The Ever-Immortal Detective

Today I've got the day off from school (so that my teachers can meet and talk about teachery stuff, according to my teachers) so what better thing to do than spend my time talking about something utterly random that I know more about than I probably need to?

And, as such a topic varies from the jaguar population to the proper reaction to a unicorn apocalypse, I've decided to talk about one of my favorite literary characters. The thing that makes this literary character so special is not their character, but rather what they did both for literature and the fact that somehow they have managed to never age and thus never die.

That's right, today I plan to educate you all on Nancy Drew!

Via the ever-glorious Goodreads

Now, first of all, the people behind Nancy Drew were pretty amazing. The original Nancy Drew stories were written by a group known as the Stratemeyer Syndicate, headed by the good Mr. Stratemeyer himself. Not only does this make these ghostwriters sound like some kind of classy book mafia, but they were one of the first groups in the world to take children's fictional literature and make it into something profitable.

The classy Mr. Stratemeyer, via Wikipedia

Basically, the idea behind all Syndicate books was to get kids into reading books like the ones they saw their parents reading, and thus make money when said kid became a bookaholic. Originally, it was just Mr. Stratemeyer writing under a bunch of pen names, but once his scheme got rolling he started to hire others to ghostwrite with him. He and his cohorts wrote such series as the Dana Sisters, the Hardy Boys, and, possibly most famous of them all, Nancy Drew.

Now, in order to sell as much as possible, Stratemeyer realized a few things. One: the characters should never age or marry. (I actually have no idea why this would affect sales, but it did, so he made it a rule.) Two: To gauge a series success, the first bunch of books should all be published at once, and then have a regular steady stream of more novels after them. Three: Each story would advertise the stories before and after it, to increase interest. Four: In each book, every chapter would end on a cliffhanger to encourage further reading, but the story itself would be resolved within one book.

As you may have guessed, he and his gang of book-writing buddies managed to do this quite well. After he died, one of his daughters took over, and she rewrote many of the older stories to 'fit the times' and after doing her stint as head of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, she sold some of the series (particularly Nancy Drew) off to book publishers, who have proceeded to do the exact same thing the Syndicate did, except without the awesome Book Mafia feel to it.

Just finished this ND story. Via Goodreads.

Anyway, Nancy Drew herself isn't exactly that out-of-the-ordinary or unique. She's a teenage girl with titian hair, blue eyes, and a knack for solving mysteries. In many of the stories she's an art student, though others peg her as a high school student and others yet just don't say anything about what Nancy does with her non-mystery times. She's dating Ned Nickerson (though that hasn't always been the case!), her dad is a great lawyer, and generally she's very, very generic.

Regardless, somehow she has stuck from the 1920s, into the 50s, then the 80s, and even now they are still printing stories about Nancy's never-ending teenhood of busting bad guys.

Personally, I think that's pretty amazing, and a testament to both the power and need for books.

Of course, Nancy's not just in books anymore! She had her own TV show in the 70s (which is quite good, I assure you), had her own movie in 2007 (which was slightly less good than the 80s TV show), and now is the star of my favorite computer game series, which recently published their 30th game. (These are both difficult and amazing, and also contain absurd amounts of Koko Kringles.)

One of my faves of the video games. Via Wikipedia.

I think in the end, however, that the reason I love Nancy so much is because she always stands for what is good, and she doesn't let anything hinder her from doing what she loves. Even if her stories are somewhat predictable and every chapter ends on a cliffhanger that's somewhat cheesy, her tales have entertained kids like me for nearly 90 years. They've done what they were originally created for, which is getting kids into reading, and I think that's a somewhat noble cause.

Although I am far past the age at which it is 'normal' to read Nancy Drew, I still read them. (I actually get them off the fifty-cent rack at my local Half Price Books.) When/if I ever have kids, I can assure you they'll read them.

In the meantime, however, I will enjoy the fact that even totally normal, unexciting people can have crazy adventures in search of the truth.

Until next time,
Hailey Jenkins

P.S. If you're interested in learning more about Nancy Drew, feel free to peruse her unoffical fan website, and in particular, the history tab. (Link here.)

Vampiric Parasites and Other Lovelies

Autumn has definitely come to stay in this neck of the woods, and originally I was planning to wax poetic about it, but then I finished a book, so instead of speaking of leaves, let us speak of vampires.

The book in question is by one of my absolute favorite young adult writers. It is the last of his young adult novels that had, until earlier, been unread by me. I even read its sequel unwittingly, which may have influenced how I read this novel.

The novel in question? Peeps, by Scott Westerfeld.

