Nancy Drew and Mary Louise Gay Books

Last Tuesday morning, I checked eBay and saw four different listings that were all of high interest.  I had to make a fast decision on whether to purchase the books in order to avoid missing out.  I detailed what happened on my Facebook page immediately after I completed the purchases.

This just happened.  I checked eBay as one of my first activities of the day.  I saw a bulk lot of low-value Nancy Drew books with one library edition.  I felt certain that I had that particular variant.  (My goal is all titles in all colors.  Yeah, I know.)  I then noticed all three Mary Louise Gay books in separate listings.  The jackets were not faded and were A. L. Burt editions.  Now I knew that one or more of mine were faded.  However, I had to check on the library edition first.

The fixed-priced Nancy Drew library edition listings go fast, sometimes extremely fast.  I went to the other side of the house to verify that I had Moss-Covered Mansion in that color.  I saw only three copies in fairly bad shape and none of them that color.  Omigosh!

I jogged back to the computer, still feeling like I ought to have that one.  Nevertheless, I quickly purchased the bulk lot.  I then went to LibraryThing, where I found no evidence of having that variant.  Wow.

I then proceeded to the Mary Louise Gay listings.  Since the books were just mentioned on Facebook in one of the groups in passing, I knew that I needed to decide quickly.  I knew where most of my A. L. Burt books were, but I didn't see the MLG books at first glance.  I pulled out some of the Burt books from in the front and found them in the back.  All three had noticeably faded spines!

I went back to the computer and added all three books to my cart.  I then double-checked each listing to make sure that all three were Burt and that all three jackets were original and not reproductions.  Everything looked good, so I purchased the books. 

What an unexpected exciting start to my day!

The books from both orders arrived today.  Here is the library edition.

The library edition does have a hideous stain on the outside vertical edge.

No matter.  I collect the books for what is on the outside.  The book will still look great on the shelf with its three siblings and many cousins.  

It is the third book from the left in the front row.  

The Mary Louise Gay books arrived just as described.  The camera flash makes the spines appear slightly faded.  In person, they do not appear faded at all.  The jackets are in really nice shape.

When I posted about the books on Facebook, one person asked how I could tell that the jackets were not reproductions.  I answered as follows.

In most cases, you can't be sure.  I have to depend on the seller's honesty.  I believe that this seller is knowledgeable enough to know and that they are not lying about the jackets.  I don't see any warning signs that the jackets are reproductions.  Usually reproductions look too sharp and straight at the edges and the colors will be off a little bit.

The jackets are real.  Here are photos showing the ads on the reverse side of each jacket.

Here are the spines of the jackets of the books that I have owned for years.  The fading is quite noticeable.

It was more important to me to own Burt editions with good quality paper than to settle for Saalfield editions with pulp paper.  The Burt editions are much nicer than the Saalfield reprints, and I was okay with faded spines so long as I had original Burt editions.

The Burt editions are extremely scarce as compared to the Saalfield reprints.  I would say that out of every 20 copies of the Mary Louise Gay books that come up for sale, only one of those books will be a Burt edition.  That was why I had to act fast when I saw the listings.

Edith Lavell Original Illustration

I recently made a neat purchase on eBay. The auction lot contained two old illustrations in watercolor from the 1930s. Each illustration measures approximately 9 inches by 14 inches. One of the illustrations is the cover art of the Edith Lavell book, The Mystery of the Secret Band.


It is just the lower half of the cover art. The upper half is missing, and the illustration is damaged around the edges. The top part of Edith Lavell's name is just barely visible along the bottom. For comparison, here is the front panel of the dust jacket from the book:


In closely examining the illustration, there is no doubt that it is the actual illustration that was used to produce the dust jacket art for the book. There is even a slight imperfection in the illustration near the car's bumper that appears exactly the same in the dust jacket.

Another illustration was included in the lot:


I do not recognize the second illustration, so I do not know which book it is from. This seller had many lots of original illustrations from different A. L. Burt books, so it is likely from an A. L. Burt book. If anybody recognizes the above illustration, please let me know.

