Suzuki Beane

In the late '50s, Sandra Scoppettone (author of the Lauren Laurano mystery series) and her friend Louise Fitzhugh (author of Harriet the Spy) began a collaboration on a book that was both authors' first book, Suzuki Beane, first published in 1961 by Doubleday as a hardcover. It is the story of a hip, young New York City "baby beatnik".

©1961 Sandra Scoppettone and Louise Fitzhugh (P)2020 Audible, Inc.

Great to hear this again after far too many years

...of the story not being available. Now to reprint the book, illustrations and all! The world, after all, needs Suzuki back. Rather urgently.

Children Are People!

Hey all you hep cats, swingers— and even— square heads, Louise Fitzhough of Harriet the Spy and Sandra Scoppettone wrote the proto children's gay liberation manifesto before anyone had words for it. Suzuki Beane is a wry, rollicking trip through New York's beat scene. Fitzhugh's answer to Kay Thompson's Eloise is rich with literary in-jokes, (don't miss the aside about Henrry Miller on the subway) and had me rolling on the floor, even while it surprises with its tenderness. Therese Plummer's performance is tremendous. Animated, hilarious, but never too much.