Suzuki Beane

Suzuki Beane
Sandra Scoppettone ~ Louise Fitzhugh ~ Doubleday, 1961

Again, a reader recommended Suzuki a while back and when Esme mentioned her the other day, I figured I'd better follow suit. The hip downtown alternative to Eloise, Suzuki was actual more of a satire of its namesake's Plaza Hotel doppelganger and 50s Village cool than a flat out picture book for children. Still, the girl's rolled up pants, scruffy hair, crazy turn of phrase and penchant for Jack Kerouac easily won over my boy... not to mention made me chuckle aloud a time or two. Those crazy beatniks.

my name is suzuki beane
i have a pad on bleeker street
with hugh and marcia

this is hugh----
he writes cool poetry
and reads it
in the red dog----
that's a coffee shop

he's my father

this is marcia----
she's a swingin' chick---
she's my mother----

she makes sculptures out
of tin cans----
parts of cars
and other
things
that
i find on bleeker street

this is our pad----

we all have a ball here
we don't have much bread but
bread is not really important
when you have good relationships

The book follows Suzuki's travels through New York with her square friend Henry and takes them from that annoying little "convention" called school to subway to cab to the city's dismal docks, all in the name of adventure. Even though it is a parody, there is a great message at the end about the importance of being yourself and not falling into the cult of cool or the school of square. If you do happen to run into a copy on your thrift store travels, make sure you snatch it up as the sale price online usually runs anywhere from $100 to $200 dollars. Luckily, no one has stolen it from our library yet, so we get to check it out at will.

If you find yourself getting lost in Suzuki's language, fear not, there is a glossary. Good thing, too. I always wondered what a "shuck" was.