Unico

Unico

Osamu Tezuka

$34.95, Softcover

Digital Manga Publishing, 2013

978-1569703120

Genre: Fantasy, Graphic Novel  

Age: 10+

Description: Unico is the name of a little unicorn that has the power to bring happiness to those who truly love him. However, Venus, the goddess of beauty, is jealous of the good fortune he brings to mortals. In a fit of rage, she orders him to be banished to far reaches of the world, his memory wiped of who he is, and hopefully he will not be able to find anyone to truly love him in his punishment. On his journey, Unico does meet new friends, both human, animal and otherwise, and learns what a true friend is.

Opinion: Unico is the manga that a popular anime was based off of. It is by the father of manga in Japan, Osamu Tezuka. You might be wondering why there is such a steep price tag on this one book. First of all, it is the entire collection of Unico in one volume. Secondly, it is in full-color (which any manga diehard reader will know is a bit of a rarity). For manga readers who aren’t into the history and classic series, they might at first be put off by the art style. It is definitely an older style of manga (it kind of looks more realistic than the wide-eyed creations popular today). It is also a great manga for all ages and is printed in English reading style (left to right) instead of the traditional Japanese style (right to left) so it may be a great introduction to manga for younger readers. Each volume in the story follows the same basic plot. The first volume tells of how Unico is banished by Venus. The rest of the volumes find Unico on a new world, seemingly all alone with no idea that he is. Fortunately for him he always finds a friend and discovers his powers when the friend truly loves him. Unfortunately for him, Venus has a spy that must do her bidding and he is forced to be taken away from his new friends and banished again. The whole 400+ page volume reads quickly. However, I think I was very disappointed with the end to the series. The whole theme of the story is about true friendship and the last person that Unico meets is a devil who absolutely doesn’t want any friends. When he finally gives in and considers Unico a friend he discovers that Unico—his first ever best friend—is gone. Turns out Venus has changed her mind and allowed Unico to come back from his banishment and be with his beloved princess again. The poor devil is basically left heartbroken and alone. It just seems like a really cruel and unfair ending.   

Ten Little Aliens (Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Collection)

Ten Little Aliens (Doctor Who 50^th Anniversary Collection)

Stephen Cole

$12.99, Softcover

BBC Books, 2013

978-1849905169

Genre: Science Fiction

Age: 14+

Description: The First Doctor, and his companions Ben and Polly, wind up in a world where they travel with ten human soldiers and try to unravel a mystery in which ten dead aliens suddenly start disappearing. Stuck in an underground like alien constructed compound they might race against time to prevent the disappearing aliens from killing the soldiers.     

Opinion: This is the first book in the new 50^th Anniversary Collection, an 11-book series featuring a classic adventure from all the doctors. I wanted to read this one first not only because it is about the First Doctor but because it was a play on Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. However, it is told in reverse—the Doctor and the soldiers come across ten dead aliens and then the aliens’ bodies one by one begin to disappear. This book was good but slow going. If I had to describe it in one sentence I’d say, “Doctor Who meets Agatha Christie meets Starship Troopers.” The best part about the story is when it gets to the biggest action and for a good 75 pages at least turns into a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure story as the characters split off into pairs to go hunting for the aliens and you get to follow each pair. The great thing is if you choose a path that misses something pivotal to the story the narration will ask “have you read so-and-so, if not go read it and come back here and choose”. In the end, I think there were maybe, at most, five passages I didn’t actually read. This was a prime example of how CYOA books should be written—it didn’t feel jumpy or scattered. Overall, while it was a slow going book at first it is a must read for classic Doctor Who fans.

Doctor Who (Broadway Books Series)

Doctor Who:

