Miss Pickerell Goes to Mars

Miss Pickerell Goes to Mars | Ellen Macgregor

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(1951) A recent conversation with a friend has me thinking about the "juvenile" science fiction that was available when I was in the target audience, and brought to mind this gem, of which I owned a copy back in the day, about a strong-minded aunty who comes upon a mission to Mars in her cow pasture and accidentally makes the trip. This has not held up well, but Miss Pickerell is still a hoot and I'm giving it a thumbs-up from elementary-school me

Dilara I know an aunty (my SIL) who would love the book's premise! Can I ask what has not held well? Would it make me fling the book across the room? 😁 3mo

swynn @Dilara The science is what I had in mind, mostly: it aims for a mix of whimsical characters with scientific realism (especially about the Martian environment), but its science now reads more like nostalgia. I think it would not make you fling the book across the room: Miss Pickerell is a certain stereotype, but also an undermining of same. You can check it out here: https://archive.org/embed/misspickerellg00macg 3mo

Dilara @swynn Thanks! And I discovered the whole Miss Pickerell series was published in French in the seventies (or possibly earlier). By then, the science was probably already out of date, but it doesn't matter: I've just got to get my hands on a second-hand French copy for my sister-in-law. 3mo

swynn @Dilara Oh fun! I hope your SIL likes it. I may be overskeptical about the story's current appeal: I would have encountered it in the very early 1970s and liked it well enough to remember it fondly today. I probably would not give it to a precocious early-grader hoping for the same effect it had on me, but it still has charm.
3mo

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