Link This |
Email this |
Blog This |
Comments (11)
Recommendation from Under the Radar: The Winged Girl of Knossos (Part Two)
August 28, 2007
Erick Berry, as it turned out, was a pseudonym. Recognize one Allena Best as the true author of this book. I had been a little shocked that a fellow in the early 30s would create a female character quite as spunky and fun as Inas. Not that spunky girls were unknown in children's fiction during that time. Consider three Newbery Award winners that came out practically three years in a row: "Caddie Woodlawn" (1936), "Roller Skates" (1937), and "Thimble Summer" (1939). Now consider Inas. Chapter One opens with a paragraph where our heroine, "wedged the three-pronted fork - a short-handled trident," under her arm to fish for sponges. Next she braves shark-infested waters to meet her friend's boat. She regularly tries out her father's magnificent glider for fun, high above the land. Best of all, and this is what really sets Inas apart for me, she's a bull-vaulter. She goes into a ring with bulls, allows them to toss her into the air, and performs acrobatic stunts on their backs as they flip her. You got that? Bull. Vaulter. Inas kicks ass, takes names, and manages to rescue herself and her "boyfriend" over and over due to her ingenuity. Does she end up marrying by the end? Of course. But before that she's basically acted as a kind of acrobatic Cretean superheroine. The fact that the author also happened to create all the interior illustrations as well (fun pictures based on "murals and decorations from Knossos and other Minoan cities") is just a nice plus.
Want to check out the book on your own? Good luck with that. On Alibris you have your pick. You can either buy the book for $150 or $162. It's wide open. The copies on Amazon.com? All unavailable unless you can find a used vendor somewhere. Your best bet is to locate a library with a complete collection of Newbery Award winners and their Honors. Personally, I think it's worth it. With the resurgence of interest in Greek myths and titles (a tip of the hat to you, Rick Riordan), I like to think that this book might have an audience if you punched up the cover. It reads really well and feels ahead of its time. Let's re-establish this book back where it truly belongs. In the canon as a classic of its time.
Notes on the Cover: Well, why not? It's not as if you're gonna find it anywhere. I'm sure I'm not the only person out there who took a look at it and saw it as a highly stylized play on Native American images. Closer inspection reveals the lack of perspective and flattened effect. Just the same, you have to admit it's kind of cool. I wouldn't put it on a reissue or anything, but if the New York Review of Books wanted to reprint this puppy in vibrant colors, it could end up looking pretty striking. *hint hint* New York Review of Books *hint hint*.Posted by Elizabeth Bird on August 28, 2007 | Comments (11)