Shroud of Sorrow – Tommy Donbavand

Dalek Generation – Nicholas Briggs

Plague of the Cybermen – Justin Richards

$9.99, Softcover

Broadway Books, 2013

978-0385346788; 978-0385346740; 978-0385346764

Genre: Science Fiction

Age: 10+

Description: Three new adventures featuring the 11^th Doctor, Matt Smith, from Broadway Books. In The Shroud of Sorrow it is the day after the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy and everyone begins to see the faces of their dead loved one. Police Constable Reg Cranfield sees his father in the mist, reporter Mae Callon sees her grandmother in a coffee stain, and FBI agent Warren Skeet sees his dead partner looking back at him from the rain streaked window of the Texas School Book Depository. At first they all think they are just seeing things—that the grief of losing a beloved president has made them turn inward to their own grief—until the faces begin to talk and scream and move into our own world. Can the Doctor save humanity from the alien force known as the Shroud—a being that feeds on the grief of others? In The Dalek Generation the Doctor travels to Sunlight 349—a world where Daleks are a force of good? Can the Doctor convince the inhabitants the Daleks never have any other mission than to “exterminate”? In Plague of the Cybermen the Doctor  arrives in a world where a horrifying plague is killing the people. Can the Doctor figure out how the Cybermen and the supposedly undefeatable Plague Warriors are connected?

Opinion: As a Doctor Who fan who hasn’t gotten past watching the fourth Doctor (I know, scandalous, right? But, sorry, my heart belongs to the Third Doctor), I have to say that these books were good. First, I was attracted to the actual cover design and layout of the series. They were really nice looking and just fun! I hope Broadway Books releases more. (I swear, and I have it bookmarked in my Amazon account somewhere, that there was a fourth one coming out but I can no longer find it doing a general search!) These books are a great introduction to the world of Doctor Who. Not knowing the 11^th Doctor so well there was enough basic information given that I was able to jump into the world quite easily. I loved Shroud of Sorrow the best probably. I liked the mix of an alternative history with an alien species that lived off of grief. (I also love—and not much of a spoiler alert—the fact that the enigma of clown cars (how do they all fit in there?) is explained away by Tardis physics!) If you have Doctor Who fans—young or old—these books need to be in your collection! They won’t stay on the shelves for long.

Girls of Central High at Basketball; Or, the Great Gymnasium Mystery (Girls of Central High #3)

Girls of Central High at Basketball; Or, the Great Gymnasium Mystery (Girls of Central High #3)

Gertrude W. Morrison

World Syndicate Publishing, 1914

Genre: Sports, Mystery, School, Realistic

Description

Mrs. Case, the new basketball coach, really has it out for Hester. She complains that she is so good at book matters that none of the other teachers ever get to see her temper. In the locker room after basketball practice, Hester confronts Bobby about talking behind her back. She goes to slap her and accidentally hits Nellie who is trying to prevent a fight. Bobby says that if it wasn't for Gee-Gee's favoring of her she would have been kicked out of Central High long ago.

Later that night Nellie tells her father, a doctor, about the fight in the locker room and he tells her that it would be best if she just ignores Hester. The next day when the girls arrive at school they discover that their gym has been broken into and vandalized. Bobby and Nellie know exactly who hates the girls so much they would do this—Hester. Bobby quickly spreads the gossip and soon all the girls are talking about how Hester declared her hatred of the girls. Luckily, when Principal Sharp calls a meeting he declares that the vandalism and the intent behind it is well beyond any hatred of the students. After school that day, Hester goes to the park and sees Rufus and Johnny Doyle. Rufus, an “innocent” and “half-whitted” young man (the 1914 “polite” way of saying mentally handicapped), does not see three-year-old Johnny fall into an open sewer grate. Hester follows him down into the six-foot water because she can swim and saves Johnny's life.

Many of the girls at school believe Hester did do the damage to the gymnasium or possibly hired someone else to do it for her. Luckily for her the adults in charge don't believe she is responsible and everyone wonders how the culprit got in and out of the building without the custodian noticing. The girls seem to have better things to worry about as their first game of the season is against East High, who beat them last season. It is also Bobby's first game on the team. When the ball goes to Hester, her opponent quickly snatches it and the referee yells at her for over guarding. The captain is forced to replace her. They end up losing the first half. Nellie discovers that Hester has left the locker room and won't even be around for the second half. They end up tying the game. The referee admits that if Hester were in the second half they probably would've won. Naturally, the girls blame Hester for their loss and decide that they want her off the team. A number of the girls get together to write a petition to give to Mrs. Case.

Later that night, Nellie feels bad when her father tells her how Hester saved Johnny Doyle's life. When she arrives at school the next day she discovers another raid has occurred in the gym but this time it is a case of arson. The police did find some tracks to an open window this time so they think they know how the culprit got in but they still do not know how he got out. Mr. Sharp tells Mrs. Case to remove Hester from the basketball team but rumors about her involvement in these attacks need to be stopped. Laura, Nellie, Jess, and Bobby decide to investigate. They quickly discover that the footprints outside the window can't be Hester's as they are clearly a man's. Laura deduces that the man did not get inside the building from the window; in fact, he exited the window. She points out how the scuffs on the footprints show that the man was actually walking backwards.