The crude way in which both illustrations were cut shows the utter disregard that the publishers had for the original illustrations. It is amazing that any of them have survived to this day, in any kind of condition.

Final Thoughts on the Girl Scouts Series

I just finished reading the last book in the series. I read through this series rather rapidly, which indicates that I thoroughly enjoyed it. I cannot recall exactly what prompted me to begin building my set of books three years ago. I must have read somewhere that the series was good, or perhaps the first one or two books sort of fell into my hands. What I do recall is that after I had a just a few of the Girl Scouts books in my possession, I was able to purchase the complete set of three Mary Louise Gay books, also written by Lavell. I read the Mary Lou books and loved them, so I decided to try much harder to complete the set of Girl Scouts books. I knew that if I liked the Mary Lou books that I would also like Lavell's other books. Now if I could just get that one Linda Carlton book that I need . . .

The Girl Scouts series spans nine years of Marjorie Wilkinson's life. During the first book, she is a freshman in high school. The last book ends at the beginning of fall, slightly more than one year after Marjorie's college graduation. Near the end of the last book, Marjorie's age is given as 23.

The end of the series was planned ahead of time. I will not spoil what happens, but the series has a definite end to it. All the loose ends are tied up, and we can expect Marjorie to live happily ever after.

The first few books in the series are a bit slow paced, but volumes five through ten are paced about the same as most series books. As far as I know, the Girls Scouts series books were the first books written by Edith Lavell, and her ability as a writer improved as she wrote additional titles. The first four books are good to very good, and the last six books are excellent.

As I read the last few books in the series, I began to wonder how much of the books are autobiographical. Edith Lavell was a Girl Scouts Director in Philadelphia, and in the last book, Marjorie is an Assistant Girl Scouts Director somewhere in the general area of Philadelphia. I wonder how many of the petty, jealous people who appear in the last book were based on people Lavell knew. I wonder whether Ruth Henry was based on someone Lavell knew. I wonder whether Marjorie's personality was anything like Lavell's or whether Lavell based Marjorie on someone she admired.

Something that stood out about these books is that they contain a large number of typos. There are many cases in which the leading letter is missing from a word, and many cases of letters transposed within words. In one of my previous posts on this series, I commented that a sentence in a passage that I quoted was worded rather oddly. On page 168 of The Girl Scouts' Director, "intimacy" is spelled as "intamacy," so there are even spelling errors. I did not keep count of all of the mistakes, but I do believe that I saw more mistakes in these books than I ever have in a juvenile series.

On one of my dust jackets, the book's title is crooked on the spine! Also, these books have cheap dust jackets that have nothing printed on the front and back flaps. None of the books have a table of contents! I always love looking at the table of contents as I read a book just to get a hint of what might happen later. I missed it very much with these books. From the crooked title to the spelling errors to the missing table of contents, I get the idea that the A. L. Burt Company must have been very slipshod during the 1920s. The A. L. Burt books from the 1930s seem to be of higher quality than these books.

I have created the Girl Scouts series section of my website:

http://www.series-books.com/edithlavell/girlscouts.html

I created a book and dust jacket gallery to show all of the variations that I have:

http://www.series-books.com/edithlavell/coverart.html

On the above page, I mention the yellow spine dust jackets from the 1930s. On the front flap of the one dust jacket that I have, I noticed that only volumes 3, 4, 5, and 6 are listed. I am thinking that possibly only volumes 3, 4, 5, and 6 were reprinted during the 1930s. This may in part explain why volume 3 seems to be the easiest to find title. Volume 1 seems to be about as difficult to find as the last few volumes. It may be that the middle volumes in this series did go through the most printings.

If anybody wonders why I often do not show the spines of the dust jackets in my dust jacket galleries, it is because the spines of my dust jackets have serious problems. I always edit out the flaws in dust jackets before posting them to my site, unless the flaws are too significant. Usually, it is not worth my time to try to edit out the flaws in the spines as the flaws typically consist of heavy soiling and significant chipping to the lettering on the spines. As you will no doubt notice from my Lavell Girl Scouts dust jacket gallery, even the front panels of my dust jackets have serious problems. Some of them are faded, and two of them are have moderate chipping.

