New/old books!

I've been reading a lot of teen literature lately (teaching middle schoolers has its benefits- I can read Young Adult novels and call it 'working') and came across a pretty interesting series. The series begins with The President's Daughter by Ellen Emerson White. I read the first one, enjoyed it, and ordered the next three. It's no secret that, in my family, it's perfectly acceptable to read a book and then give it to someone as a gift- we're always opening books and asking, "Did you read this? Is it good?" and it's never offensive to give someone a book and say, "Oh, I loved it! I couldn't put it down!" In fact, I've been known to stay up very late into the night in December, frantically reading all the books I'm about to wrap up as gifts. Russ finds it insane, but has accepted this (strange?) family gift-giving quirk. Although, I'm willing to bet we're not the only family that does such things. Anyway, I'm buying these books, reading them, and giving them to my seventh-grade cousin/godchild for her January birthday. Don't tell her. I think she'll love the books and they're appropriate for middle schoolers. But I digress.

Anyway, I was happily reading this morning when I stumbled across a character I haven't seen since 1988. But I was bewildered- how could this Susan, who was a high school student in the early 80's, be a college student in 2009? The chronology didn't add up, and I couldn't imagine a young adult author just ignoring the dates! Susan McAllister was a main character in a book I loved reading and rereading in middle school, but I couldn't recall the title of the book. Thank God for Google.

Turns out (a favorite Russ-ism!) that Ellen Emerson White wrote that book (Friends for Life) in 1984 and then wrote The President's Daughter and two of its sequels in 1985. A ha! A further Google search revealed that the books have been updated and republished, because the fourth book was published in 2008. Now, I do wonder what possesses an author to write about a character she hasn't thought of in twenty years, but I suspect that recent political events (female candidates, White House children) play a role.

What's really interesting (to me, and hopefully to you, Dear Readers, since this entry is not at all about Germany and I realize that young adult fiction isn't fascinating to everyone out there, but oh well, neither is vaulting) is that there are message boards criticizing the way the books have been updated! People don't like the fact that Meg (main character) drinks Coke, not Tab, and has a cell phone. They find the technology references too obvious. In fact, I did think it was strange that there were so many references to current technology, but I have noticed it as a trend in much young adult literature, so it didn't bother me. Now I'd love to get my hands on a old copy of the books to see what has changed!

Apparently, there's another book I have yet to read - Life Without Friends and these characters are referenced briefly in the book I'm reading now. I think, for her birthday, Margaret will be getting the four books about Meg, who is the President's Daughter, and two oldie-but-goodie books by Ellen Emerson White.