On Saturday a number of the girls go to visit Eve Sitz's farm and they learn that her new $150 colt, Jinks, was stolen. They decide to head to the Four Corners, were notorious gangs hang out, and see a boy riding Jinks. They give chase. Laura yells at him and he says that the horse belongs to his brother, Hebe, one of the most notorious liars in town. Eve smacks him. As the girls are fighting with a gun holding Hebe, Hester's mother shows up in a car. Hester is there too but won't even look at the girls. Her mom looks at Hebe and says that he's never had the money to afford a cult like that and demands that he give the horse back. She yells at the women who were gawking at the scene and tells them to clean themselves up. She comments about how she can't believe she used to live here among these people who are a disgrace, which embarrasses Hester. The reason why Hester refused to knowledge the girls is because earlier that morning Mrs. Case showed up at her house with the petition to remove her from the basketball team. Because of all the gossip and rumors Hester has found herself shunned by everyone, including her best friend Lily.

Hester discovers that her father has finally bought a car for her and she demands that she should be taught how to drive it immediately. When she is out with the chauffeur she kicks him out because she doesn't need him chaperoning her. As she is driving along by herself the car stalls. As she's trying to fix it a car with Laura and her friends drive by and save her. They're coming back from a game they won without Hester on the team. She decides to head back the way she came from despite the warnings of a forest fire nearby and proceeds to get caught right in the path of the flames. She runs across a man and helps him get into her car. They decide to take a short cut road to warn other farming families of the danger. For two hours they drive around the small town and save more than 40 people. It takes a few days for her parents to learn that she is considered a hero even though she didn't want her name in the paper.

The big game against Keyport High is upon the basketball team. Halfway through the girls are behind by two points. Some girls lament at Hester still being gone (Nellie and Laura) while some of the girls are happy (Jess and Bobby) and don't think they need Hester to win the game. Nellie then informs them of Hester's latest daring deed—saving people from a forest fire. The girls end up winning by six points. The next Saturday all the teens are gathered at Eve's farm. Laura tells Nellie that Jackway, the school custodian, admitted that the night of the first act of vandalism Rufus had slipped into the building somehow. Could Rufus be the culprit? While laughing and telling stories, they hear some shouts from some fishermen. It turns out that Hebe was out on a rock which twisted and rolled onto his leg trapping him under with his head barely above the water line. Laura sends the boys to look for rope so that they can hopefully get enough leverage to move the rock and free him. They succeed in getting him out and they take him to the hospital.

The girls’ next game is against Lumberport. They do alright but at halftime Nellie sprains her ankle. Mrs. Case refuses to let her play. Nellie, however, bandages of her ankle and demands to play and they end up winning by eight points. It is the beginning of a winning streak for them. One of the boys, Chet, goes to visit Hebe in the hospital and discovers that he is mad that he didn't get the job at the school as Jackway should have been fired. Billson, the old man Hester saved from the fire who happens to be Hebe's roommate, tells Chet that that job is all the man talks about. He can tell that Chet believes Hester is responsible for vandalism and he tells him that he is going to prove that she didn't do it.

Meanwhile, Nellie is terrified and disgusted at the same time to learn that Johnny has developed anemia and needs a blood transfusion or he'll die. Hester volunteers for the procedure. The girls keep winning but they can't move beyond third place in the rankings. Bobby declares that while she hates Hester she does kind of wish she was back on the team so that they'd win the championship. Nellie informs them of Hester's latest daring deed—saving Johnny's life again. Chet has been trying to get more information out of Billson but the man refuses to talk to him because he thinks Chet is against Hester. The girls decide to sign a new petition to request Hester being put back on the team. Hester agrees. The girls soon face off against East High again, this time winning and moving up to second place.

