Virginia's Venture

In Virginia's Venture, Virginia's Aunt Martha may lose their family home.  Aunt Martha's deceased husband owed a large sum of money to Mr. Rand, who has come to collect on the debt.  He gives Aunt Martha a short amount of time to raise the money.

The family home is on a highway, and Virginia decides to open a tea room.  Virginia gets her friends and Aunt Martha as well as Aunt Martha's cook and handyman to help her, and soon the tea room is opened.  Profits are not great, and Mr. Rand continues to harass Aunt Martha.

This book is pretty good, but it is not as compelling as most of the other books in the series.

I overall greatly enjoyed the May Hollis Barton Books for Girls.  Unfortunately, the books are scarce and hard to find at decent prices and in decent condition.  I was fortunate that I was able to build the set in a short amount of time from online listings, but I had to settle for some poor condition books and had to purchase some expensive copies.

Sallie's Test of Skill and Charlotte Cross and Aunt Deb

In Sallie's Test of Skill, Sallie, Frederica, and their friends are at summer camp.  One girl, Peg, goes out of her way to be mean and nasty to everyone else.  A new girl named Laura joins the camp, and a boy who Peg likes immediately becomes interested in Laura.  Peg plays lots of nasty tricks on Laura.  Meanwhile, a mysterious wealthy lady, Mrs. Grimshaw, lives in a home near the lake.  Mrs. Grimshaw is reclusive, but she seems drawn to Laura.

This book is lacking.  The title refers to a boat race, but I never cared about that.  It also is unclear who the main character of the story is.  It seems that the entire group is of equal importance, but that makes the story less compelling.  Laura should have been the main character, but we get very little of her viewpoint.  Laura was the only character that I really liked, but I didn't get enough of her.

This book is just okay.

In Charlotte Cross and Aunt Deb, Charlotte is invited to go on a trip to Italy with Aunt Deb to look for the family treasure.  Soon after Charlotte's arrival at Aunt Deb's home, Aunt Deb is knocked unconscious when her head hits an attic rafter.  Aunt Deb wakes up paranoid, convinced that everyone knows about the treasure and is trying to take it away from them.  During the trip, Aunt Deb behaves outrageously and rudely, embarrassing Charlotte greatly.

Charlotte meets a nice young man during the trip, but Aunt Deb orders her to stay away from him, since she is certain that the man is after the treasure.  Charlotte feels like her life has been taken over by her aunt, and she wishes she could just leave and go home.

The beginning of the book is quite boring. The book opens with Charlotte and her roommate, and their entire conversation is uninteresting and pointless.

The story gets slightly better when Charlotte arrives at Aunt Deb's house, but the story does not become truly interesting until the two depart on the trip to Italy.  Once the trip begins, the book is excellent.

The story is wrapped up too easily, as I expected.  Aunt Deb goes crazy when she gets hit on the head shortly after the book begins.  I was not surprised that Aunt Deb gets hit on the head again near the end, and of course this cures her.

Girl in the Top Flat and Search for Peggy Ann

In The Girl in the Top Flat, Allie's father is an artist.  Allie and Mr. Dunham rely on the sale of his paintings to make ends meet, but the paintings are not selling.  The Dunhams would have enough money if Mr. Dunham had not made an unwise investment in a shady oil company.  Mr. Dunham has an old friend in Boston who might help him get into magazines, so he and Allie get themselves settled in Boston.

Mr. Dunham still isn't making any money, so Allie takes a position working for a magazine. Allie's prospects look good until the assistant editor, Mr. Ronaldson, asks Allie on a date. Allie does not like him and declines. Ronaldson continues his advances, finally threatening Allie with losing her job if she doesn't change her mind.

This story is quite compelling, especially with Allie facing harassment at her workplace.  This is an excellent story.

In The Search for Peggy Ann, Jean goes to the store while the river rises, and when she returns, her grandmother's cottage is flooding! Jean's younger sister, Peggy Ann, has disappeared, and Granny refuses to leave the cottage.  Jean goes to look for Peggy Ann but cannot find her.  Jean gets caught in the flood and is rescued later.  When Jean returns home, she learns that Granny drowned, and Peggy Ann is still missing.  Jean begins a search for Peggy Ann that will ultimately last for six years.

Jean is just 10 years old at the beginning of the story, and she is depicted as very young and naive.  I did not enjoy the first few chapters very much because of how young Jean is.  As time begins to pass, Jean gradually matures, and I began to enjoy the book greatly.

The story reads like a saga with much happening to Jean.  This is an excellent story.

Girls of Lighthouse Island and Kate Martin's Problem

In The Girls of Lighthouse Island,  Tess and Carol plan to stay on Lighthouse Island in a boarding house.  Their plans are threatened when they arrive to find the house closed. Too late, they learn that the owner had to go into the city to nurse her sick sister.  Fortunately, Tess and Carol meet Mary, a very poor girl who lives with her crippled sister, Alice.  The girls strike an agreement for Tess and Carol to pay for their board during their stay on the island.