In closing, I highly recommend the Girl Scouts series by Edith Lavell. I knew that I would enjoy the books, but I found that I enjoyed them even more than I had originally expected. I enjoyed the books so much that I have the same feeling that I had after I read the Betty Gordon books. It is sort of a let down feeling, and it will be hard to get into another series.

Scarcity of Lavell and Other Series Books

As I mentioned in a previous post, it took me around three years to build the complete set of the Girls Scouts books by Edith Lavell in hardcover with dust jacket. I restricted my purchases to books with dust jackets, or I would likely have had the complete set sooner. When I bought my Lavell Girl Scouts books, I bought them solely because of the dust jackets, so I paid no attention to the books themselves. In the past week, I began scanning the dust jackets for my site. For the first time, I took a good look at the books. I was surprised when I realized how many variations there are in the books. There are four different scenes pictured on the front covers of the books that I have, and I also have five different colors of bindings.

One could even have fun trying to collect all of the different binding variations for this series. I have no idea whether all titles are available with each of the different illustrations on the cover or whether all titles are available in all of the different colors of binding. These books are so hard to find that I doubt that I will ever know, nor do I plan to buy additional books unless I upgrade a dust jacket. Several of my dust jackets are quite tattered. Even though I restricted my purchases to books with dust jackets, I had to settle for tattered dust jackets.

The Lavell books are very hard to find. There are very few people who want the books; yet, there are not enough books for even the few people who want them. I have an extra dust jacket for one of the Lavell Girl Scouts books; in fact, it is for #1 in the series. It was purchased in with a lot that contained a number of various juvenile series dust jackets that had long since been removed from the books. I want to purchase the book to mate with the dust jacket so that I can sell it. I'm going to have more luck selling the dust jacket if it is actually on a book and can get a little more for it. I have been checking the listings for several months, and I still cannot find a book to mate with the dust jacket. I thought it would be easy just to get the bare book for the dust jacket, especially for #1 in the series!

It is because of my experience in collecting series books such as the ones by Edith Lavell that I scoff at all of the listings in which sellers claim that their books are rare. I have already stated that the only rare Nancy Drew book is the very first book in the very first printing with the intact dust jacket. It is laughable how many sellers label their Nancy Drew books as RARE. There is no comparison between the more scarce Nancy Drew books and truly scarce books like these early series books.

Let's take a Nancy Drew book that is scarce like the 1932 text picture cover of The Clue in the Diary, which went through only one printing. Normally, it sells for around $40.00 or so. It does come up for sale at least every month or so. One sold in a listing within the last two weeks. It is scarce because many people want it. Books are considered scarce when the supply is less than the demand. However, the 1932 text PC of Diary is not rare as most sellers claim because it does consistently come up for sale.

I have a few Kingsport Press file copies of Nancy Drew picture cover books from the 1960s and 1970s. The file copies indicate that 10,000 copies were bound in a single print run. We do not know for certain how many copies of the 1932 text PC of Diary were bound, but it was likely the standard 10,000. Many of the original copies did not survive, but it is likely that there are at least several thousand of them still in existence. Considering this information, does the book sound that rare? It isn't. With a little sleuthing it can be found on eBay and for under $20.00. I have done it . . . more than once. It has to do with being observant, which I will be discussing in several future posts.

Certain Nancy Drew books such as the 1932 text PC of Diary are only scarce because there are so many Nancy Drew collectors. Most Nancy Drew books are quite abundant; the problem is that the number of people who want them is also abundant. There may be thousands of the previously mentioned book, but there are potentially thousands of people who also want it.

Sellers who misuse the word RARE to describe many or all of their books are doing everyone a disservice. For the past week, I have struggled with whether I should bid on a certain book. I finally decided not to bid, and the listing did not sell. The seller described the book as RARE and as a first edition. Needless to say, RARE was in the usual capital letters. That book has sold without a jacket in the last few weeks; additionally, it is not even the first printing. That seller, along with several others, has an obnoxious habit of describing a large percentage of his or her books as RARE. I am so put off by the misuse of the word RARE that I decided not to purchase that particular book. It will come up for sale again in the very near future. I can wait.