The final game is between Central High and Keyport High. This will determine the championship. After a tough game they end up winning all because of Hester's final goal. Billson is released from the hospital and decides to talk to Chet. He admits that everyone is praising her because of what she did for Johnny but they still think that she is the one that vandalized the gymnasium. Rufus is there with his mother to visit Johnny and Billson tells Chet to go and get Rufus. Rufus comes into the room and Billson shows him Hebe sitting in the bed. Rufus starts shaking and crying while Billson asks Rufus why he is scared of the man in the bed. Rufus replies that the man is a bad man who said that he would kill him if he told. He says that he saw the bad man in the gym the night of the vandalism and Hebe, knowing he had been caught, admits to causing the damage in an attempt to get the job as the custodian. He gets transferred to a prison hospital and after he is healed he looks forward to three months of hard labor.

Thoughts and Nuggets of Wisdom for Research

This book was a fun read. I enjoyed how Hester kept doing daring deeds! The book mainly focuses on physical descriptions of the girls and some major sexist and gender stereotypes when it comes to girls and sports.

Let’s start with the physical descriptions.

Hester is the main character and a lot of time is spent talking about her, her temper, and her family’s economic status.

On page 1 Hester is described as “a rather heavily built girl for her age, with a sturdy body and long arms—well developed in a muscular way, but without much grace.”

She is the “only daughter of the very wealthy wholesale butcher . . . She was one of those girls who fairly ‘boss’ their parents and everybody around their homes. She had bought the friendliness of some weak girls by her display in the lavish use of spending money” (p. 8).

Page 36-37 – description of Hester's family:

For some years now, her daughter had grown quite beyond her control and Mrs. Grimes had learned not to comment upon Hester's actions. Yet, oddly enough, Hester was neither a wild girl nor a silly girl; she was merely bold, bad tempered, and willful.

Mrs. Grimes was a large, lymphatic weighty, given to loose wrappers until late in the day, and the enjoyment of unlimited novels. “Comfort above all” was the good lady's motto. She had suffered much privatization and had worked hard, during Mr. Grimes's beginnings in trade, for Hester's father had worked up from an apprentice butcher boy in a retail store—was a “self-made man.”

Mr. Grimes was forever talking about how he'd made his own way in the world without the help of any other person; but he was, nevertheless, purse-proud and arrogant.

Page 38:

Under these circumstances it may be seen that the girls home life was neither happy nor inspiring. The kindly, gentle things of life escaped Hester Grimes. She unfortunately scorned her mother for her “easy” habits; she admired her father's bullying ways and his ability to make money. And she missed the sweetening influence of a well conducted home where the inmates are polite and kind to one another.

Hester was abundantly healthy, possessed personal courage to a degree—as Dr. Agnew had observed—was not naturally unkind, and had other qualities that, properly trained and molded, would have made her a very nice girl indeed. But having no home restraining influences, the rough corners of Hester Grimes's character had never been smoothed down.

Her friendship with Lily Pendleton was not like the “chumminess” of other girls. Lily's mother came of one of the “first families” of Centerport, and moved in a circle that the Grimeses could never hope to attain, despite their money. Through her friendship with Lily, who is in a miniature already a “fine lady,” Hester obtained a slight hold up on the fringe of society.

Nellie gets an earful from her father about women in sports (p. 19):

Loyalty. That's the kernel—loyalty. If athletics and games they don't teach you that, you might as well give 'em up—all of you girls. The feminine sex is not naturally loyal; now, don't get mad! It is not a natural virtue—if any virtue is humanly natural—of the sex. It's only the impulsive, spitfire girls who are naturally loyal—the kind who will fight for another girl. Among boys it is different. Now, I am not praising boys, or putting them in iota higher than girls. Only, long generations of working and fighting together has made the normal male loyal to his kind. It is an instinct—and even our friends who call themselves of the suffragettes have still to acquire it.

The background into why it is important for girls to compete in sports is contradictory in nature. On one hand, one would think how awesome a book in 1914 is for promoting sports for girls. On the other hand, when one reads the rational for it one realizes it is horribly sexist.

Page 12:

The Girls' Branch Athletic League of Central High had been in existence only a few months. Gymnasium work, folk dancing, rowing and swimming, walking and some field sports had been carried to a certain point under the supervision of instructors engaged by Centerport's Board of Education for the organization of the girls themselves into an association which, with other school clubs, held competitions and all beams, and other, athletics for trophies and prizes.

Page 13:

Public interest had long since been aroused in the boys' athletics; but that and girls' a similar development had lagged until the spring previous to the opening of our story.

