skjam

I decided to ask my family to give me wish lists for upcoming birthdays/Christmas as I am off to ConVergence in early July. This is mostly for the kids, of course, but my sister made a request that I might have a little trouble with.

She likes the novels of Joshilyn Jackson, who has just put one out called "A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty." Except that reading the synopsis leads me to believe that it's not going to be on sale at a SF convention, even one as multi-media as ConVergence.

So what I'm looking for is books/films that are like Joshilyn Jackson's work, but would be on sale where I'm going to be buying. (I understand that the Sookie Stackhouse series is also about quirky Southern women, but is it otherwise similar in a pleasing way?)

Thanks in advance for your consideration!

ConVergence was fun. The Sofitel has industrial strength curtains in its rooms.

Frank Merriwell Down South by Burt L. Standish

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This is the fifth of the long-running Frank Merriwell series of exciting books for boys. (See my review for "Frank Merriwell's School Days", the first of the series.) In this volume, following on directly from the cliffhanger in "Frank Merriwell's Trip West," our hero first searches for a lost Silver Palace in Mexico. After that, he travels to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, and must solve the mystery of the Queen of Flowers. This is followed by a sojourn in the Florida Everglades and a white canoe that paddles itself, and finally an encounter with moonshiners in the mountains of Tennessee.

To be honest, this book feels like four short stories loosely stitched together more than a proper novel. And I am given to wonder if they weren't first serialized in a magazine first--at least one of the chapters ends in a cliffhanger that would work better if one had to wait an entire week for the outcome, not a mere quarter of the way into a bound volume.

The first story was my least favorite and brought my rating down by a full star. The antiquated ethnic stereotypes shift from "19th Century, you so crazy" to the stench of racism with the depiction of Mexicans. Even the compulsively decent Frank is seen to say "One Yankee is good for six greasers." That aside, the ending was very weak, with the climax taking place off-screen and one of Frank's archenemies killed off in a couple of lines.

The second story likewise ends weakly, with the antagonist killed off before his plotline can be resolved, and another character's motivation explained with "Frank later learned that...."

The third story is much stronger, with a weird feel to the mysterious goings-on, but does suffer from one too many amazing coincidences. There's an unknown species of maneating plant at one point, for those who like a bit of fantasy in their stories.

The fourth story is much enlivened by one of the better female characters in the series, Kate Kenyon, and manages the coincidences much better.

Not particularly recommended due to the first story, if you are sharing this with a younger reader it's best to discuss why that sort of cheap ethnic stereotyping isn't acceptable anymore.



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Happy Fourth of July!

Christmas happened. It was good to see the family again, and much fun was had. The gift I gave out that seemed the most awesome was a volume of Amerlia Rules for the youngest niece. She was already halfway through when it came time for her to leave.

They'd changed the bus schedules so my bus back to the Cities left about noon; the folks and I had brunch in the Banning Junction cafe. Sadly, it seems that business is down, and that part of the restaurant is now closed and looking for someone to rent.

Snow and cold continue to dominate the weather.

I missed getting a room in the Sheraton for ConVergence; the room committee has acknowledged my request for a Sofitel room, but no guarantees, and I won't find out for a while if it took. I do have a room for Anime Detour though.

Work is tolerable. My supervisor went to Nicaragua for a couple of weeks and brought back souvenirs; I'll be regifting the coffee.

Oh, and back to Christmas for the moment, I sent out all the wishlist items, finally. I hope everyone got them okay. I was very pleased with several mix CDs, some candy, books and so forth. Thanks, internet!

For hobby stuff, I have been "liveblogging" the Republic movie serial "Zorro's Fighting Legion" over on the TV Tropes website. Take a look: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/lb_i.php?lb_id=12921152820B27780100&i_id=12921152820I27781900&p=1

And the weekend begins for me.

Hope to see some of you at the convention, for those I don't, have a safe and fun weekend, with any fireworks at just the right distance for enjoyment.

The Programming folks at ConVergence have issued a partial schedule with the panels that have enough people. "Gunpowder and Bloodshed: Dark Heroes of the Pulps" and "Villains of Manga and Anime" aren't on there yet.

So, if you're going to ConVergence and would like one or the other of these panels to be run, please consider actually signing up as a panelist so they can get on the schedule.

Thanks for your attention!

I'm off to ConVergence tomorrow!

It looks to be a busy weekend, with seven panels to be on.

3:30 PM Thursday: Diversity in Comics--First panel slot of the convention, but I am bringing a handout prepared with the help of the folks at Girl-Wonder.org. One of two panels I'll be sharing with Dwayne McDuffie, woot!

12:30 PM Friday: Gaming Etiquette. Should be a very polite panel.

2:00 PM Friday: Humor in Superhero Comics. A long historic tradition.

5:00 PM Friday: Old Time Radio. I hope to do my radio announcer voice.

8:30 PM Friday: Manga and Graphic Novels. Compare and contrast.

11:00 AM Saturday: Justice League Past, Present and Future. The other panel starring Mr. McDuffie. This one might be a bit awkward.

3:30 PM Sunday: What's Wrong with the Japanese? A look at some of the more...interesting aspects of Japanese entertainment culture. This is in the A/V room, so will have pictures! And it's the last panel slot at the con, so everyone will be pleasantly exhausted.

In between times, I'll be attending other panels, checking out the art show and huckster rooms, and if I am very lucky meeting old and new friends. I won't be around in the wee hours though, as I have to catch the shuttle bus over to the Crowne Plaza to sleep.