Odd Girl Out (novel)
Odd Girl Out is a lesbian pulp fiction novel written in 1957 by Ann Bannon (pseudonym of Ann Weldy). It is the first in a series of pulp fiction novels that eventually came to be known as The Beebo Brinker Chronicles. It was originally published in 1957 by Gold Medal Books, again in 1983 by Naiad Press, and again in 2001 by Cleis Press. Each edition was adorned with a different cover. Not until 1983 did author Ann Bannon learn that her first novel was the second best-selling paperback of 1957.
Bannon's original story submitted to Gold Medal Books was about events in a sorority, in which a subplot involved an affair two women were having. Her editor handed it back to her and told her to focus on the two women. When she returned to the editor, the book was published without changing a word of her second version, and it became Odd Girl Out. As Bannon explained in the 2001 edition forward, Gold Medal Press publishers had control over the cover art and the title. Bannon's publisher titled the book. Lesbian pulp fiction books usually showed suggestive art with obscure titles that hinted at what the subject matter was inside.
Odd Girl Out
Odd Girl Out is a 2005 drama telefilm starring Alexa Vega, Lisa Vidal, Elizabeth Rice, Alicia Morton, Leah Pipes, Shari Dyon Perry, Joey Nappo, and Chad Faget. First aired April 4, 2005 on Lifetime, the film is based on the book Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls by Rachel Simmons. It sheds light onto the topic of school hostility and bullying.
Plot
Vanessa Snyder (Alexa Vega) is a well-respected eighth grader in her school. She has a loving single mother, Barbara (Lisa Vidal), who is proud of her academically and socially successful daughter. Vanessa is also "in" with the popular clique, which consists of her best friend Stacy Larson (Leah Pipes), the queen bee, and Nikki Rodriguez (Elizabeth Rice), who is secretly jealous of the bond between her two friends. On the exterior of the circle is the outsider, Emily (Shari Dyon Perry), and the "wannabe," Tiffany Thompson (Alicia Morton), who is dying to make it into the group.
One day, Nikki tricks Vanessa into getting close to Tony (Chad Biagini), a boy whom Stacy (and somewhat Vanessa) has a crush on. A web of lies, nasty rumors, and manipulation ensues, and Vanessa is ostracized by the clique for "backstabbing" Stacy. Nikki gets Tiffany accepted into the clique, and Tiffany becomes Nikki's sidekick at bullying. Although Nikki is the main bully, Stacy plays her part by pretending she's still Vanessa's friend and not stopping the attacks. Vanessa is slowly pushed out of class activities, socially isolated and her tormentors create a website that bashes her.
Quadrail Series
Quadrail series refers to a series of five (as of 2012) science fiction novels by Hugo Award winning author Timothy Zahn.
In a space opera setting, human Frank Compton is hired by the Spiders, servant beings who operate the intergalactic Quadrail network, and their enigmatic masters the Chahwyn, to investigate a group-mind, the Modhri, which infiltrates other sentient beings and controls them either directly, or by subconscious suggestion. Together with Bayta, an enigmatic woman the Spiders have assigned to help him, he researches and combats the Modhri and later its controller, the Shonkla’raa.
Books
Night Train to Rigel
Night Train to Rigel is the first book in the series, published in 2005.
Plot
The story starts with former government agent, Frank Compton, meeting a young man who drops dead at his feet. Compton finds a ticket to a strange, interstellar train called the Quadrail. During Compton's ride on the Quadrail he falls asleep, and wakes up in the custody of the spiders, the operators of the Quadrail. The Spiders explain to Compton their worries of a weapon of mass destruction, which may be able to bypass their Quadrail security. Compton agrees to help, and is given a pass for the Quadrails and they assign him a traveling companion named Bayta, who has a strange talent for being telepathic in her communication to the Spiders.
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