Page 53 – 55:

Basketball is perhaps the most transparent medium revealing certain angles of character in young girls. At first the players seldom have anything more than a vague idea of the proper manner of throwing a ball, or the direction in which it is to be thrown.

The old joke about a woman throwing a stone at a hen and breaking the pain of glass behind her, will soon become a tasteless morsel under the tongue of the humorist. Girls in our great public schools are learning how to throw. And basketball is one of the greatest helps to this end. The woman of the coming generation is going to have developed the same arm and shoulder muscles that man displays, and will be able to throw a stone and hit the hen, if necessary!

The girl beginner at basketball usually has little idea of direction in throwing the ball; nor, indeed, does she seem to distinguish fairly adverse between her opponents and her team-mates. Her only idea is to try to propel the ball in the general direction of the goal, the thought that by passing it from one to another of her team mates she will much more likely see it lands safely in the basket never seemingly entering her mind.

But once the girl has learned to observe and understand the position and function of her team mates and opponents, to consider the chances of the game in relation to the score, and, bearing the things in mind, can form a judgment as to her most advantageous play, and act quickly on it—when she has learned to repress her hysterical excitement and play quietly inserted boisterously, what is it she has gained?

It is self-evident that she has one something besides the mere ability to play basketball. She had learned to control her emotions—to a degree, at least—through the dictates of her mind. Blind impulse has been supplanted by intelligence. Indeed, she has gained, without doubt, a balance of mind and character that will work for good not only to herself, but to others.

Playing basketball seriously will help the girl player to control her emotions and her mind is far higher and more important matters than athletics.

Lastly, there is one minor racist element featuring Mammy Jinny, the Beldings’s old black cook (p. 145):

“It's jest de beatenes' what disher fambly is a-comin' to. Gits so, anyhow, dat de hull on youse is out 'most all day long. Eberything comes onter Mammy's shoulders.”

Peggy Parker, Girl Inventor

Peggy Parker, Girl Inventor

Ruby Lorriane Redford

Whitman, 1946

Genre: Realistic

Description

Peggy Parker is a girl genius when it comes to mechanical gadgets. For example, the room that she and her mother share is full of mechanical apparatuses that Peggy has created, such as an automatic button that will put the window shade up or down and a gadget on the fireplace that will automatically start a fire. As the story opens Peggy is being honored for the second year in a row at the Dodson's banquet. She has made half a dozen time and labor saving devices for the plant and she is only 20 years old.

Peggy and her mom live in a small apartment since Joe, her brother, is in New Mexico. It costs so much to keep him in a sanatorium but he should be home in six months. It was lucky that an x-ray of all the boys at Pender High caught the spot on his lung. Their father died two years ago. They had moved northward and Peggy, who adjusted graduated, got a job at an airplane parts plant where their mother got a job as a stenographer. Along with her award Peggy is also getting a $500 bonus. She attends the banquet with Jerry Newton, a nice but non-mechanical fellow.

She returns home to find a letter from the sanatorium informing her that her brother is better and has to come home at once to make room for other patients. It is unfortunately midwinter and Peggy is concerned that if he comes home he will get sick again. If they have to move to a warmer climate Peggy is scared that she will have to leave the Dodson factory. Her mom has an idea. They can send Joe to his great uncle's plantation in the South until spring as he has been asked to visit before. They write to the great uncle the next day and quickly receive a telegram saying that their uncle has just died. A few days later they receive another message that informs them that the Pine Island plantation has been left to Peggy and Joe. Peggy’s mom thinks that their problems are solved but Peggy isn't too happy because she is now sure she's going to have to give up her job and be stuck on a boring island.

A few days later finds the family in Atlanta meeting up with Joe's train to head towards their new life. Joe informs Peggy that her mechanical mind will actually be a boom to the farming industry because everything is being turned to mechanical means of farming. When they get to Fair Port the driver who meets them, Ike, is the son of two people who worked for their uncle. They also meet Mr. Marshall, their uncle's friend and lawyer who turns out to be a handsome young man just out of law school who is the son of the local judge. They also discover some sad news. No actual farming has happened in the past few years. All they really are inheriting is the island and a house. Everything else went to a formal auction to pay off the funeral expenses. The house, while a mansion, is an utter disrepair.

