I hope in the next week or so to post about the many great titles we read over the courses. I want to start with with two of the first titles we read in May:
Spring Fire was written by Vin Packer (really the famous YA author ME Kerr) and published in 1952. It is thought to be the first lesbian pulp (fiction) novel; however, it is so much more! It addresses alcohol abuse, date rape, and the pressure to conform to society's standards. The novel is about Susan (Mitch) Mitchell, a very awkward and somewhat lonely freshman at a college (somewhere in the midwest) who falls in love with Leda, a sorority sister who has, shall we say, "some issues."
We read the 2004 re-released version (Cleis Press) and according to that edition's introduction it was only republished after negotiations with the author. Packer/Meaker who had always been troubled about the books' ending: after their relationship is exposed, Leda is committed to a mental institution. Then, Mitch realizes she never really did love Leda. As with other YA literature from that time period, such sins as homosexuality (and premarital sex, and drinking, and so on) could only end badly for those involved. The book could not have a "happy ending" for the two young women.
In the 2004 edition's foreword Packer wrote that her first editor told her that because the book would be sent through the mail, there could not be any references that portrayed homosexuality attractive or the postal inspectors would return it to the publisher. One character must acknowledge that she is not a lesbian, and the other she's involved with "must be sick or crazy".
Odd Girl Out was published in 1957 by Ann Bannon (a pseudonym) and tells the story of a shy freshman, Laura, who becomes bewitched by the beautiful Beth who convinces her to join her sorority. Laura does and they become roommates . . . and then more. Like Spring Fire, there could be no happy ending for Laura or Beth. And, again, non-comformity to the social mores could only have negative repurcussions. Likewise, this book also has many of the same themes: homosexuality is bad, premarital sex is bad, drinking is bad, image is everything, etc.
I won't give away the ending . . . there is no mental hospital, but there aren't bunnies and rainbows either.
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Our class had great discussions regarding these two novels. Many of the female students are/were in sororities and we all talked about how BAD the fraternity boys were in the books. This was 60 years ago . . . if they were like that then, what does that say for today? I think these books would be WONDERFUL to use in the high school classroom--maybe not as whole class reads, but definitely in literature circles. There are many comparisons/contrast that students could make regarding the views and actions of the characters to what happens today.
