it might be surprising to you how popular an opinion this is

I'm supposed to have thirty blog posts by next Friday, and I have seventeen. So that's a problem.

I read Baby-sitters at Shadow Lake (Super Special #8) last week. I had to give a presentation for the book collection contest--which, by the way, I am 90% sure I have not won--and they asked me to bring my favorite five books, and I totally thought that meant we would be discussing my five favorite BSC books but we didn't really at all.

It was somewhat of a disappointing read. Sure, I adored it when I was twelve but I'm twenty now. I mean, it's still pretty fun, and the parts at the ~*~haunted island~*~ in the middle of the lake are full of good moments, but Baby-sitters at Shadow Lake was my favorite as a kid because it was a super special that had Karen's point of view! Then I grew up and realized that Karen Brewer is the worst child to ever enter literature. Why do I hate Karen Brewer, you ask?

1) She skipped first grade because she is oh-so smart. What, exactly, does second grade offer that first grade does not? I don't get it.
2) She shouts all the time when she is in the classroom. She think her teacher Ms. Colman adores her but I am pretty sure Ms. Colman wants to strangle her.
3) She is a two-two which means she has two of everything because her parents are divorced.
4) She's the only child of Watson's who actually acts like she's the child of a multi-millionaire, i.e. really freaking spoiled.
5) She bosses everyone around, which causes all of her friends to hate her, and then she always wins them back by either buying them stuff or by throwing parties which are wholly too elaborate for a six-year-old.
6) She decided she hated some girl because she wears perfume.
7) There's this one book where she meets a really shy girl and upon realizing that the little girl is so shy and--gasp--has a heart defect, Karen decides she is going to make her "feel better," aka talk, by hanging around her constantly being really, really obnoxious and asking a million questions about whether she'll die if she swims. IT MAKES ME WANT TO PUNCH HER KNOW-IT-ALL FACE

books books books

This has been going around! These are the top 100 children's novels ever and everything in bold is what I've read.

100. The Egypt Game – Snyder (1967)
99. The Indian in the Cupboard – Banks (1980)
98. Children of Green Knowe – Boston (1954)
97. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane – DiCamillo (2006)
96. The Witches – Dahl (1983)
95. Pippi Longstocking – Lindgren (1950)
94. Swallows and Amazons – Ransome (1930)
93. Caddie Woodlawn – Brink (1935)
92. Ella Enchanted – Levine (1997)
91. Sideways Stories from Wayside School – Sachar (1978)
90. Sarah, Plain and Tall – MacLachlan (1985)
89. Ramona and Her Father – Cleary (1977)
88. The High King – Alexander (1968)
87. The View from Saturday – Konigsburg (1996)
86. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – Rowling (1999)
85. On the Banks of Plum Creek – Wilder (1937)
84. The Little White Horse – Goudge (1946)
83. The Thief – Turner (1997)
82. The Book of Three – Alexander (1964)
81. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon – Lin (2009)
80. The Graveyard Book – Gaiman (2008)
79. All-of-a-Kind-Family – Taylor (1951)
78. Johnny Tremain – Forbes (1943)
77. The City of Ember – DuPrau (2003)
76. Out of the Dust – Hesse (1997)
75. Love That Dog – Creech (2001)
74. The Borrowers – Norton (1953)
73. My Side of the Mountain – George (1959)
72. My Father’s Dragon – Gannett (1948)
71. The Bad Beginning – Snicket (1999)
70. Betsy-Tacy – Lovelace (1940)
69. The Mysterious Benedict Society – Stewart ( 2007)
68. Walk Two Moons – Creech (1994)
67. Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher – Coville (1991)
66. Henry Huggins – Cleary (1950)
65. Ballet Shoes – Stratfeild (1936)
64. A Long Way from Chicago – Peck (1998)
63. Gone-Away Lake – Enright (1957)
62. The Secret of the Old Clock – Keene (1959)
61. Stargirl – Spinelli (2000)
60. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle – Avi (1990)
59. Inkheart – Funke (2003)
58. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase – Aiken (1962)
57. Ramona Quimby, Age 8 – Cleary (1981)
56. Number the Stars – Lowry (1989)
55. The Great Gilly Hopkins – Paterson (1978)
54. The BFG – Dahl (1982)
53. Wind in the Willows – Grahame (1908)
52. The Invention of Hugo Cabret (2007)
51. The Saturdays – Enright (1941)
50. Island of the Blue Dolphins – O’Dell (1960)
49. Frindle – Clements (1996)
48. The Penderwicks – Birdsall (2005)
47. Bud, Not Buddy – Curtis (1999)
46. Where the Red Fern Grows – Rawls (1961)
45. The Golden Compass – Pullman (1995)
44. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing – Blume (1972)
43. Ramona the Pest – Cleary (1968)
42. Little House on the Prairie – Wilder (1935)
41. The Witch of Blackbird Pond – Speare (1958)
40. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz – Baum (1900)
39. When You Reach Me – Stead (2009)
38. HP and the Order of the Phoenix – Rowling (2003)
37. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry – Taylor (1976)
36. Are You there, God? It’s Me, Margaret – Blume (1970)
35. HP and the Goblet of Fire – Rowling (2000)
34. The Watsons Go to Birmingham – Curtis (1995)
33. James and the Giant Peach – Dahl (1961)
32. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH – O’Brian (1971)
31. Half Magic – Eager (1954)
30. Winnie-the-Pooh – Milne (1926)
29. The Dark Is Rising – Cooper (1973)
28. A Little Princess – Burnett (1905)
27. Alice I and II – Carroll (1865/72)
26. Hatchet – Paulsen (1989)
25. Little Women – Alcott (1868/9)
24. HP and the Deathly Hallows – Rowling (2007)
23. Little House in the Big Woods – Wilder (1932)
22. The Tale of Despereaux – DiCamillo (2003)
21. The Lightning Thief – Riordan (2005)
20. Tuck Everlasting – Babbitt (1975)
19. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Dahl (1964)
18. Matilda – Dahl (1988)
17. Maniac Magee – Spinelli (1990)
16. Harriet the Spy – Fitzhugh (1964)
15. Because of Winn-Dixie – DiCamillo (2000)
14. HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban – Rowling (1999)
13. Bridge to Terabithia – Paterson (1977)
12. The Hobbit – Tolkien (1938)
11. The Westing Game – Raskin (1978)
10. The Phantom Tollbooth – Juster (1961)
9. Anne of Green Gables – Montgomery (1908)
8. The Secret Garden – Burnett (1911)
7. The Giver -Lowry (1993)
6. Holes – Sachar (1998)
5. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler – Koningsburg (1967)
4. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe – Lewis (1950)
3. Harry Potter #1 – Rowling (1997)
2. A Wrinkle in Time – L’Engle (1962)
1. Charlotte’s Web – White (1952)

