about Haywood’s relationship with artist Violet Oakley and the group of women artists in Philadelphia who were known as the Red Rose Girls is here.
Here’s a photo of Haywood and Edith Emerson, a fellow student of Oakley, painting the ceiling of Vassar’s Alumnae House, which Oakley designed, in 1924. (Mary Grace said erroneously on the podcast that the photo was of Haywood and Oakley.) You can read about the project here.
Violet Oakley Visual Resources Collection, Philadelphia Museum of Art
Here’s the Free Library of Philadelphia blog post titled “Carolyn Haywood: All Sugar, No Spice.”
The Free Library of Philadelphia blog post about an unpublished novel about a boy whose father is in jail for selling heroin that was found in Haywood’s papers is here.
Deborah and Mary Grace recommend Beverly Cleary’s Ramona booksfor fans of “B” is for Betsy.
On this episode, Deborah and Mary Grace discuss Ballet Shoes, Noel Streatfeild’s classic 1936 story of a trio of adopted sisters, Pauline, Petrova, and Posy, who attend a school for professional children in the performing arts in London. Ballet Shoes is the first in what became a series of “Shoes” books about children working in the theater, the circus, etc.
As Deborah and Mary Grace mention, the girls perform in these plays:
The Blue Bird, by Maurice Maeterlinck (a large chunk of which, weirdly, appears in the text of Ballet Shoes)
Other Noel Streatfeild books mentioned in the podcast:
Circus Shoes (1938). As Deborah mentions, several of Streatfeild’s books were retitled to capitalize on the popularity of Ballet Shoes. This book was originally titled The Circus is Coming.
Skating Shoes(1951). This is the American title; it was published in the UK as White Boots.
The Whicharts (1931). As Deborah mentions, Streatfeild’s first novel, which is for adults, also features three adopted sisters. (According to an episode on Ballet Shoeson the wonderful Backlisted podcast, the books have identical openings.)
Here’s the cover of the first edition of Ballet Shoes. This will give you an idea of the what the illustrations by Ruth Jervis, who was Streatfeild’s sister, were like. They’re not included in most current editions, although the Puffin edition that Mary Grace bought in London has them.
Recommended by Mary Grace for fans of Ballet Shoes: We Danced in Bloomsbury Squareby Jean Estoril (out of print, available from used booksellers).
Recommended by Deborah for fans of Ballet Shoes: other books in the Shoes series. Shoes books available in the United States include Theater Shoes and Dancing Shoes.
The podcast is hosted by Buzzsprout at rereadingourchildhood.buzzsprout.com and is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other podcast platforms. You can listen to it on Buzzsprout here.
Oops! Mary Grace made a mockery of the show title by picking a book that it turns out she probably didn’t read as a child. What she (and Deborah) actually did read was The RIVER at Green Knowe. Nevertheless, they had a great time discussing The Children of Green Knowe, the first book in the series, which is about a boy named Tolly who goes to live with his great-grandmother in a mansion haunted by seventeenth-century children. It was well-written but kind of plotless. As they know from being in a book group together for decades, though, not-so-good books often make for the best discussions and that was the case this time.
Here’s the Amazon review that Mary Grace mentioned where the reviewer complains about the book being edited to remove references to a servant’s child being born out of wedlock.
Here’s the first edition cover:
Here’s the cover of the current American paperback edition:
Other books about meeting up with children from the past that Mary Grace discussed:
Mary Grace and Deborah discuss Harriet the Spy, Louise Fitzhugh’s 1964 classic about an 11-year-old would-be writer, her spying career, and her interactions with her nanny, her classmates, and her parents. You can listen to the episode here.
On the third episode of Rereading Our Childhood, Mary Grace and Deborah discuss Henry Reed, Inc., Keith Robertson’s 1958 novel about a boy who starts a research business while spending the summer with his aunt and uncle in a small town in New Jersey. This is the first in a five-book series about the adventures of Henry and his friend Midge. You can read this episode here.
Here’s the cover of the current Puffin edition. This edition includes Robert McCloskey’s original illustrations, but the cover illustration, from 1989, is by Melodye Rosales. Obviously it’s an adaptation of the original cover, with updated clothes (though the loafers and white socks are a debatable choice), more dangerous chair position, etc.
Jennifer, Hecate… is narrated by Elizabeth, a fifth grader who has just moved to a suburb of New York. She has no friends until she meets Jennifer, who says she’s a witch and offers to train Elizabeth as her apprentice. A series of challenges ensues (one week, for example, Jennifer has to eat a raw onion every day), and Elizabeth also faces the more common challenges of dealing with her teachers and classmates. In this episode, Debby and Mary Grace discuss witchcraft, race, childhood friendships, and the pronunciation of “Hecate.”
