Saturday 10 January 2015

Lizzie Skurnick Books



Last year I read a novel by Lois Duncan called Debutante Hill (1958).  It was Duncan's first book (she went on to write the novel I Know What You Did Last Summer in 1973which if you've seen the movie you already know is about NEVER letting Freddie Prinze Jr drive your car) and it is one of the very first examples of Young Adult fiction.  Which makes sense right, Teenagerdom as a cultural experience is a Fifties phenomenon.  Anyway, I thought it was pretty good - preppy, kinda charming, plenty of debs, cliques and going steady.  So not far from contemporary YA in its themes, but y'know, much tamer (originally it got rejected because an underage kid drinks a beer, natch) but charming, so you might want to give it a go if you're a Fifties-groupie or something.  Here's a picture of Lois playing the accordian.  Is she the greatest or what?
   

Anyway, the reissue of Debutante Hill is just part of the story, because Lizzie Skurnick Books are currently reissuing a bunch of lost and forgotten YA classics from the Thirties through to the Eighties and they are quite lovely-looking. That's decades-worth of angst, right there.  You want them.  And since they span such a fuckload of years they cover a tremendous range of teen and social issues from racism, teenage pregnancy, LGBT issues, all the kinds of love, grief, addiction, necking, and probably how to sneak booze into Prom without getting caught (no one wants a repeat of Donna's performance in Beverly Hills 90210).

I especially like the look of this one from 1978...

                  Book Cover



2 comments:

  1. Hello Bert,
    I am following instructions by the lovely Sian to come on over and say Hello. I'm not much of a book reader, unless its a cook book or work-related, but I do have an eclectic taste in music so hope to come by and check out your posts. Happy Blogging.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Aw hi Shaheen! Thanks for saying hi!

    ReplyDelete

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