A lot of these are books I own and haven't got around to reading (I bought The Westing Game a few months ago, for example, and I just haven't read it yet), or books that I feel like I've read but haven't. There are also a few that I feel are missing--The Cay by Theodore Taylor is one of my favorites, as are I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith and Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman--and I think Anne of the Island is better than Anne of Green Gables. It's also missing some lesser known ones, but I think that is more understandable. A lot of these books have been on my to-read list FOREVER and there are a few that I really want to reread now--though of course I don't have time. My first two weeks/last three weeks of summer, i.e. the times when I am home, are going to be a crazy whirlwind of going to the library and reading everything I can. My immediate to-read list includes: The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly, A Spy in the House by Y.S. Lee, Going Bovine by Libba Bray, Fire by Krisin Cashore, Smile by Raina Telgemeier, and a reread of The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare. Plus I have to read a lot of Nancy Drew and Betsy-Tacy this summer for my thesis. Woooo.

this is sooo feminism 101 but i'm cranky now

Do you know what I hate and am completely tired of? Two things, actually, that I want to talk about: the way a lot of otherwise kickass female characters I like tend to equate stereotypically feminine culture with weakness, shallowness, etc. and furthermore, the troubling way that TV culture in particular seems to put certain characters in this box, where they have to be tough and feisty or whatever in order to get their feminist icon status. Like, Buffy Summers? A feminist icon. Claire Dunphy? Not so much.

I have been seeing/reading a lot of stuff lately about really awesome lady characters and then suddenly they're all "I denounced all that girly stuff, so now I'm badass" and I'm all "HEY WAIT A SECOND." Sometimes it's outright, like in Kristin Cashore's Graceling, where the main character actually says something along the lines of "At least I'm busy doing something useful like swordfighting and not brushing my hair"--that was the only part that truly bugged me about the book; well, that and the slow start--or sometimes it's kind of subtle. Sometimes the creator manages to balance it out like Tamora Pierce in the Alanna series (where Alanna doesn't dislike dresses and stuff, she just, you know, has to be a boy and stuff), but then sometimes the creator just avoids the question by not including many ladies at all (see: Mulan--my favorite Disney movie ever! but still). And then I was thinking about how in Ugly Betty, Betty meets up with her ex-boyfriend who is all "fashion isn't your dream, and now you've turned into a robot like all those other people who like fashion" and that made me think of The Devil Wears Prada where Andi essentially loses her friends because they think that her deciding to dress more trendily is some kind of betrayal and it's part of the reason she loses them (well, that and because she became horrible and flaky but the clothes thing was definitely part of it). Same in The Princess Diaries ("You look ridiculous. You should sue.").

Look, guys--as much as I want to kick down the patriarchy and show everyone how awesome and tough I can be, I'm just not that tough. I don't want to stake vampires or save China or pretend to be a man so I can be knighted. I like pretty clothes and I'm really vain about my hair and my favorite books are A Little Princess and Anne of Green Gables and even though I see how they are problematic and kind of creepy sometimes, I really enjoy Disney princess movies. I read mommy blogs and look at wedding magazines! All "girly" things, brought to you by the letter F and our special guest, socialized gender roles, which have gotten us to a point where you can be anything you want to be, except you can't be too girly or you're shallow or too masculine because you're a hairy lesbian. You can wield a sword but not if you don't want to ruin your mani/pedi.

Look, Buffy, you are a pretty cool kid, but there are reasons Meg Murry and Anne Shirley were my idols when I was younger.

One of my best friends likes to talk about her narrative priorities a lot, and one of mine is becoming "stories about girls who are strong in other ways than being tough" (Katara, I am looking at you) or "stories about girls who do things like paint their nails before going off and saving the world from crime." And there are stories out there like this, it's just that those tendencies towards femininity (the stereotypical kind, I mean) are so often portrayed as faults or as frivolous or whatever. Look, so maybe my bookmarks folder called "shoes I neeeeeed" is a little frivolous but I'm also crazy smart and if I realized that I could regenerate/fly/mind-read I'd get out there and get shit done. You know what I mean? And then I'd come home and watch another episode of Say Yes to the Dress.