Via Goodreads

As far as novels go, this one certainly sits high on my list of Really Weird Concepts That Totally Work. It's also just barely squeaking by as YA, considering both a) the concept and b) the character's age. (My qualifications for YA are typically PG-13, written with teens in mind, and a main character under 18 for a considerable portion of the novel.) However, I still rather enjoyed it.

Cal was infected with a parasite by some random, goth-looking girl named Morgan in his freshman year of college. Now, one year later, he's hunting down all of his ex-girlfriends, because this is no regular parasite. Cal's a carrier of the vampire parasite. Now, his exes are all crazy light-hating cannibals.

When he finds his ex Sarah, the last of the girls he's infected, Cal realizes he still doesn't feel 'finished'. On the advice of the Shrink, an ancient carrier of the parasite, Cal sets out to find the girl who gave him the parasite, hoping for both a sense of closure and some answers the other vampires (or 'peeps') won't give him.

Overall, Peeps is very entertaining, and one of my favorite interpretations of the ever-popular vampire. Not only did the author create a unique plot and storyline, but he recreated the vampire as well. He uses science and other real parasites to influence how a vampire parasite might come to be and show itself in modern society. He thought through everything, from how it spread to its cure and symptoms.

I also rather liked Cal. Despite the fact he was rewired by the parasite in his brain, he still managed to be unique and the perfect narrator. He was intelligent, but clearly didn't know everything, which fueled the plot. (Also, his cat was named Cornelius. Any guy who names his cat Cornelius has to be pretty awesome.) Cal had his own voice, and he had common sense.

Lace, Dr. Rat, and Chip also proved to be excellent backup characters, each with quirks and reasons for Cal to be interacting with them regularly. Not only that, but they each were incredibly consistent in their behaviors, which held together the idea that no one knew what was happening.

The plot was what really brought me into the book. There was both the uniqueness of the vampires and the mystery/thriller of what really happened in Morgan's apartment building. Even knowing the answers (due to reading The Last Days a year back) I still found myself on edge, wondering what was going on with the freaky message and the basement.

There were some things that I wasn't too crazy of, but for the sake of the story I dealt with. For example, due to the parasite's overpowering desire to spread to more hosts, Cal (and all of the other peeps) are inclined to be either overly-affectionate or manic killer. (The parasite is spread through bodily fluids. Biting, kissing, et cetera.) This made for quite a few awkward scenes, but they showed that this parasite was a disease, not some supernatural phenomenon.

There's also a light sprinkling of swearing and a heavy dose of gross with the Parasites 101-esque chapters. (Personally, I didn't mind the Parasites 101 stuff, but its still gross.) Overall, not too much content-wise that was frown-worthy.

I didn't care too much for Morgan's character, being all-knowing, creepy, and a little over-powered in general.

In the end, though, I loved Peeps, just like I've loved every other Westerfeld book I've read.

Speaking of Westerfeld, who else is excited for Afterworlds, even though its still a good year off and we know next to nothing about it?

Until next time,
Hailey Jenkins

Of NaNoWriMo and Shakespeare

Today's post is a bit two-fold.

Part the first.

As October comes closer to its goodbyes and November's birth approaches, I find myself still lacking a steady plot for this year's NaNoWriMo. (For those uninformed, National Novel Writing Month is November, and a portion of those on this earth dedicate it to writing a novel. I am one such person.) I've got two that are steady, with beginnings and ends (though not quite enough middles) that I could easily toss one onto paper and start the journey, but for neither does it feel like the time has come.

Mostly, though, my father and I were brainstorming and we came up with a completely crazy, barely-hashed idea and it is so much more intriguing to me than those other stories I've been slowly coaxing into existence through time lines, sketches, and notes in my phone. I don't even have a title for said idea yet, which is odd, since for me, the title's the first thing to come. (What can I say? I tend to keep my project titles, however stupid/silly/unrelated they may be.)

Still, I like this idea that's vague and unformed with no beginning, middle, or end. It's very pretty to look at. It's not too far out from my previous works. The plot should carry out to my 50,000 word goal. I would be able to write it in first person, which I find much more easy than third or omnipresent or whatever the world wants to call it these days.

We'll see. I've got roughly two weeks to finalize my decision.

In the meantime, I leave you all with a question that's somewhat vague. Dystopias, Nancy Drew-esque mysteries, or aliens?

Part the second.

In other news, since school let out early today, I spent my free time watching the new Much Ado About Nothing adaption directed by Joss Whedon.