Konigsburg’s second novel, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, was also published in 1967. It won the Newbery award in 1968, and Jennifer Hecate… was a runner-up. She is the only writer ever to have won both honors in the same year.
Debby and Mary Grace mentioned these other books by E.L. Konigsburg:
(George), about a boy in Florida who thinks that a little man named George lives in his head.
A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver, the life of medieval queen Eleanor of Aquitaine as narrated by people close to Eleanor as they wait for her to join them in heaven.
Kongisburg and her family were living in the suburban town of Port Chester, New York, when she write Jennifer, Hecate. The town Jennifer and Elizabeth live in is based on Port Chester. As Mary Grace mentioned, Konigsburg’s children faced harassment because they were Jewish. Laurie Konigsburg Todd, discusses this in an interview in a Smithsonian Magazine article commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of From the Mixed-Up Files.
Here are some covers of various editions of Jennifer, Hecate:
This is the 50th anniversary edition, which replicates the first edition cover.
This is the cover of the paperback edition Debby and Mary Grace read as children (they both still have their copies), featuring Jennifer, Elizabeth, and their toad, Hillary Ezra.
This is the cover of a recent paperback edition, which, as Mary Grace mentioned, has been criticized for “erasing” Jennifer, who is African-American.
Here’s a Puffin edition with the abridged British title.
Mary Grace mentioned that a well-known British author criticized E.L. Konigsburg’s long titles. The author, John Rowe Townsend, is quoted in this article as calling the titles “gimmicky” and “an irritation” .
Here are the books that Debby and Mary Grace recommended for fans of Jennifer Hecate:
The Egypt Game, by Zilpha Keatley Snyder, about a group of children in Berkeley, California, who perform ancient Egyptian rituals. Is it just a game, or something more?
Harriet the Spy, by Louise Fitzhugh, the classic story of Manhattan girl who spies on her neighbors and records her observations about them, and about her classmates, in her journal.
And, lastly, here’s Merriam-Webster’s definition of Hecate, with pronunciations. Bottom line: Debby and Mary Grace are both right!
In the first episode of Rereading Our Childhood, Mary Grace and Deborah revisit Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, Judy Blume’s classic 1970 novel about adolescence. You can listen to this episode here.
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is narrated by Margaret, a sixth-grader who has just moved from New Jersey to New York. Margaret’s father is Jewish and her mother was brought up Christian and she is being raised without a religion, which leaves her wondering where she fits in. Meanwhile, she and her friends are preoccupied with bras and boys and are eagerly waiting to get their periods. In this episode, Mary Grace and Deborah discuss the impact of Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret and Blume’s other books on their own adolescent selves and how the book held up on rereading. They also talk about the Judy Blume moment currently underway, with a feature film of Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret and the Amazon Prime documentaryJudy Blume Foreverrecently released, and about Blume’s activism against book banning.
As Mary Grace and Deborah discuss, different covers over the years have presented Margaret in different ways, from the pensive girl sitting on her bed on the original edition,
to the blond Margaret on the 1970s paperback edition, who looks nothing like the Margaret in the book,
to the current paperback edition, where Margaret is anachronistically texting God on a cellphone (and he seems to be writing back),
to the movie tie-in with Margaret adjusting her shoe, presumably from the scene where she gets blisters walking to school without socks after her awful friend Nancy tells her that no one in sixth grade wears them.
Forever, the much-banned book about a teenage sexual relationship
As Mary Grace and Deborah discuss, Judy Blume’s books are often banned. An April 2023 PEN America report includes Blume’s novel Forever… on a list of books that have recently been removed from school libraries in the United States.
Here’s the New York Times article Mary Grace mentioned about the Judy Blume book-to-screen moment currently underway. (Clarification: It’s from the business section.)
As Mary Grace notes, Judy Blume demonstrated the famous “I must, I must, I must increase my bust” exercise on a TV program (HuffPost Live).
Recommended for fans of Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret:
Freaky Fridayby Mary Rodgers, the hilarious story of a New York teenager who wakes up and discovers she’s been turned into her mother
The Long Secret by Louise Fitzhugh, the sequel to Harriet the Spy and one of the few books from the era other than Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret to feature a girl getting her first period
If you haven’t had enough discussion of Margaret’s adolescent travails, there’s a great segment on the book on First Edition, a new podcast from the always interesting Book Riot team. They also have a substack critiquing the book’s covers.
Rereading Our Childhood 