Funny Girl

Funny Girl

Juvenile humor
"Grandma opened the trunk and pulled out a cardboard box. It
held the glass clown she'd bought in Montana.
She took the clown and put it
in the back seat
next to me.
It was the kind of clown that shows up in horror movies. I was
afraid that if the lightning didn't get us we'd be eaten by the
clown. And I would be unable to get away from it because my mother
wouldn't let me unbuckle my seat belt."
In "Grandma In Oil Country: A True Story" Ursula Vernon
describes a three generation family road trip. That story is only one
of the gems Betsy Bird collected for her anthology of humor offerings
by a pantheon of women authors: Funny Girl. Reading it is like
enjoying a box of fancy mixed chocolates. Some of the other treats
the reader will savor are:
*Libba Bray's A Public Service Announcement About Your Period from
Sarah Wrigley Age 12 1/2 in which the protagonist handles a still too
often taboo topic with insight and humor including this memorable
description:
"I did NOT get to watch Super Housewives. Instead Mom made me
watch a period-explaining YouTube video while my little brother ran
back and forth shouting, 'Fallopian tubes! Overies! Uterus!' which,
PS, he was still shouting when we went to the grocery store later.";
*Lenore Look's The Smart Girl's Guide to the Chinese Zodiac which puts
a very novel spin on this ancient calendar;
and *Shannon Hale's Babysitting Nightmare which may be enough to make
some youngsters decide to at least temporarily opt out of that form of
employment.
Bird's introduction will resonate with just about anyone who's
had a crush. If her name rings a bell, it's because back in 2014 we
looked at Wild Things: Acts of Mischief in Children's Literature. I
hope to see more from her in the future.
In addition to being a published author, Bird is a librarian and
reviewer. Being a library volunteer and reviewer, I have two elements
of the trifecta. As for the third...
...a two spirit can dream and solicit publishers.
The variety of formats (graphic arts, quiz, zodiac, Mad Lib
etc.) in Funny Girl makes it a great template for anything from Girl
Scout troops to informal friendship circles to create their own
volumes. Humor is a nonthreatening genre to create and an enjoyable
one to read.
On a personal note, it is a sunny but frigid day. I am so glad to not
have to go out. Yesterday was balmy--in the 30's. I took Joey to the
vet to get a shot. Then I did a just for fun Goodwill trip and found
cat shirts. Last night I realized I've worn dresses maybe twice last
semester (something about a job that requires wearing jeans) and cat
shirts just about every day. So it makes no sense for my dresses to
be hung up in the studio closet and my cat shirts piled up in a
drawer. One of my tasks today will be to swap them, arranging the cat
shirts by color. I wonder how many I have.
A great big shout out goes out to the fine folks at Veazie Vet.
jules hathaway



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