I do not believe that it is worth the risk of offending some buyers in order to capitalize on the naivety of new buyers. Yes, using the word RARE will get newbie bidders to bid larger amounts. What if later those buyers figure out that the books are not RARE? What about people like me who decide not to bid because the word offends us? Is it worth it?

My current policy is that I will not use RARE to describe any book, and I will no longer use scarce. Scarce takes up too many characters in the title; besides, if the book is scarce, aren't bidders going to realize it? All sellers need to do is provide clear pictures showing the entire outside of the book and describe the characteristics of the book. Is that too difficult?

The Girl Scouts' Vacation Adventure

The seventh book in the Girl Scouts series by Edith Lavell, The Girl Scouts' Vacation Adventure, also has a real mystery, and this one is better than the one from the sixth book. The Girl Scouts open a tea room in Philadelphia. The proceeds are to go to a needy woman who is sick and has a baby. The house in which the tea room is located is said to be haunted. Three previous owners all died in rapid succession within a short period of time.

Soon after the tea room is opened, the cook disappears. She turns up again, apparently the victim of an abduction—or something. During the woman's ordeal, she wakes up to hear someone warn her to tell the Girl Scouts to leave the house. Who is responsible? This is a mystery, indeed! It is a very good mystery, as most series books are highly predictable. This one surprised me a little. I did not quite expect one part of the solution.

In this book, the public reaction to a haunted house is more accurate than usually portrayed in series books. In the average series book, when the public learns of a haunted house, everyone stays away and is tremendously fearful. In this book, when the newspapers publish the story of the abduction along with the history of the house, the girls' business dramatically increases, as indicated on page 141:

The wide publicity given by the newspapers had produced the same results as an expensive advertising campaign; indeed, the girls were now making money so fast that Marjorie found herself in a position to pay back a hundred dollars of the loan to Mr. Andrews.

The publicity does hurt the tea room in one fashion. The girls need more help, but when the ads are answered, the applicants decide that they do not want to work in a haunted house.

I was gratified that the ghost stories did not scare off every member of the community as is usually the case in series books.

Marjorie Wilkinson and Nancy Drew

As I have read the books in the Girl Scouts series by Edith Lavell, I have realized that Marjorie Wilkinson has many of the same qualities as Nancy Drew.  First of all, Marjorie and Nancy have completely different primary interests; yet, their secondary interest is exactly the same.  Nancy's primary interest is solving mysteries while Marjorie's is the Girl Scouts.  Marjorie's secondary interest is in performing good deeds for needy people, and Nancy often does this as a result of solving mysteries. The relationship between Marjorie and her boyfriend, John Hadley, is much like Nancy's relationship with Ned Nickerson.  Both girls care about their boyfriends, yet their boyfriends are not what is the most important. Nancy likes Ned, but she is more concerned about her mysteries.  Ned is important as someone who can help Nancy out of a jam.  He is no more than a plot device, and Nancy is not interested in making any further commitment to him.  On page 37 of the original text of The Clue in the Old Album, Nancy cuts Ned off as he begins to say something about the future:

"Not I," laughed Ned. "My future is pretty well set and I don't want any gypsy tampering with it. I'll go into business, prosper, and marry a certain golden-haired young lady named . . ."

"Come on Ned," Nancy broke in. "I'm not so much interested in fortunes myself, but I do want to hear that violinist play.  A case I'm interested in has something to do with a gypsy violinist."

Talk about the brush-off!  Nancy is so intent on her mystery that she doesn't seem to hear what Ned is saying. Marjorie is the same way with her boyfriend, John Hadley.  In this passage from page 39 in The Girls Scouts on the Ranch, Marjorie is indifferent to how John feels:

John regarded her intently, wishing that he might believe that she was as keenly disappointed as he was because they were not to be able to spend the vacation together. But no; she certainly did not appear heart-broken.

"You're not sorry, though," he said, somewhat bitterly. "The whole thing suits you exactly."

