Girl from the Country and Three Girl Chums at Laurel Hall

The Barton Books for Girls series was written by two authors under the pseudonym of May Hollis Barton.  The series was a Stratemeyer Syndicate series and was published by Cupples and Leon.

 1.  The Girl from the Country, 1926
 2.  Three Girl Chums at Laurel Hall, 1926
 3.  Nell Grayson’s Ranching Days, 1926
 4.  Four Little Women of Roxby, 1926
 5.  Plain Jane and Pretty Betty, 1926
 6.  Little Miss Sunshine, 1928
 7.  Hazel Hood’s Strange Discovery, 1928
 8.  Two Girls and a Mystery, 1928
 9.  The Girls of Lighthouse Island, 1929
10.  Kate Martin’s Problem, 1929
11.  The Girl in the Top Flat, 1930
12.  The Search for Peggy Ann, 1930
13.  Sallie’s Test of Skill, 1931
14.  Charlotte Cross and Aunt Deb, 1931
15.  Virginia’s Venture, 1932

The books were written by Elizabeth Duffield Ward, except for Kate Martin's Problem and The Girl in the Top Flat.  Elizabeth Duffield Ward also wrote the Blythe Girls series, and this series is very similar to that series in tone and type of story.  These books almost certainly will appeal to those who like the Blythe Girls.

In The Girl from the Country, Laura's father, Daddy Tom, falls from a ladder and will be unable to work for quite some time.  Daddy Tom's old friend, Mr. Whipple, comes to call and invites Laura to stay in the city with him sometime.

Laura decides to seek work to help her family and asks all over town.  No one will hire her.  Finally, Laura takes Mr. Whipple up on his offer.  She plans to stay with him while she seeks a job in New York City.  Unfortunately, Mr. Whipple is away when Laura arrives, thus starting a chain of unfortunate events where Laura struggles to survive in the big city.

This is an excellent book.

In Three Girl Chums at Laurel Hall, Nan, Jo, and Sadie plan to attend Laurel Hall together. Their plan is threatened when Jo's father loses his money due to theft by an employee. Meanwhile, Jo rescues Nan's Aunt Emma from a fire, and Aunt Emma becomes Jo's benefactor.  The three girls leave for their new school.  Upon their arrival, the three girl chums unwittingly make an instant enemy who does all she can to get the friends expelled from school.

On page 110, one teacher, Miss Radley, does not know the names of her students.  She calls on a student who is looking at her by pointing at the girl and calling out, "You tell me!"  Therefore, all girls who are not prepared for the lesson avoid eye contact, thereby avoiding trouble.  That's kind of funny.

This is a very good book.