The American Girl Book of First Date Stories

Sunday night we were over at mum’s for dinner and because I was trying to avoid watching golf and doing the dishes, I started nosing through the bookcase in the basement. Found several novels that belong to me, which I reclaimed, and the most bizarre assortment of books.

Seems that my mum has kept many of the books that I loved as a little girl; including the classic Barbie Goes to a Party, where finding the right outfit takes 50 pages, A Child’s Garden of Verses, and several Shel Silverstein books of poetry.

As an aside, at a friend’s wedding about a month ago the sister of the groom read a Shel Silverstein poem that was wonderful … most adults leave authors like Silverstein and Dennis Lee for lost after the age of 15 and that’s a shame … they really have wonderful stories to share …

Anyway, mum also has The American Girl Book of First Date Stories from about 1962 that made me pause. For a second, I thought she picked it up at a garage sale as she’s starting to channel my grandmother and collect odds and ends that end up in random piles, but the inscription on the inside cover reads: “Grade seven – highest in history, Judy Champ.” That’s my mum.

According to the editor’s note, “a first date is something special – something a girl will never forget. Some of the fist dates described in these pages were perfect as a dream, while others were perfect disasters. But all were something to remember. These stories … will be enjoyed by every girl who has ever had a first date, or is looking forward to one.”  

Oh my. Can you imagine comparing first date stories from today’s Cosmo Girl to “The Nonconformist and the Quarterback,” the first story in the book? Somehow I think the editors of American Girl Magazine would be shocked at what constitutes a first date in 2006.I’m pretty sure my first official date included Bette Midler’s Beaches and that I cried my way through the entire movie. Partly because I tripped my best friend Sarah and made her fall in front of her date (by ACCIDENT) and partly because I was pretty sure someone was going to die from the opening credits. But then again, I cry while watching Hook.

Back to the book … was completely suckered into buying The Memory Keeper’s Daughter. Suckered may be strong. I tend to pick up “debut novels” as I’m intrigued by the idea that an author may have some completely new idea, or a new approach to an old idea, or a beautiful or unconventional style of writing … starting to think that may not be the case with this one … though, I’m going to keep reading as I’m hoping for a moment that really drags me into the story. We’ll see.

This has been long and rambling. My apologies. I’m typing away as Jason and two good friends make their way through some Tiger Wood’s x-box game … think I’ll pop in the ear plugs and try to get through the next couple of chapters of my book …