Peggy wants to check out the farming equipment and discovers it is just as dismal. They have a few animals but they don't even have a tractor. Ben and their uncle did all of their farming the old-fashioned way. They don't even have a real working motorboat to get them back to the mainland—it has been allowed to rust over the years from no use. Ted Marshall is surprised to hear from Peggy that they plan to stay on and not sell the place. They refuse to sell because that is not what their uncle wanted. Trying to help them out, Ted invites them to see his father's plantation and their 15 machines. He also has a 19-year-old sister, Carol, who he wants Peggy to meet.

The family soon has a visitor, a man named Andrew Bateman from Gull Island, their nearest neighbor. He has stopped by to make a bid for their land before they sell it to anyone else. Peggy dislikes him immediately. Before leaving he warns them not to plant anything south of Waco Crick and Peggy remembers Ben saying that a lot of wild hogs roam there. Bateman offers one more time to buy up anything if they change their minds, especially that southern tract of land. Ben tells Joe that Bateman has been eyeing the island for a long time and that his uncle had always hated him. No one can understand why Bateman is so interested in that one piece of land.

Meanwhile, Peggy uses her mechanical skills to fix the motorboat and everyone heads out to see this southern tract of land. Teneh, Ben’s wife, goes with them because she swears she saw their uncle's ghost a few nights ago and refuses to be left alone. The area has a lot of timber and Peggy believes that they can sell this to finance their crop production.

The next day, Peggy is in town and runs into Bateman who once again asks them to name their price. He is disgusted when she denies him. He briefly even threatens her—“reckon you'll rue the day you make that decision.” She sees Ted who disappoints her when he says that she should probably just sell the land because they need the money for their farming. He does like her timber idea and offers to drive her to the pulp mill. The man in charge of the mill says that he can't help because he's already low on workers but if Peggy can get the timber to him he will buy it. Peggy decides that they will build their own barge and she will advertise for her own workers and provide them with transportation and lunch.

Bateman comes nosing around and wonders were Peggy got the labor from. Later that afternoon a number of the workers quit because the island is supposedly haunted. While Peggy is certain that Bateman scared the men off, Joe is certain that he didn't see Bateman talking to any of the workers. That evening there is a bad storm and Joe discovers their barge missing in the morning. There are signs pointing to it being stolen.

They visit Ted who takes them to his house where his father will probably let them borrow his own barge because this is an emergency. His grandfather believes that Bateman would possibly want the land to build a road connecting the two islands. Luckily, with the borrowed barge, work continues on the timber. One day a man, Luke Harper, is working on the top of the tree when the other men say he just disappeared. This causes more men to leave.

Peggy is invited by Ted and Carol to go to a yacht club dance. At the dance Peggy sees a waiter who looks exactly like the missing Luke. Ted tries to talk to the club's owner about the waiter while Bateman's son, Andrew Junior, tries to get Peggy to dance with him. He then has the audacity to propose to her which she flat out refuses. Ted tells her that Andrew proposed because it would be one way for the family to get Pine Island. The owner of the club says that the waiter is new and is supposedly named Mose Wallace.

The next today, Joe excitedly tells Peggy that he thinks he has found a way that someone could get from their island to Gull Island even though it is supposedly impossible. He discovered that at low tide a secret plot of land is made visible. Even more shocking it is a man-made path out of shells. He believes that Andrew made it so that he could reach the island without a boat. Peggy makes Joe pay off some of the past taxes on the island so that they have less of a chance of losing the land. She also decides that she might look into getting a cotton gin. Later that night and Andrew Junior visits. Joe accidentally lets it be known that Peggy has been working on a new invention in her shop that could bring lots of money. The next morning Peggy discovers her invention is missing. She is very sad because she was going to use the money as a down payment for the cotton picker.