"It would be a lie to say it didn't," laughed Marjorie, good-naturedly.   "You know how I adore that sort of thing."

"Marjorie," he pursued, "do you think that—that—" he hesitated, as if he did not know how to put his thought—"that sports, and Girl Scouts, and things like that, will always come first with you?"

Marjorie's indifference to men is also referenced on page 147 in The Girl Scouts on the Ranch:

"There's another point we have in common," remarked Kirk Smith, who had been riding behind Marjorie.

"Another?" repeated the girl, unaware that she had anything in common with this strange young man.

"Yes, you seem to share my desire in trying to avoid the members of the opposite sex."

Marjorie laughed.

"I don't try to avoid anybody," she said. "But I also don't run after anybody."

"A very good rule," observed the young man, approvingly.

Marjorie is not purposely aloof.  She is very involved in many activities, which causes her to have little time for frivolity.  She pays little attention to the opposite sex because she is kept busy with the Girl Scouts and trying to help others.  Marjorie also pays little attention to other girls who might try to win her favor. In the first book in the series, The Girl Scouts at Miss Allen's School, Marjorie receives an invitation into the exclusive sorority because of her aloofness.  The sorority girls decide to choose the one girl who is not trying to gain the approval of the sorority, as though they want to conquer the one girl who is unreachable.  Marjorie is loved by all of the other girls as sort of an ideal.  On page 62 of The Girl Scouts' Rivals, Marjorie is described as follows:

The girls admired their leader tremendously; she was the most popular, the most respected girl in the troop.

Marjorie is exactly what Nancy Drew would be if she were a Girl Scout.

The Girl Scouts on the Ranch

I had commented that the first few books in the Girl Scouts series by Edith Lavell have a slower pace than later series books. As I have continued reading these books, the pace has gradually become faster. In the fourth and fifth books, the amount of time for storytelling greatly decreases.

At the beginning of The Girl Scouts on the Ranch, Marjorie, Lily, and most of their closest friends from the Pansy troop graduate from Miss Allen's school. I sense that the series is going off in a new direction, not just because the girls are no longer at Miss Allen's school.

Ruth Henry appears to have exited the series. However, I have not forgotten how the villain in the Blythe Girls series, Rex Pepper, made recurring appearances. He would always show up again when least expected, so the possibility of Ruth returning cannot be ruled out. I enjoyed Ruth's escapades, so I would welcome her return.

Now that the conflict between Ruth and Marjorie is apparently over, the books must move in a new direction. It looks like for the first time the series has a mystery—not some vague minor mystery but a real mystery. One of the Scouts, a girl named Daisy Gravers, has an older sister who is missing. She was sick at the time she disappeared, and the girls speculate that she could have amnesia. Somehow I expect that the missing girl will shortly appear under a different name......series books are always so predictable. Even though it is a real mystery, it will be resolved easily.

The Girl Scouts' Canoe Trip/Rivals

By the fourth book in Edith Lavell's Girl Scouts series, The Girl Scouts' Canoe Trip, Ruth Henry's tactics against Marjorie Wilkinson cross the line into criminal activity. In addition to other tricks, she has a friend kidnap Marjorie and Frieda and hold them hostage so that they will miss the canoe races. Marjorie and Frieda are the only two girls who can handle a canoe better than Ruth, so if they are detained, Ruth will win.

Ruth is definitely another Lettie Briggs. In Canoe Trip, Ruth resents the troop captain, Miss Phillips, and feels like Miss Phillips picks on her. In truth, Miss Phillips reprimands Ruth when Ruth is purposefully late and inconveniences others. Ruth feels that Miss Phillips should make exceptions for her, since Ruth is just so important to the troop. Ruth thinks that Miss Phillips unfairly favors Marjorie and Frieda, but in truth, Marjorie and Frieda are model Scouts. Why wouldn't Miss Phillips like them?

