Staying within the lines?

There once was a little girl whose mother let her wear Pippi Longstocking braids to school whenever she asked. This mother encouraged her daughter to "march to the beat of her own drum." She let her little girl be herself, even when it was weird. What a beautiful gift to give a child. The world is full of pressures, stressing one to tow the line, be acceptable. Expectations that do not necessarily "one size fits all."

Some of the most creative and heroic people in this world were a bit out of place in society. Einstein with all his brilliance spoke in a thick German accent, wearing crazy hair. Small of stature Gandhi fought large battles with his non-violence strength. Quiet and unassuming Rosa Parks fought against norms of society by simply keeping her seat on a bus. Marcel Marceau chose to not speak while Jane Austin embraced words rather than a husband. Each a unique being that within the norms of society could be considered a bit off.

Comedian Kate McKinnon had an idea for a book. The idea was put aside while she spent 10 hilarious years delighting viewers on Saturday Night Live. Then she began writing in earnest, writing about outcasts Gertrude, Eugenia and Dee Dee, members of an adopted family who did not love them, in a school that was a bad fit and in a world that would not and could not accept their individuality.

"The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette For Young Ladies of Mad Science" was published this month, after McKinnon admits going through at least 500 revisions. Most excited by the accompanied drawings of various crazy creations, she shares a story of angst, shame, bullying, teasing and rejection of three un-biological sisters confronting puberty as students in Mrs. Wintermacher's Etiquette School. They certainly didn't fit. Did I mention the year is 1911? Etiquette was big. Learning niceties in society, a must. How to walk with a big hat on your head and bend your pinky while holding a china teacup deemed peevishly important.

When expelled, (destruction of a classroom and a fire involved, all by unintentional accident of course) the three sisters are not convinced they belong in Millicent Quibb's school either. Millicent Quibb is certainly unusual by any standards. Yet, when it is explained to them that their whole city and all the occupants including their own adopted family is in peril, they of course feel obligated to help no matter what dangers, nasty creatures and foul vegetation they must endure.

As McKinnon weaves a totally wacky story of adventure and characters, there is an underlying truth that shifts through. A middle grade reader will perhaps ingest the truth by osmosis. Older readers may be hit right between the eyes with their memories weeping. Pre-teen and teen years are excruciating at best. Peeling away early childhood is like losing several layers of skin in a whole body experience. Some days, just a tiny piece. Other days in big swaths that leave the body and spirit broken and jaggedly torn, perhaps scarred for life.

McKinnon points out simply and at appropriate times the feelings connected to certain situations, like "Gerturde's chest felt filled with dead ferns" when confronted by authority. Or "felt as if her guts had fallen out of her body and were slowly being eaten by pigeons and beetles" when things cannot be easily fixed. Then there is the wondering if there is a place anywhere in the world that would feel like home. Self doubt is as big as the deepest desire to be wanted and loved, while not feeling lovable or deserving. All this angst of growing up follows us into adulthood. McKinnon brilliantly packages these feelings in the midst of a crazy and outrageously imaginative filled world, with an abundance of undignified hilarity.

Perhaps this book is not your cup of tea. But the message reaches out to both young and old. If you consider at all that the norms of this world are actually written in sand that can be blown away and reconfigured at will, one need not conform to another's mold and children can be set free to be their true selves.

Kate Mckinnon wore Pippy Longstocking braids and for one full year, and wore a Peter Pan costume to school. It didn't hurt a thing. She emerged as someone who embraces her own quirks and uses them to make people laugh. Everyone can use a good laugh, especially one deep from the belly.

Good Books.

Good reading.

*Midge Lyn'dee is a fictional character used for the purpose of entertainment though the reviews are real and sincere.