Spring soon passes into summer and luckily Peggy's missing invention came to nothing as whoever stole it didn't try to cash in on it. Soon a Mr. Meyer visits them. He says that he saw their ads for labor repeatedly and he recently took a cotton picker from a heavily mortgaged estate and is willing to sell it for cheap. They get to ride it and test it out. He is selling it for $1,500. He convinces Peggy to talk with the bank about a loan and the possibility of putting up part of the land as security. He convinces her to put up the land south of Waco Crick. While it is risky Peggy decides to buy the cotton picker. The day that Mr. Meyer delivers it is raining. He picks a row to make sure that it works and it seems fine so Peggy pays him. The next morning when they get to work they notice that all of the batches they pick are dirty. Peggy knows that Mr. Meyer will claim they did something wrong because he physically tested it to make sure it worked. She knows that she is been scammed. Joe wants Peggy to try to fix it but she is wary of harming it even more. She heads to the mainland to find that Mr. Meyer is gone for parts unknown. Ike says that he took Meyer to the train station and that he said he was headed to Savannah and he looked mighty pleased with himself. He says that he also saw Meyer talking to Bateman. Peggy makes an appointment with Frank Dillard, a picker mechanic, in the hope that he can help. Dillard mentions that Sheriff Johnson was put into office by a political ring with a dark history. Peggy now understands why the sheriff hasn't been of much help him. It seems as if Bateman owns the whole town.

Dillard finds the broken parts of the machine but he doesn't think he can fix it. Peggy calls the manufacturer to see if she can get a replacement part but never hears back from them so she decides to take the matter into her own hands. She notices that the part appears to have been sabotaged. As she thinks of a solution Joe informs her that he believes he knows why Bateman wants their land. He thinks that the soil south of Waco Crick is valuable. Joe is going to take a soil sample to a chemist. Ted returns from a vacation and yells at Peggy for being stupid enough to be duped into buying the cotton gin, but she's feeling pretty good because she believes that she has created an even better cleaning component for the picker.

Peggy soon receives bad news. It turns out that Bateman owns shares of the bank that they borrowed from and if they can’t pay their loan back in 30 days he will get their land. The soil test comes back and shows that the soil is high in phosphate. Peggy also eventually gets a letter from the parts manufacturer that informs her that those models aren't even made anymore. As if it seems that nothing can get worse a hurricane hits and destroys most of their cotton crop. When Ted comes to see how they fared after the storm he is upset to see Peggy apparently obsessed with the part she's attempting to make. He finally confesses that he loves her and says that he would do anything for her. She tells him that she needs a field to test her new machine on. He offers up his father's farm.

When she finally gets to test for machine everyone is happy at how much of an improvement Peggy's cleaner is. Her new component puts even the newest models to shame. However, Peggy is not happy because she believes she can make it even better.

Days pass until it is Friday the 13^th and people from the picker company have come to see a demonstration of Peggy's model. Peggy hopes that it will work as their loan is due the following day. Unknown to her, Ted's father tested the machine once again and it worked perfectly. Coming to the demo are a lot of company individuals in the farming business. He hopes there will be a bidding war over her invention. The test again is a success creating a bidding war with an offer of $1,800. At the celebration dinner, everyone is shocked to hear that Peggy has declined a job offer and Ted announces that he wants to marry her. She now has the money to pay off the loan and then some. She is informed that while she was so busy with her invention some people from a fertilizer plant showed up wanting to buy the land south of Waco Crick. It turns out that Judge Marshall believed in her invention and he actually already paid off their loan so that Joe could begin negotiating mining rights of the land.

Thoughts and Nuggets of Wisdom for Research

The main issues in this story are those of gender expectations and a few racist moments. The gender expectations tend to focus around Peggy and her very usual talents for all things mechanical. Let’s look at some examples, some of which are positive and forward thinking while some are of the “girls should be in the home” mindset.

Page 15:

The Dodson officials gave every encouragement to inventive ability. Before Peggy had been with them a year, she made a suggestion that saved them a hundred hours a month on the assembly line. When she invented a gadget that doubled the efficiency of her own machine, she received personal commendation from the president himself. “It's not often a 19-year-old girl shows such inventive genius,” Mr. Frank Dodson said at the annual banquet for the employees, when he was giving Peggy her first award.

Page 17:

“Peggy should have been a boy,” Mr. Parker had often said.

There was nothing she liked better then to don a pair of overalls, tear down an automobile motor, and put it together again. In spite of that, Peggy had a girl's fondness for pretty clothes and gay parties. Joe, on the other hand, was the retiring sort. He was satisfied to stay at home with his books and painting, since he was not strong enough to enter school sports. They were glad he had such tastes now. It gave him something to occupy his time and thoughts during the long months of convalescence.

Page 58:

Judge Marshall – “I've heard you're one of those new-age girls with lots of brilliant accomplishments already to your credit.”

