Outcasts and Molly Ringwald a complete surprise!

Today's book goes against everything I usually choose – no magic, no trolls, no dwarves, no other worlds, and it has tonnes of teenage angst, not to mention Molly Ringwald narrates it. Generally, any one of those features would have made me look elsewhere. It does have eccentric characters, though, which is probably what drew me to it in a time of audiobook drought.

The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place by E.L. Konigsburg, released in 2004, follows 12 year old Margaret Rose Kane, who is sent to Camp Talequa for the summer. Outraged that she is not allowed to go with her parents, or stay with her two beloved and eccentric uncles, she rebels at the camp by embracing the phrase, "I choose not to." Her rebellion against her bullying peers and the camp establishment lead to her being allowed to spend the summer with her uncles after all. The two uncles, Polish immigrant bachelors, have spent decades building tall porcelain towers in their backyard. When the city decides they are an eyesore and want to increase property values in the neighbourhood, they order the beloved towers to be torn down. One reviewer noted the similarity to the Watts Towers in California. After reading up on them I think they are pretty similar. Margaret is devastated that the beloved towers will be torn down. She discovers that her new favourite phrase, "I choose not to," serves her well as she learns the nature and power of non-violent civil disobedience.

The story is really about individuality, non-conformity, and personal property rights. I was shocked at how much I enjoyed this book. Konigsberg has written many award-winning books throughout her long career, including From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, but this is the only one I've read. It's also not really a series, although Margaret does turn up as an adult and an older teen in other books.

As much as I'm not really a Molly Ringwald fan, I found that she voiced Margaret perfectly, and I can't imagine anyone else reading it. I have a newfound (maybe adult) respect for her. The story isn't about the kind of angst that sees a teenager throwing an emotional tantrum for 200 pages, so Ringwald's even-toned, logical, non-emotional way of delivering the story is wonderful and refreshing.

I downloaded this book from Library to Go, and you can listen to a sample of the recording there. I guess because it's a bit older and not super (ie movie rights) popular, there is no sound sample on the Listening Library site. You probably know exactly what Molly Ringwald sounds like so no really big surprises in that department. 

Listen up!

The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place, (5 hrs, 32 mins), Listening Library, (2004)