A New Take on Romance

The observance of Valentine’s Day, and young romance in general, has apparently lost some of its old-timey mushiness.

And here is a rather unromantic fact to support such a contention: AT&T; reported last week that it expects Valentine’s Day to be the occasion for the year’s largest volume of collect phone calls--topped only by Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.

Mary Ann Parfrey, the librarian in charge of young adult readers at the West Valley branch of the Los Angeles Public Library in Reseda, has also sensed this trend. It is reflected in the choices she’s made for her exhibit of novels this week for the romantic holiday.

The titles include: “I’m an Artichoke” (by Lucy Frank), “Weetzie Bat” (by Francesca Lia Block) and “Thwonk” (Joan Bauer). And they don’t conjure up images of hearts and flowers.

“These books are more contemporary than ‘Forever,’ the Judy Blume love story from the ‘70s,” Parfrey said. Indeed, one is the story of a girl named “Bat,” who has a bleached-blond flattop, sunglasses that are a permanent part of her face and a best buddy who is a gay male named Duck.

So whatever happened to teen romance books like the “Sweet Valley High” series? “That other stuff is so hokey,” said Parfrey, “but I do have ‘Sense and Sensibility’ and ‘Wuthering Heights’ in the exhibit.”

Evidently, authors Jane Austen and Emily Bronte are so old, as George Burns once said of himself, that they’re new.

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New is Parfrey’s watchword, it seems. She recently attended a professional workshop at the L.A. library’s headquarters to become acquainted with the latest trends in the romance genre for younger readers.

Many of the titles that she discovered are in her exhibit. In addition to those books--which can be taken from the exhibit shelf and checked out--she has a list of more titles from the workshop, which kids can use as a guide to the latest in romance literature.

For the younger set--young enough to still think a heart shape is something to draw with crayons rather than apply with a tattoo needle--there are two programs happening Saturday.

The Chatsworth branch library will offer a traditional story time plus Valentine-making event in the morning for early-school-age kids. And the Glendale Central Library is hosting preschoolers for a special story time involving a mouse. Not just a mouse in a story, but one they can meet for real.

A mouse at a Valentine-themed event? Yes, why not? Probably a good way to ease a younger kid’s transition to Valentine stories such as “Owl in Love” (Patrice Kindl) or “Will You Be My Brussels Sprout?” (the sequel to the artichoke book), which are two more titles waiting in the older kids’ section of public libraries.

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BE THERE

Saturday--”Valentine Storytime and Crafts” for kids 5 and up, from 10:30 a.m. at the Chatsworth branch of L.A. Public Library, 13052 Devonshire St. Free. (818) 341-4276. “A Valentine for Preschool Children” includes a reading of “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie,” plus cookie decorating and a meeting with the mouse--2-3 p.m., Glendale Central Library, 222 E. Harvard St. Free. (818) 548-2053.

All Month--”Valentine’s Day” exhibit of romance novels for young adults; weekend hours are 10 a.m.- 5:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, closed Sundays; West Valley Regional Branch, L.A. Public Library, 19036 Vanowen St., Reseda. (818) 345-4393.