My friends and I were too old for the adult section, and we were intimidated by the quiet, anyway. We congregated in the kids' section, where we could talk a little louder, at least. There were maybe three books on comics history and I think Jerry Robinson wrote two of them. If you open those books you had better like the Yellow Kid. And Buster Brown.
There were science fiction books up there, too, in a diagonal freestanding shelf that looked like a trough, with cut-out construction paper letters above that said "SCIENCE FICTION" surrounded by glitter stars. In it were a few in the Matthew Looney series, illustrated by (yay!) Gahan Wilson.
I also found this gem, entitled Martin and His Friend from Outer Space by Ivo Duka and Helena Kolda (Harper & Brothers, 1955).
Martin, our young and bored protagonist, builds what he calls a Tele-Spacer to communicate with other planets out of a space helmet, some old radio tubes, and assorted junk. That spring there? That's an old Slinky, back when they were still made out of metal. (Maybe it's a Tesla coil?)
Our man switches it on and gets a pen pal.
Her name is Aknele-Alpha. "I live with my grandfather on a moon of the planet Saturn," she tells him. Her hair, you'll notice, is black with gold streaks. They keep up a lively correspondence, until Martin suggests she get her grandpop's permission to make a visit to our backward planet.
After all, she's got her cute little gothic lolita dress and everything, so why not have a meetup?
Martin is late for it: "Sorry, Aknele-Alpha. The subway was slower than I had thought. From 86th Street it's quite a way, you know."
They hang out downtown for a while, then our man treats her to a banana split, which even in those days wasn't cheap, and pretty much drains the exchequer.
As it happens, the gold in Aknele-Alpha's hair is actual gold, and they manage to have a pretty good time on Coney Island, and to embark on some other adventures, until it's time for her to do a fast fade.
The moral of our story? Listen, young boy: There are hip, nerdy girls in outer space! What are you hanging around the library for? Is there a Radio Shack on Steinway Street? Go get some spare parts and build a Tele-Spacer! You have a Slinky, don't you?
