Forgotten Vintage Children's Lit We Want Republished! discussion

Judging by the reviews, here's another author that deserves resurrection.

I recently acquired Ransom for a Knight, which I may be reading as soon as next month as part of the Middle Grade Madness August 2022 Reading Challenge.

I was also interested in One Is One. Many readers have lauded it for its positive messages for young men. I do believe it is vital that young boys grow into happy, balanced young men with healthy self-esteem, and unfortunately, because of the way things are, the new males of society aren't maybe getting the support they need at a crucial juncture... and I worry that this might ultimately work against a gender equality agenda and making the world a more fair place for females. Disenfranchised young men.. well, I guess I don't have to expand on that one.

Anyway, western society being what it is today, I (a female) find these old "boy's adventure" books relatable and fun, and I also would have as a young girl, as well. I know there are books of this era which feature 'strong girls' or tomboy-like characters who can hold their own against the male protagonists, and I'm grateful to those authors, because by the time the 80s rolled around, I didn't have the impression that I was any less capable of derring-do than any given male peer.

So I think these 'boy's' books would enjoy at least a wider audience than they once had. My hope is that the upshot of today's obsession with labelling the individuality out of everyone and categorizing people to the nth degree is that we'll be able to read books with protagonists of any gender or orientation and be able to get on with enjoying the story again. :)

(I hope that didn't sound too negative - I'm not very skilled with words, but I guess what I wanted to say is, "Everyone's okay, we don't need to spend so much time labelling ourselves, we can just be ourselves and get on with the adventures!"). And that publishers should republish these old-school "boy's adventures" without overthinking it too much.

And as someone who received no classics in school, I could use her introductory Greek mythology titles, too.

Here are others that found their way on my To Read list:
Twice Seven Tales
Lost John - this one looks great! Another 'boy's' one
The Midsummer Bride
The Goldfinch Garden
The Faun and the Woodcutter's Daughter
The Lady of the Linden Tree

I, too, didn't mind reading books with boy protagonists when I was a young girl. But my favorites mostly did have girls that I could more easily relate to.

That being said, I have enjoyed what I've read by Picard. But I have no interest in Greek mythology.

I'm sure personality plays into it - I'm not an especially "girlie girl" to begin with, so I found 'adventurous and brave' types to be pretty well universally relatable.

But, it's true as you say - I did like it best when there were plucky young girls featured.

Any good recommendations on the "brave young ladies" front? :)

(Also, I read Stephen's Fry's Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold and was unimpressed. I can't tell if it's because this otherwise highly entertaining individual did a mediocre job at it, or if Greek mythology is just like that...) XD

I remember reading Lost John and One Is One some time ago. If I ever read Ransom for a Knight I don't remember it.

Lost John is definitely an old style boy's book. Basically it's a Robin Hood story without Robin Hood. I don't recall whether Lost John is the young hero or the name of the outlaw he goes seeking in the greenwood. If he's the outlaw then Lost John is not really a good name for someone living in a forest.

From what I recall of One is One it's a more complex plot than an adventure story set among the knights of Norman England. The young hero is being pushed by family tradition to take on the warlike attributes of knighthood but resists to take up a life of learning and piety with the Church. The old adventure writers such as Henty, Manville Fenn or Westerman would be revolving in their graves if they read it.

I agree that there should be nothing wrong with adventure stories for boys. It's just that the old British type were overly filled with aggressive patriotism, jingoism and xenophobia. Misogyny tended to be implied. Girls or women either got in the way of the action, sometimes they could be villainous, more usually motherly, but most often they didn't exist in a boys only world. Such lack of reality may have been fine in the days of the Empire, I don't think it would work now with any generation.

Bessie Marchant was one author who exploited the boys' stories. I have only read about her, never read one of her books, but it seems she took the tropes of boys' fiction and changed the gender of the characters. So where you had boy heroes hampered by foolish girl sisters or cousins who would sprain their ankles running away from the villains and then need rescuing, Marchant would have girl heroines hampered by headstrong boy cousins who would charge into an enemy camp without thinking and then need saving. And at the end it would be the girls who would find the treasure or inherit the ranch. It could be time for her books to be brought back.

I think I may have read one or at most two titles by her as a teen, but can't remember titles or subject as they're likely to have been library books, the source of much of my early reading. However, I do seem to remember a title focused on Beowulf which I subsequently will have wanted to read, but could never locate a copy. Now of course I have multiple 'transations' and parallel texts, but if she did do a version of this hero tale I suspect I would've enjoyed it!

You'll have noticed that several of Picard's books have been reissued in Kindle format by Beebliome Books. Take a look at their website here: https://www.beebliome.com/

The list of historical titles is quite impressive.

@Len Hayter - Bessie Marchant sounds fantastic! :D Good call!

@Sem - had no idea - wonderful! Thanks!!!