Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Pinocchio's Sister, Another Great Vaudeville Story by Jan Slepian


Last week I shared my response to Jan Slepian’s novel for grades 4-6, The Mind Reader. This unique story was about a family whose popular vaudeville act involved mind reading. In a surprising twist, it turned out that the son actually could read minds, a talent that led to all sorts of problems, but finally to a happy ending. Slepian has written a second book about vaudeville, Pinocchio’s Sister. In both books Slepian draws on material from relatives in her family who actually performed in vaudeville. As in The Mind Reader, she convincingly depicts the hardships of being on the road in different theaters, staying at different boarding houses. A reader can identify with the anxiety about whether one’s act will stay or be dropped, the bullying by theater managers, the poor pay, the comradery andcompetition between performers of various acts.

But Pinocchio’s Sister, is a darker, more poignant tale than The Mind Reader. Like the latter, Pinocchio’s Sister was written in the 1990’s, but has the swift pace and vivid writing we expect from today’s writers. Theoretically it’s for 8-to-12-year-olds, but School Library Journal suggests it might be better for older audiences because of its underlying theme of emotional abuse. I found it a profoundly moving story that lingers in your mind long after the last page. This is literature at its finest.

The story: Ten-year-old Martha Rosedale travels with her father on the vaudeville circuit and is part of his act. The book opens at a new theater and a new boarding house. But someone else is ever present in the act—the puppet, Iris, who sits on Mr. Rosedale’s lap and says smart-aleck remarks the audience loves. Martha’s father does all the talking—and even singing—but he’s such an adept ventriloquist, he makes audiences suspend disbelief. Martha’s mother died when she was small. For a short time, her father remarried, but his new wife ran off with another actor, leaving Mr. Rosedale with only Martha and . . . Iris.

In the vaudeville act Mr. Rosedale created, Iris wears pretty dresses and has a blonde curly wig. Martha wears a tattered dress and implores him to come home to a family he seems to have abandoned, while Iris zings one-liners at Martha. Audiences love Iris and her smart mouth, although they feel for poor, tattered Martha and join in the plea for him to go home. Iris, meanwhile, has a punchline – “Help, help” – always said sarcastically. This punchline becomes significant later in the story in a way that is nothing short of heart-breaking. 

Since Iris is the family breadwinner, so to speak, Mr. Rosedale lavishes more attention on her than on his own daughter. Jealousy eats at Martha. Still, her life is brightened by another family in the show: a group of Polish acrobats. The twelve-year-old boy in the act, Stashu Pliska, becomes Martha’s friend. Unwittingly, Stashu is pulled into Martha’s desperate plan to deal with Iris. Meanwhile, the proprietress at the boarding house, Mrs. Pelosi, becomes sort of a surrogate mother to Martha. Mrs. Pelosi was a former vaudeville singer and is drawn so vividly, you feel she could actually be running a boarding house just down the street, even though those days have long vanished.  

This is wonderful story, grippingly told, with memorable highs and lows and both a sad ending and a happy ending. Jan Slepian was a brilliant writer. The two books I’ve read by her have sent me on a quest to find more of her books in hopes of learning more about how she works her magic. 

I can remember when I was a kid listening to Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy and being entranced by the idea of puppets and ventriloquism. How about you? Did you have favorite puppet shows? Did you ever hear or know a ventriloquist? 

12 comments:

Geo. said...

Dear Elizabeth, this was a wonderful review.

And yes, of course I had a favorite ventriloquist --at least two, in fact: Edgar Bergen (with Charlie and Mortimer);Senor Wences (with the little girl face he'd draw on his hand and, of course, the gravelly voice in the cigar box,"'S'allright? 's'allright!"

I wish you good health and continued fascination with everything I love reading about.

Nas said...

It would have been interesting to watch a life one perform. I only watched it in movies and TV shows.

Rosi said...

It sounds like you found a good one. Thanks for the review. I remember Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy. It was always fun to watch that act.

Mirka Breen said...

Am I the only one who finds ventriloquists creepy? I never liked watching these voice-throwing performers or their dummies.
Pinocchio's Sister is an evocative title, and your description makes it sound interesting.

DMS said...

I have always enjoyed puppet shows and marionettes. Ventriloquists depend on what their dummy (or doll- not sure of the correct term) looks like. Some look scary- but the girl who was on America's Got Talent with her cute one was great. :)

This sounds like an interesting book. Very deep. Thanks for sharing!
~Jess

Elizabeth Varadan, Author said...

Thanks. For stopping by, Geo. I hope t he gardening and poetry go well. I remember Edgar Bergen, but not Senor Wences. It sound like he had a pretty cute program. I’m glad you liked t he review.

Elizabeth Varadan, Author said...

Me, too, Nas. I haven’t seen a live performance, but I’ve heard how entertaining they can be.

Elizabeth Varadan, Author said...

Hi, Rosi, we didn’t have a TV at home, but we would listen. You’d be surprised how much fun the show was just listening!

Elizabeth Varadan, Author said...

Hi, Mirka, I never found the idea creepy before. But this book does suggest,t how creepy it could get. And sad. Martha’s new friend, Stashu, is the one who nicknames Iris “Pinocchio’s sister” but poor Martha comes to feel Iris is t he sister she never wanted.

Elizabeth Varadan, Author said...

This book really is deep, DMS. Yet it’s a fast-paced read, too. I agree with School Library Journal that it’s probably best for older kids, though, in terms of some of the psychological dynamics. It really makes one thoughtful. Vaudeville wasn’t all laughs.

Sharon Himsl said...

My dad purchased a wooden puppet in Mexico once and had great fun dancing it around for my siblings and me. It was pretty worn out and frayed by the time I left home. Also heard about your TIA on FB. Hope all is well. My mother was treated (successfully) for one with aspirin recently, which I now faithfully take.

Elizabeth Varadan, Author said...

Hi, Sharon, thanks for the good wishes. All seems to be well. I'm taking the baby aspirin and also, anti-cholesterol med (although my cholesterol numbers are good) because of the anti-inflammatory aspect of the med.

How nice that the wooden puppet your dad got in Mexico provided so much enjoyment for the family.