Showing posts with label books for girls. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books for girls. Show all posts

Monday, October 17, 2016

Kay of Kingfishers by Constance M. White (Hutchinson, 1954)


I found this in the Green Shed, and bought it a) because the dust jacket was intact and b) because it looked like something I might have enjoyed when I was a child!


To begin with, Kay missed half a term by being ill.  Then, when she did return, it was to find that dear old Miss Benson--surely the nicest headmistress anyone could wish for--had been replaced by young and efficient Miss Oliver.  And Judy, her dearest friend, seemed to have forsaken Kay for a fresh interest--the new Head's Girl Guide Company.

Kay, rebellious and stubborn, turned to Stella Jason, and together they stumbled upon a discovery which involved not only Miss Oliver, but also an archaeological student, the local vicar, and a strange little girl called Bella.
 All right, get your mind out of the gutter.  (Yes, you.  You know who I'm talking about!)  The "discovery" Kay stumbles upon is neither a drug smuggling ring nor a swingers' party, and absolutely nothing naughty is going on between the headmistress, the vicar and the archaeological student.

Monday, November 23, 2015

The Abbey Girls Win Through by Elsie J. Oxenham (Collins, 1949)

I found this book for girls at a church fundraiser last weekend:


First published in 1923, this edition dates to 1949.  It must have been someone's prized possession, because unlike most children's books more than sixty years old it still retains its dust jacket!  Opening it up, my eyes fell on this passage:
Norah and Connie were different.  They were a recognised couple.  Con, who sold gloves in a big West-End establishment, was the wife and homemaker; Norah, the typist, was the husband, who planned little pleasure trips and kept the accounts and took Con to the pictures.
Well, OK.  It was a more innocent age!

(I'm told that because of the shortage of men after World War I, many women banded together for mutual support.  However Norah and Connie are referred to as "husband" and "wife" throughout the book, which is a bit ... disconcerting to a modern person, especially when you consider the intended audience for The Abbey Girls Win Through.)