In this passage from page 178 in The Girl Scouts' Canoe Trip, Ruth is clueless that her scheming is getting her nowhere:

Marjorie had been too popular lately; she was having things her own way entirely too much. It was not good for any one girl to receive so much attention, Ruth thought; for the sake of the others in the troop, as well as for herself, she had regarded her prank as veritably charitable. But now she was almost beginning to regret it. For she knew that when the girl did finally appear, she would be the petted heroine of the party even though Ruth herself might win the cup. And who knew? Mr. Andrews might even suggest that the winner compete with Marjorie and Frieda! It was a strange thing that Ruth Henry had not learned by this time that her underhand scheming never got her anywheres. But each time she seemed to forget, and tried her mean practices all over again.

The wording of the next to last sentence is a bit odd. It is reproduced here exactly as it appears in the book.

At the beginning of the fifth book, The Girl Scouts' Rivals, it is apparent that Marjorie now hates Ruth, obviously as a result of the kidnapping. Take this passage from pages 5-6 as an example:

Mrs. Wilkinson welcomed Lily cordially, and they sat down on the porch to talk for a few minutes. It was then that Mrs. Wilkinson informed them that Ruth Henry had telephoned.

"What did she want?" asked Marjorie, annoyed at the mere mention of the name.

"She wanted you both to go over there this afternoon. She said—"

"Well, we're not going!" interrupted Marjorie. "We're going upstairs, and put on our kimonas, and talk and talk. And we don't want Ruth Henry!"

"Marjorie!"

"Mother, if you knew what she really is, you wouldn't blame us a bit. We avoid her whenever it's possible."

Marjorie is no longer willing even to try to be nice to Ruth. Unfortunately, the girls are still members of the same Girl Scout troop, so Marjorie is forced to endure Ruth at Girl Scout functions.

It has been interesting during these first five Girl Scouts books to see the gradual transformation of Ruth and Marjorie from best friends into sworn enemies.

Girl Scouts' Good Turn/Canoe Trip

I mentioned in a recent post that the Girl Scouts series by Lavell has a slower pace than the series books that came later and that much time is giving to storytelling. In the third book, The Girl Scouts' Good Turn, there was one lengthy story told to the girls while they were on a brief trip. This story added to the feel of the book since it was a story about a haunted house, and the girls were inside the house during the telling of the story!

Also in The Girl Scouts' Good Turn, the Scouts attempt to help a poor girl, Frieda Hammer. Due to her upbringing, Frieda is sullen and refuses the friendship of the Scouts. Marjorie is the most interested of all the Scouts in helping Frieda and even begins to win Frieda's friendship, but Ruth makes a hateful remark within Frieda's hearing, causing Frieda to run away.

In the Girl Scouts books, Ruth is constantly causing Marjorie problems. The irony of it all is that the two girls were best friends before they began attending Miss Allen's school. Ruth treats Marjorie badly, yet expects Marjorie to stay her friend. Fortunately, Marjorie understands Ruth all too well, as indicated on page 166 of The Girls Scouts' Good Turn:

Marjorie and Ruth rode home in the train together. As soon as the girls were away from Miss Allen's, and there was no longer any rivalry raging between them, Ruth became her old self again, and expected to have Marjorie once more as her best friend. But Marjorie was not to be so easily won.

Ruth is also very conceited and strives to be the center of attention. She is always hoping to win badges and awards that the other girls do not have. From pages 4-5 of The Girl Scouts' Canoe Trip, Ruth imagines herself a heroine:

"I hope you gals is all good swimmers," interrupted Michael, advancing slowly to the edge of the shore. "Purty ticklish business—canoeing is!

"Not in flat bottom canoes!" protested Marjorie. "Why I've had mine for nearly a year now, and never upset once!"

"But you never tried to navigate a stream like the Silver!" said the old man, reaching for his pipe and tobacco pouch. "There's one place in this here stream I'd be willing to bet a silver dollar somebody upsets!"

"Oh, where is it?" cried Ruth, delighted that all of the water was not to be so monotonous as it seemed to be in the locality of the boathouse. Already she had visions of the rest of the girls upsetting; and after steering her own canoe safely through, she saw herself effecting thrilling rescues. There were even medals in life-saving, she had read in the handbook; it certainly would be worth while to possess one, especially if it were the only one of its kind in Pansy troop.

