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Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Summer of 06
Do you remember the book “Summer of ‘42� by Herman Raucher that was later made into a movie starring Gary Grimes and Jennifer O’Neill? I remember when I read it I found it a beautiful coming of age story about a young man and his relationship with an older woman who was really a young widow. The book and movie really captured the angst of youth and a first summer’s love, a loss of innocence. Now as an almost fifty year old mother, I hear the record needle screech across the vinyl to an abrupt stop, and think. What was I thinking? I have two teenage daughters and if the case were reversed, I would probably croak from the scandal of it all. Time changes the way we think and the way we think about what we read.
That got me thinking about the best books I read when I was a teenager. “Love Story� by Eric Segel stands out as well as “Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Sex but Were Afraid to Ask� by David Reuben, M.D. These two books went around my junior high with brown paper bag fake covers at school and on school bus trips. Everyone knew that if a teacher spotted your reading these scandalous books, they would be confiscated never to be returned. I laugh to myself and imagine now just how many teachers read those free copies.
My oldest daughter asked me this past year if I had any Kurt Vonnegut books. Her friend Nick Reisenauer had told her that they were pretty good and she wanted to read them. I remember that I had loved Kurt Vonnegut books. “Breakfast of Champions� stood out in my mind. Knowing that all my books of my youth were in the attic in storage, I went to Fred McKenzie’s Books on the Bayou across the hall from my Beauty and the Book to see if he had a copy. Fred deals in used books. Floor to ceiling, packed to the rafters, Fred has books. I found an old paperback copy of “Breakfast of Champions�. I decided that I would read it again as for the life of me I could not remember what his books were about or what I loved about this book. I was shocked. I read the book cover to cover and found myself snickering at myself. I have become a prude. The book was smart; a fun read but more than a tad bit provocative. I found myself questioning if I should let my daughter Lainie read the book. Then I remembered of all the tons of books I have read in my life that book stood out for me as a book that was highly entertaining. I loved that book when I was her age and went on to read “Slaughterhouse -5�, “Cat’s Cradle�, I would not censor my daughter’s reading.
I am not sure if I fully understood what I read then as I did at 49. I just remember that I loved reading it. I gave the book to Lainie. This made me think that this book and others could be a nice bridge between my daughters struggling for their own independence, and I trying to be their mother and still have them not hate me. Books have seemed to work. I just read “My long and short life� by Melodie Bowsher and passed it on to my daughter who loved it so much she passed it on to her best friend Addison Reilly that prompted me to invite author, Melodie Bowsher in for my annual Girlfriend Weekend. Below is the copy that is verbatim from amazon.com on the book:
Ashley Mitchell thinks she has the perfect life: popularity, a hot boyfriend, and great fashion sense. But Ashley’s world falls apart when her mother is accused of embezzling a million dollars, and no one can find her. Before she can say Dolce & Gabbana, Ashley’s life goes from perfect to pathetic. With questions growing about her mother and her money quickly disappearing, Ashley is forced to make some drastic changes in her life. With nowhere else to go, she moves into an old camper behind a gas station and takes a job in a quirky San Francisco coffee shop where she wouldn’t have been caught dead a month ago. But life at Mad Malcolm’s Cyber Café isn’t what she expected. At the Madhouse she finds friends, confidence, and courage to start putting her life back together. But will Ashley ever have the chance to share her new life with her mother?
This heartfelt coming of age story will resonate with every daughter who ever took her mother for granted, and every young woman who must step out on her own and not just survive, but thrive.
About the Author
Melodie Bowsher grew up in Kansas and received a degree in journalism from Kansas State University. After graduating, she went to work in the Wall Street Journal’s Dallas bureau where at age 20 she was the first woman ever hired by that newspaper as a staff reporter. Melodie later moved to San Francisco where her two kids provided the research for this, her first novel.
Upon reading this on amazon.com, I am now on a mission to e-mail Melodie and will do as soon as I finish this blog. I cannot wait until Girlfriend Weekend. You see I grew up in Kansas too and I went to Kansas State University. I will then share that with my daughter.
I had read “The Devil Wears Prada� by Lauren Weisberger and was going to make it an Official Pulpwood Queen Book Club Selection but did not as it was discovered in a big way, like the New York Times Bestseller list. I try to select books that are written by first authors, their first books, or authors that have yet to be discovered. I set the book aside. Unbeknownst to me, my daughter saw the book and read it. “Mom, Mom,� she cried. “I read your “The Devil Wears Prada� book. Mom, I loved it.�
I told her that they had sold the movie rights and Meryl Streep was to play the Miranda Priestly character. We both adore Meryl Streep. “Mom, Mom, we have to go to that move!�
Now my oldest daughter is 16, usually the last thing on her my mind is going to the movies with her mother. She is usually off with her boyfriend, Russell, or her friends. Yes, books can be a bridge and they certainly have helped me get through a summer where usually I have to go, “No way, and I letting you do that.� Or “I don’t care if their mom’s are letting you go, I say no and that is the end of this discussion.�
I also e-mail both my daughters as I have found they will answer my e-mails. They absolutely refuse to respond when I ask them to help around the house and they are all in it with me. I sign my e-mails, Your mean mom. We laugh about it as when I put my foot down, I put my foot down, and it is a big foot.
Summer of 06 so far has turned out to be a great one. I hope my girls will remember this one as a summer of great reads, ones that they will not censor and pass on to their children someday. My sixteen year went with me to Shreveport for one of meetings for my International Book Club Author Extravaganza. As we had our meeting in the coffee shop of the Barnes & Noble, she was stacking up the books she wanted to read. She bought “The Burn Journals� by Brent Runyon “The History Boys: A Play� by Alan Bennett and “The Great Gatsby� by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Today I am kidnapping both the girls with their friends to go shopping and then to the local water park. I plan on taking them camping just one more time before school starts this fall. They will be gone before I know it but I guarantee that when communication gets sparse, books can take you places where no one else can. Empower your kids to be readers. Make this a summer of great reads and great memories. I have saved all the books on my library shelves that have spoke to me through the years. I hope that someday when they check out those shelves and I am long gone they will go. “Oh my God, check this out. Mom, read Carlos Castaneda’s books. Look here is “The Clockwork Orange� by Anthony Burgess. And look at this “Life is Just What You Make It: My Story So Far� by Donny Osmond. Wasn’t that a group once? The Osmonds?�
Well, that last read was really read because my younger sisters, Karen and Karol were the biggest Donny Osmond Fans in the whole wide word. I always like Marie Osmond, the sister as she sang country. You want to get to know someone, check out what he or she is reading. That will speak volumes on who they are and what they have become. For me, I am a reader and my one true wish for my two girls is that they will be readers too. Reading has taken my fabulous places that I never even dreamed. Reading has made my life very happy. Books have been my bridge to adulthood and will take me on my journey on the roads ahead. I have built a home of books, just like the Bible, books are my rock, my foundation.
Happy Summer of ’06 reading,
Kathy L. Patrick
