Enchanted

Before I say another word, let me thank The Bartender for setting this blog up (you are the best :) ) and Pam for my beautiful banner. You guys are terrific! I truly "couldn't have done it without you."

Now, in 1997, while wandering through the young adult section of the terrific little library I was so blessed to have, I found a book by first time author, Gail Carson Levine, Ella Enchanted.

I could not put the book down. I immediately recommended it to all my girlfriends and E and I promptly began it the next evening during The Children's Hour (see Longfellow). Then I read it to A when she was old enough and, finally, C at age 6.

As the years passed by,

I quickly scooped up any new books Ms. Levine penned. My particular favorites are the series of Fairy Tale short stories. Why are these books so appealing? Ms. Levine has the unique ability to rewrite our favorite tales without schtick. They really seem plausible. The girls are all the good things that make us like the story without hating the girl. She is nice, but not saccharin. She is polite, but throws a punch when needed. She wears a dress and rides a horse-not side-saddle. She loves her parents and struggles to understand them and have them understand her and most importantly, the guy doesn't save the gal; the gal doesn't save the guy. They work together to save each other. Which is real life and what I want my girls to understand about male/female relationships.

Gail Carson Levine made an appearence at the Missouri's Children's Literature Festival in 2002. Each year, kids who read all the Mark Twain books are rewarded with a trip to a state univeristy to meet prolific childrens literature authors and hear their stories of writing. When we signed up to attend, due to limited space, we had to rank our preferred authors. We got all of them but Gail. I couldn't stand it, so...I...ummm... you know... snuck my girls in anyway. It's not like we pushed other kids out. We just squeezed ourselves in. She seemed a bit overwhelmed by the kids, and as I had K with me (two at the time), I slipped out into the campus library, leaving my children under the supervision of a friend. I came back just in time for the book signing. We had six books. I recall that she appeared a tad bit annoyed that we kept handing her books to autograph. I couldn't figure out why, but was later informed by MFK whose husband is one of the best writers of today (and I daresay we will see him publically noted as such in our lifetime) that it is considerd a bit gauche to present so many works to be signed. It gives the idea of greed and inconsideration of the others attending the signing. So, I learned, but I kept buying her books and I will keep buying them. Some I don't like as well as others, but for the most part, she blows the competition away. She doesn't insult a girl's intelligence or ability, nor does she male bash.

Fast forward to today: I am happily frying flapjacks for my family's Good Friday Breakfast and get a call from MFK. She announces that she is going to see the film. I can't believe it! I have been trying to convince her to read these stories for years- this is my baby and she thinks she is going to see it without me? Without reading the book? Arrrggghhh! O.K. MFK laughs at my jealousy and points out that she is guilty of no infraction to our friendship and kindly reminds me that I am really annoyed that she knew about something before me. She is of course,...rrrrrr...ummm...O.K. I can do this; I can say this: RRRRiiiii! Right! There, I said it. She is correct. I wanted to know it before her and annouce it to her. I want to know all things and be queen of all knowledge to my friend. So, I accepted that she was right (I guess that I means I was wrrrrr; nevermind, we all know the word) and then quickly called my local theatres to find if it was playing here and HA! It is, so away we go. My friend is right and I get to see it, too! Yee-haw! All's well that ends well, right? Thank goodness for those that know us so well that they help us know ourselves.