Page 61:

After supper Peggy offered to help Teneh clear the table and wash dishes. The old Negress seemed shocked at the mere suggestion. “Dat my wuk, li'l Miss. You jes set dere by de fire and toast yo' toes atter yo' long journey.”

Page 68:

The man laughed rudely. “Farmin's no work for women and young ones,” he burst forth. “It takes a lifetime of experience to make good on the East Coast farms.”

“We're sure of that,” admitted Mrs. Parker. “We wouldn't go into it if we didn't have a very experienced person to take charge.”

“You mean old Ben? Why, that nigger's got one foot in the grave already.” . . . “What does that old man know about modern farmin'? He's still usin' the same methods his grandpaw used before the Civil War.”

Page 90:

“You’re different from any girl I ever met. I can't get used to a girl who likes machinery. My sister doesn't know the first thing about anything like that.”

“The war has proved that a girl can be just about as good at mechanics as a man. Soon as I get things sort of lined up on the island, I'm going to rig up a shop and go ahead with an idea I started working out for Dodson.”

Page 134:

“You'll laugh when you hear what I thought you were like.” (Carol)

“Do tell me.”

“I pictured you taking long strides, your hair rolled up tight, your voice loud and mannish.”

Peggy did laugh then. “Well my appearance would match my interests, eh?”

Page 138 – conversation with Bateman Jr.

“Ah, come off it now! Why does a girl like you want to worry your pretty head with work? If you'd marry me, you never have to get those pretty hands dirty with work again.”

“I can't imagine anything more boring than never to work again.”

“You sure don't look like the kind of girl they say you are.” He laughed. “Never saw one who likes to monkey with machinery.”

“Then you must've been asleep as long as Rip Van Winkle. The war produced literally thousands of women with a flair for mechanics.”

Page 149 – The sheriff – “Women and young ones got no business trying to farm a big place like that anyhow. You'd be better off to sell out and move to town.”

Page 162 – “They seem to have a notion in that little old town of Fair Point that a woman isn't cut out for anything but housekeeping. They give me a pain!”

Page 170-171:

Peggy didn't care a rap for what Carol had told her about women from the best families not going into the fields. The war years had taught her that there was nothing to be ashamed of an honest work anywhere. Maybe she could help break up those foolish ideas still held by some women of the South's first families.

Page 198 – Mr. Dillard – “Believe I did hear something about your inventin' things.” He laughed. “Never thought a woman with that kind of turn would be pretty, gray eyed miss.”

Page 248 -

“She’s already promised me a dozen or more improvements on machines I have here at the plantation,” said Mr. Marshall. “And now that she's going to be my daughter, I'll see that she gets to work.”

As Ted slipped his hand over hers under the tablecloth, Peggy thought one heart couldn't hold all the happiness she felt. She was glad there was another to share it.

And the racist comments:

Ben, Ike's father

Ike's racist dialect:

“Yassum. Sho do. My Paw and Maw live dere. I'se Ike Grubbs—son o' Ben and Teneh Grubbs. Dey wuz borned and live all dey life on Pine Island wid Mr. Joe and he fambly” (p. 39)

“I knowed it wus y'all de minute you step off dat train. De young Massa dere is de very spit of his paw” (p. 40).

 “Dat you, Mr. Ted, wid my new white folks?” asked the old Negro on reaching the porch (p. 49).

 “Yas'm, I sho got a good son. Many's de time when rations git low he turn up here wid somep'n fer us to eat, so Massa don't never know 'fore he die how low us wuz” (p. 50).

Page 140 –

“You know, Peg, you could easily be mistaken. People who are accustomed to lots of Negros have difficulty in distinguishing one from another.”

“But I went all the way from Fair Port to Pine Island with him that day he started work. I believe Luke did have a mustache and kinky hair. This man's hair looks smoother, and he's clean-shaven,” Peggy replied.

“He could easily change all that. They often get their hair pressed for special occasions,” explained Ted.

Page 148 – The sheriff – “You better forget the whole matter,” advised the county official, a note of impatience in his voice. He bent and shot a stream of tobacco juice into the spittoon at the right of his desk. “Most niggers are slippery as eels when it comes to pinning anything like that on 'em.”

Page 164:

“Peggy, it seems rather certain the thief was a white person.”

“What makes you think that?”

“These Negros around here wouldn't realize the value of an invention—or know how to cash in on it if it was stolen.”