Via the ever-magical Wikipedia

Much Ado About Nothing is, and has been since I started reading Shakespeare, my favorite Shakespeare play, though up until a few hours ago, I had only read it, not seen it. I love the humorous relationship between Benedick and Beatrice, as well as the more dramatic affairs of Hero and Claudio. To finally see it performed was wonderful. This adaption certainly did not disappoint!

I loved the cinematic choice to film entirely in black and white. Not only was it beautiful to look at, but it made the whole thing seem not quite modern, despite its setting. Mixing both old and new, so to speak. Also on this thread of thought, the lighting impressed me. Maybe it was the black and white, but the light seemed so natural.

I also liked the choice for the actors. Each played their roles well, and their roles suited them. They really became their characters to me.

Anyway, it was such a joy to finally see my favorite Shakespeare play in a format other than words in a book. Someday I hope to find more gorgeous adaptions of it!

Until next time,
Hailey Jenkins

The Last Month as Recounted by Books

Per request of a friend of mine, this first 'real' post is about one of my personal favorite topics–books! Since school started back in September, I've been cruising through books at a surprising rate, considering my workload of homework. Of course, some of my friends may or may not be not-so-secretly supplementing me with books to read, which helps. 

All images via Goodreads

First of all, the guy who used to sit next to me in English class lent me the entirety of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, which I read over the course of three weeks. Personally, they take a certain level of trust to read, considering half the time you don't understand why something is going on. Douglas Adams' has a great sense of humor and nonsense, though, and I love these books for it. My favorites of the series were definitely books one and four. (That is, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish.) Book one has probably the most coherent plot of the series, as well as the most time spent with all four main characters in one place. Book four has Fenchurch, who is altogether one of my favorite characters for being incredibly normal (and yet not at all). It also shows a different side to Arthur Dent that really isn't shown in any of the other novels, which is nice.

I've also read some books for my school's book club. I am quite proud to proclaim I am the president of book club (and also its number one promoter, next to my vice president and friend) and thus had a bit of sway when it came to choosing the books this year. Unlike last year, we don't have strictly romances on the list, and the ones that are on the list don't pretend to be something else. 

The first two books our book club read were both by John Green– Looking for Alaska and The Fault in Our Stars. They have their similarities and their differences, but what really hooks me with John Green books is his voice. He's got a knack for the atypical teenager's voice, mixing intelligence with slang and a toss (more like heavy dosing) of emotional imbalance. His books don't just deal with fluffy nonsense either–both hold themes of coping with pain, death, and the future. What's more, The Fault in Our Stars joined the very short list of books that legitimately made tears come from my eyes. (Off the top of my head, that makes three books.) 

I've also read a few others from our book club list in the past few years, namely Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (which I pushed to get on the roster because it is one of my favorite books ever), The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart (which I recommend to you all with every bookish ounce I have), and Divergent by Veronica Roth (for which I eagerly await the final book!).

There are four other books on the list I haven't read. We'll get to those when I cross that bridge.

I also read Shards and Ashes, an anthology of short dystopian stories by popular YA authors. There were a few I really liked, and a few I didn't so much. That's how it goes with anthologies, I'm afraid. Still, I can't get enough of them. Short stories are some of my favorites. They hold a lot more punch than epic sagas a lot of the time.

Speaking of short books with punch, for English this year we're reading Night by Elie Wiesel. I'm nearly done with it, and wow, talk about using your words well. He writes in a very understated, blunt fashion, and it really hits hard. Night is a short memoir of Elie Wiesel's experiences as a Hungarian Jew deported at the end of WWII to Auschwitz. Wiesel paints with his words, and the picture is a sad truth. Still, the way he does it is phenomenal. Should you ever want to pick up a novel on the Holocaust, this is the one you should grab first. 

There's even more books I'm currently reading, ranging from The Ugly American by Eugene Burdick and William Lederer to A Stretch of Loyalty by Miss Jack Lewis Baillot, which has gotten the short end of the stick as I cycle through books that I can only have for so long. ('Tis the sorry reality of books I own. I may want to read them, but library/friends' copies come first.) 

What about all of you? Have you read any jaw-droppingly good books lately? Are you excited for the Ender's Game, Divergent, or The Fault in Our Stars movie(s)? (I certainly am!) 

Until next time,

Hailey Jenkins

Opening Post

Hey everyone! I'm going to keep this simple and brief, and instead let the fun begin later this week when I've got the formatting down for the blog, as well as the time to actually put more thought into this. I go by Hailey Jenkins, and this is the Bumbling Babbler! I expect to chatter on about pretty much anything I feel I need to, ranging from school to books to my writing and beyond.

Next time, we'll get this train going with something fun!

Until next time,
Hailey Jenkins