May Wynne "Carol of Hollydene School"

I was given this book when my Grandma downsized from her family home, but was moving at the time so the book ended up in a box with other stuff. I just found it again and was pretty excited to the see the inscription in the front as being presented to her in 1931. This is obviously a personal thing, but I have so many of these old books with inscriptions to people I obviously don't know that it is nice to have a couple that came from my family.

This book is very stereotypical of its time. Carol is a new girl at a boarding school with a secret. She gets swept into a group of "chums" who enjoy getting into mischief in an innocent way. There is a girl at the school with a malicious, snobbish streak who tries to work out what Carol's secret is. Carol also befriends quiet Bessy who is very studious. Bessy would love to be one of the chums but is too straight. Carol learns the value of different types of friends. An added twist to the story is Carol's cousin Jim who lives nearby being privately tutored.

This book doesn't hold the same charm of the Abbey Girls or the Chalet School or the Dimsie books. It really is only for the die-hard fans of this genre. It will still have a special place on my shelves for sentimental reasons though.