america

Books of the 1950s: The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet

The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet by Eleanor Cameron was first published in 1954, and it’s a truly odd and lovely book. So when I was looking for books that would interest Harriet, the science-loving protagonist of my 1950s coming-of-age romance novella Tomboy, it naturally came to mind. … Read more

Politics of the 1950s: Revising the Pledge of Allegiance

In the first scene of my 1950s coming-of-age romance novella Tomboy, Harriet Little is at school for her first day of fourth grade. It’s 1951, and they start out the day by saying the Pledge of Allegiance. The pledge recited by school children back then differed from the one Americans use today. It had two fewer words. Do you know what they were? … Read more