Mary and Alice are in danger of losing their land.  Mean Ira Champour constantly threatens them, determined to get their property.  The girls learn that Ira mistreats his ward, Nora.  Tess and Carol decide to do everything they can to help Mary, Alice, and Nora.

Tess and Carol live in Bayport, the hometown of the Hardy Boys, and Lighthouse Island is a nearby island.  Of course the Hardy Boys are never mentioned, but I kept imagining them nearby solving a mystery while these girls have their adventure.

This is an excellent book.

In Kate Martin's Problem, Kate's parents are killed in an automobile accident.  Kate lives with her neighbors for a time, but finally, Kate is invited to live with her Uncle Jasper and Aunt Agnes.  Kate's aunt and uncle are very wealthy, but Kate is bitterly unhappy with them.  Uncle Jasper is mean and controlling. Finally, Kate cannot stand it any longer, so she strikes out on her own, looking for work.

On page 94, Kate sees that a woman is reading a book called The Haunted Book Room.  Sounds interesting!

This is also an excellent book.

Hazel Hood's Strange Discovery and Two Girls and a Mystery

In Hazel Hood's Strange Discovery, the Hood family has fallen on desperate times since Hazel's father died.  Hazel's father was killed in an accident at the mill company, and the family should have received compensation. The Hoods never received any money, and Mrs. Hood no longer gets orders to make dresses.  All the women now go to the new dress shop in town.  Hazel must try to find work.

This is a pretty good book.

In Two Girls and a Mystery, Barbara lives with her grandparents.  She overhears a conversation where they discuss money. Barbara is shocked to learn that the family may have to give up its home.

Unexpectedly, Barbara receives a letter from a lawyer.  She has inherited a house and $500.  The will has a codicil which mentions a hidden treasure in the house.  Barbara's heart leaps, and she hopes fervently that she can find the treasure and that the treasure will be worth enough to provide for her grandparents.

Barbara has several friends, Gerry, Gordon, and Charlie.  Gordon and Charlie have a reckless automobile race at the beginning of the story.  The scene is atypical of what one expects in the Barton Books for Girls.  It's more like a scene out of a boys' book.  I was bored.

Barbara and her friends go to stay at the house that Barbara has inherited.  I found the friends distracting and annoying.  They served no purpose.  The story would have been better if Barbara had gone alone or perhaps had gone only with Gerry.

This is my least favorite book in the set.  I did overall enjoy the story, but it is lacking as compared to the rest of the books in the set.  It could have been written much better.

Plain Jane and Pretty Betty and Little Miss Sunshine

In Plain Jane and Pretty Betty, Jane is happy when her family moves away from Coal Run. For years, the other children have taunted her by bullying her and calling her "Plain Jane." The family gets settled in Greenville and has a bright future until Jane's guardian loses his job.  Jane must help provide for the family.  As Jane seeks work, she meets "Pretty Betty," a rich girl who looks down on Jane.  While Jane works to help her guardians, Betty encounters unexpected misfortune.  The two very different girls soon find that their future destinies are inexorably intertwined.

The ending of the story has a very unrealistic coincidence.  That sort of thing can be expected in the average series book, but the coincidence is rather extreme in this case.

This is an excellent book.

In Little Miss Sunshine, Margery's father has died.  Margery is forced to give up her beloved dog, Tinker, and must go away to live with her father's old friend, Major Welby.  The Major has no idea how to care for a girl, so he hires Mrs. Sloper to be her caregiver.  The Major is unaware that Mrs. Sloper's references are fake, and Mrs. Sloper promptly begins abusing Margery.

The beginning of this book quite depressed me, since every horrible thing that could possibly happen to Margery does happen.  It was almost more than I could take.  Mrs. Sloper is awful!

This is an excellent book

Nell Grayson's Ranching Days and Four Little Women of Roxby

In Nell Grayson's Ranching Days, Nell hasn't seen her best friend, Cora, ever since Cora moved out west years ago.  Cora comes to visit Nell in Boston.  Cora has changed and is now a brash, outspoken western girl little fit for the high life in Boston.  Cora is miserable in Boston, and finally, she invites Nell to visit her at the ranch.

The girls do not arrive at the ranch until page 95, which is nearly halfway through the book. The story is odd with almost half of it taking place in Boston, considering that the title is Nell Grayson's Ranching Days.

The half of the book set in Boston is based upon the schtick of the western girl Cora not fitting in because she continually says and does outrageous things.  I was not amused and found the first half of the book to be quite uninteresting.  Cora's western dialect is also obnoxious.

The last part of the story is pretty good, however.  This book is overall good.  It could have been very good or excellent if the Boston part of the story had been dropped and if the portion at the ranch had been expanded.

In Four Little Women of Roxby, Alice, Jean, Corny, and Bab are orphaned and living on their own in the small town of Roxby.  The girls' parents died years before, and they had been cared for by their aunt until a year before when she died.  Now the girls are all alone in the world, struggling to earn a living.

Bab has been stricken by fever and lies in bed, at times close to death.  The other sisters help nurse her as they struggle to earn money.

Elizabeth Duffield Ward wrote at her best when she wrote books like this one.  This book has a strong Blythe Girls vibe and is an excellent story.

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.