My Grandmother, the Car

Of course there isn't much I am too young to remember, but My Mother the Car is one of them.  Yes, this was a real show.  I have heard of it, but never seen it.   Apparently, TV Guide said it is the second worst tv show of all time.   Regardless, I thought of it when I read Alida's Song by Paulsen.  Yes, I am on a Paulsen binge.  In The Car there is a very powerful scene in which Waylon gets very upset when he and Terry and Wayne visit a religious commune and find that the women and girls don't get to eat with the men and apparently must work most of the time, while men and boys can just hang back and be men and boys.  You can tell that Paulsen has a lot of respect for women.  Not just from this scene, but in all of his writing.  In Alida's Song, you find out why.  Alida's song is the second of the three books about the times that Paulsen spent with his grandmother as he was growing up.  This woman did the world a favor when she helped to form the great man that Paulsen has become.  Again, not just a book for kids or teens or tweens, but for all.