In Progress

Yeah, that’s a lot of labels and a lot of pressure for a nine year old girl, even if she can do magic. Jezebel’s revisit to this fabulous series by Tamora Pierce made me so happily nostalgic — I got started on the series in junior high and I’m still addicted to it. I’m anxiously awaiting the next installment of Beka Cooper, Pierce’s take on prime suspect set in the same universe that is sadly still a full year away from publication.

I liked Emily Gould’s reminiscences, but I was disappointed with the conclusion: “Back then, I accepted its message — that by working twice as hard as the boys, you can beat them at their own game — very credulously, now that I think about it. But I didn’t pay much attention to the book’s other implicit lesson, which is: If you show any sign of “femininity” or weakness, you leave yourself open to attack.”

If Gould has read the rest of the series, I don’t see how she could take that lesson about femininity or weakness as a central tenet. In fact, even as the Alanna series progresses, all three of the later books feature very feminine moments on the part of Alanna, especially when she admits to enjoying pretty things and takes lessons on how to be a girl again in the second book, and in a tempestuous relationship with another warrior in the fourth.

Most of Pierce’s other series follow strong girl characters and certainly feature male rivalry and prejudice, but the protagonists vary widely in their femininity. One recent series follows Alanna’s daughter, now grown, as she uses extremely feminine wiles to establish her own career in another country away from her legendary mother. I love Pierce’s storytelling, and think each series has grown more sophisticated in conveying their fundamental message of girls and power. Where the message was front and center in Alanna, in the Beka Cooper series, it feels like it’s been integrated into the universe. So if you like Prime Suspect and YA fantasy, dive into the new series — it’s got a highly likeable protagonist, an intensely eerie atmosphere (based on Beka’s ability to communicate with ghosts), and an expertly suspenseful buildup, even if the bait and switch denouement is a wee bit predictable for us older folks.

Posted on March 9th, 2008 by DeepthiW
Filed under: Books, Uncategorized