The Girl Scouts at Camp

I have finished reading the second Girl Scouts book by Edith Lavell, The Girl Scouts at Camp. As the title indicates, this book tells the story of the two weeks that the Girl Scout Pansy Troop spends at camp in the country. The main plot involves the contest that Captain Phillips has created for the girls. The winner of the contest will earn a brand-new canoe. Both Ruth and Marjorie are keenly interested in the contest, and Ruth fears that Marjorie will win instead of her. Ruth is still jealous of Marjorie and even tells on Marjorie when Marjorie breaks a rule so that Marjorie will lose points in the contest.

This book has a slower pace than the previous book, and much time is spent around the campfire telling stories, such as ones about Hercules and other mythical heroes. These stories can go on for many pages. For instance, the Hercules story begins on page 177 and ends on page 185. While the stories are interesting, they do not suit my particular preference while reading series books. I skipped the Hercules story in order to get on with the story. As Lenora Whitehill would say, "I crave excitement!"

There is also a large amount of time given to describing various topics that relate to the Girl Scouts, such as passing the test to become either a first-class scout or a second-class scout. All of the Scout competitions are very important to the story. Of the different Girl Scouts series books that I have read so far, this series contains the most Girl Scout lore, which is not surprising since Edith Lavell was a Girl Scouts troop leader.

It is books such as these that Mildred Wirt Benson meant when she stated that she was tired of "namby-pamby" girls' series books. These books spend much time on unnecessary events such as storytelling and minute descriptions of ordinary activities. There is very little mystery, and any mystery is minor and resolved fairly easily.

Aside from the slow pace, I have greatly enjoyed this second Girl Scouts book. I skipped the Hercules story, which solved that problem, and even though the Girl Scout lore slows the book down, I do not mind reading about it. The main draw for this series, at least for the titles that I have read to this point, is the great rivalry between Marjorie and Ruth. Marjorie is obviously the main character, but the books switch to Ruth's point of view repeatedly so that we can eavesdrop on her jealous thoughts. Ruth has played one serious trick on Marjorie, but other than that, her actions have not been criminal.

This rivalry is like the one between the Dana Girls and Lettie Briggs, except that Lettie's tricks were often criminal, like resorting to poisoning the Dana Girls. In return, the Dana Girls were not very nice, either, and it is surprising that the Danas were not reprimanded for their actions.

In the Lavell books, Marjorie makes mistakes, but her mistakes are human mistakes and nothing that affects Ruth. So far Marjorie has been held to a very high standard. Ruth is petty, but not in the evil way of Lettie Briggs. The underlying theme of these first few (I am now on volume 3) Girl Scouts books is the rivalry between the girls and how jealousy causes problems.

The Girl Scouts at Miss Allen's School

As I have continued reading the first book in the Girl Scouts Series by Edith Lavell, I have listed more names of characters:

Marjorie Wilkinson—an athletic girl, who is liked by most everyone
Ruth Henry—Marjorie's friend, who is jealous of her
Lily Andrews—Marjorie's roommate who is very rich and overweight
Jack Wilkinson—Marjorie's brother
Roger Harris—Jack's friend, who likes Doris
John Hadley—a Boy Scout, who likes Marjorie
Doris Sands—a freshman
Ethel Todd—Ruth's roommate, a sophomore and member of the sorority
Marion Guard—a sophomore and member of the sorority
Ada Mearns—a sophomore
Frances Wright—a sophomore, patrol leader
Evelyn Hopkins—a freshman
Mae Van Horn—a freshman
Anna Cane—a freshman
Edith Evans—a junior
Marion Guard—a sophomore
Miss Allen—the head of the school
Miss Phillips—the gym teacher and Girl Scouts Captain
Miss White—the Latin teacher

This isn't everyone. There are more of them! The author does not describe the physical appearance or personality of the majority of them. So far, the only characters for which I have a definite picture in my mind are Marjorie, Ruth, and Lily. The rest of them are just there in the background.

The plot of the book centers on Marjorie and Ruth. Marjorie is accepted into the exclusive school sorority when she is not even that interested. Ruth wants more than anything to become a member, but she is not accepted. Ruth is jealous and later comes up with the idea of the school forming a Girl Scout troop. The idea is approved by the faculty, and a troop is formed.

