3 Day Terror

by Vin Packer

She was hurrying past the field on her way home when the man stepped out from behind a tree and stood spraddle-legged in her path. Ginny Lee was uncommonly pretty, a small girl with unusually long legs for someone her size, good legs with finely molded ankles; and her breasts above the rounded hips and very thin waist were large and full, not in a way that gave her a top-heavy look, but a proud, feminine look. Ginny Lee was happy about her looks except for one thing: she needed glasses. She stood there blinking and squinting, trying to recognize the man who stood there so menacingly. “Who are you?” she asked, suddenly frightened. He laughed, took her roughly, and threw her down.

200 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 1957

About the author

Marijane Meaker (born May 27, 1927) is an American novelist and short story writer in several genres using different pen names. From 1952 to 1969 she wrote twenty mystery and crime novels as Vin Packer, including Spring Fire which is credited with launching the genre of lesbian pulp fiction (although few of Packer's books address homosexuality or feature gay characters). Using her own observations of lesbians in the 1950s and 1960s, she wrote a series of nonfiction books as Ann Aldrich from 1955 to 1972. In 1972 she switched genres and pen names once more to begin writing for young adults, and became quite successful as M.E. Kerr, producing over 20 novels and winning multiple awards, including the American Library Association's lifetime award for young-adult literature (Edwards Award). She was described by The New York Times Book Review as "one of the grand masters of young adult fiction." As Mary James, she has written four books for younger children.

Regardless of genre or pen name, Meaker's books have in common complex characters that have difficult relationships and complicated problems, who rail against conformity. Meaker said of this approach, "I was a bookworm and a poetry lover. When I think of myself and what I would have liked to have found in books those many years ago, I remember being depressed by all the neatly tied-up, happy-ending stories, the abundance of winners, the themes of winning, solving, finding — when around me it didn't seem that easy. So I write with a different feeling when I write for young adults. I guess I write for myself at that age."

Reviews

[Steven · Rating 1 out of 5]

This one was a grinding struggle and I actually couldn't finish it. A blizzard of characters, too many to keep track of. The plot, after about 50 pages seemed to be about an Alabama town getting ready to integrate its schools but "a stranger" is in town stirring up racial tension in an attempt to undo the integration. Really didn't care what came next.

[Katy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Vin Packer's other books are really good--on the order of Patricia Highsmith. This may have been a well intentioned effort to examine prejudice, but it was so racist, it was hard to read.

[Jeff J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A character study set amidst the implementation of school desegregation in a small southern town.