The faculty wishes to take the selection of members out of the hands of the students, so any girl who is to become a Scout must have at least an 80% in all of her classes and must be involved in athletics. Ruth is soon accepted as are several other girls.

Marjorie greatly desires to become a Scout, and she resigns from the sorority. Soon, too many girls resign from the sorority, and it is forced to disband. Marjorie studies to improve her Latin grade and feels that she has done well on her Latin test.

Unknown to Marjorie, Ruth's jealousy causes her to tamper with Marjorie's Latin test when she has the opportunity, and Marjorie's low grade prevents her from becoming a Scout. Ruth is at first glad to cause her friend to feel the way she felt when she was kept out of the sorority, but in time, Ruth's conscience makes her feel guilty.

The theme of jealous best friends is often repeated in juvenile literature. This story parallels the plot of Sweet Valley High #30, Jealous Lies. In Jealous Lies, Sandra Bacon does everything she can to keep her best friend, Jean West, out of the school sorority. Sandra is jealous of everything Jean has achieved and wants to remain a part of something that Jean cannot have.

The Girl Scouts Series by Edith Lavell

I have finished rereading the Beverly Gray series. I will have some comments to post, but I have not finished writing them yet.

Very conveniently, I just acquired the final volume I needed in the Girl Scouts Series by Edith Lavell. As is frequently the case with these older series, it was not the final volume that I still needed; rather, it was volume 2, The Girl Scouts at Camp. I now have the complete set of ten volumes in hardcover with dust jacket. I have been working on this set since sometime in 2005. It has taken a long time since I restricted my purchases to books with dust jackets.

The books in the series are:

1. The Girl Scouts at Miss Allen's School, 1922
2. The Girl Scouts at Camp, 1922
3. The Girl Scouts' Good Turn, 1922
4. The Girl Scouts' Canoe Trip, 1922
5. The Girl Scouts' Rivals, 1922
6. The Girl Scouts on the Ranch, 1923
7. The Girl Scouts' Vacation Adventure, 1924
8. The Girl Scouts' Motor Trip, 1924
9. The Girl Scouts' Captain, 1925
10. The Girl Scouts' Director, 1925

I have already read the Mary Louise Gay series, which was also written by Edith Lavell. Since I enjoyed those books very much, I expect that I will also enjoy Lavell's Girl Scouts Series. As I now have the complete set, I have begun to read the first book, The Girl Scouts at Miss Allen's School.

I am currently on the third chapter. It has been interesting thus far, with new students Ruth Henry and Marjorie Wilkinson arriving at Miss Allen's School. Ruth Henry is described as a small girl with dark hair, and Marjorie Wilkinson is described as having fair hair. The two girls are good friends but are unable to room together since they did not enroll soon enough. Marjorie appears to be the main character in the series.

I am having a little trouble keeping up with all of the characters so far, as quite a few have been introduced rather rapidly with very little descriptive information (shades of Beverly Gray here). In addition to Marjorie and Ruth, we have:

Ethel Todd—Ruth's roommate, a sophomore and member of the sorority
Marion Guard—a sophomore and member of the sorority
Lily Andrews—Marjorie's roommate who is very rich and overweight
Ada Mearns—a sophomore
Doris Sands—a freshman
Evelyn Hopkins—a freshman
Mae Van Horn—a freshman

To this point, the storyline centers around Ruth Henry wishing to join the exclusive sorority while Marjorie does not appear to be interested. I skipped ahead a little bit, and it looks like the sorority may get disbanded, and the girls become Girl Scouts. Aside from the bit about the Girl Scouts, this book is reminding me of the second Ruth Fielding book, Ruth Fielding at Briarwood Hall.

I am also wondering whether this series could have influenced Clair Blank with the Beverly Gray series. After all, the Beverly Gray series begins with Beverly and her friend, Anne White, entering college. They are unable to room together as they arrive too late. They have way too many friends who all seem alike, just like the girls in this first Girl Scouts book.