Green Eyes by Jean Nielsen (1955)

When Jan Morgan achieves the goal her heart is set on, being editor of the high school Argus, she nearly loses it by being "immature." It's true that she's a little younger than her classmates, and somehow has taken longer to grow up, but that isn't Jan's only problem. The other thing that bothers her is her family, in which she feels that her mother and her spoiled younger brother treat her like an unwanted outsider. But in her senior year Jan learns to trade "immature" loneliness and envy for responsibility and happiness, and she learns it mainly through her work on the Argus, which helps her begin to appreciate people: Dotty and Cassie, for instance, who show her that pretty girls aren't always unfriendly and superior; Mr. Larsen, who believes in her abilities; and Mrs. Abbott, who gives her a new philosophy and a hairdo to match.

Among all the friendly, warm-hearted people of Cascadeville, there are two who in very different ways become most important to Jan. Pete, the old town printer, conceals his affection for his new "assistant" beneath an acide wit, but his conviction that Jan will become a charming as well as an intelligent woman means even more to her than what he has to teach about newspapering. And there is Danny Mallory, the new boy in town, who turns out to be as much of a newspaper whiz as Jan herself, and with whom she has first a warm friendship, then a bitter rivalry.

The school year flies by faster than any year has ever gone for Jan, because it is filled to overflowing with fun and trouble. The happy school-bus trip to Seattle is followed by a miserable Christmas; the quarantine of which Jan is the heroine means that Danny is getting out the Argus much too well by himself; and the Valentine's Day excursion to Barren Mountain ends in a near-tragedy. But through it all Jan gradually becomes part of the community and of her family. She learns that printing the news is a responsibility as well as an exciting career, and decides once as for all that green-with-envy eyes can't see the full of life--that she is much better off to keep hers blue. She discovers, too, what depth of character underlies Danny Mallory's casual humor, and as this helps her get over her fear of boys and dates and parties, Jan's renewed friendship with him begins to deepen into something very special for them both. (from the inside flap)

Stardust for Jennifer by Jane S. McIlvaine (1956)

Beginning from her first year at Briar College Jennifer looks forward to another summer of work on the Collingwood Herald, and dates with Jim, the boy next door. Instead she finds that the usually peaceful town has exploded with excitement over the coming of a Hollywood film company. the director, Jerret Pelham, explains that he is to make a movie based on the experiences of the newspaper and Jennifer's first summer as its cub reporter.

Disappointed over Jim's sudden decision to work on a research project in New York, jennifer is caught up in the glitter of notoriety and the easy association with the famous stars, Sarina Swift and Jon Wiley--who are to play the roles of Jennifer and Jim. Then Jennifer, on her horse Chance, doubles for Sarina in a jumping sequence for the movie, gets her picture in Life and appears with Jon on a popular television program. She begins to feel as if she is on a merry-go-round, whirling faster and faster until the familiar details of life are nothing but a blur.

The dazzling effect of the unaccustomed publicity on the town, Jennifer and Jim brings unexpected complications yet Jennifer does not regret her brush with Hollywood. For it has given her greater perspective, a new humility, and she sees that she has grown up considerably during this exciting, if tempestuous, summer. (from the inside flap)

Three's a Crowd by Marie McSwigan (1953)

"Say," Janet turned to her twin. "Let's get those books and get out of here." She would delay no longer.

"She can't be late getting home," Joby thought. "She doesn't want to miss Zip's call."

Zip again. The name was short and sharp like a clasp knife. Just thinking about it drove it home in her heart. (from the back cover)

Julie's Heritage by Catherine Marshall (1957)

The spotlight fell on Julie, a dark dark girl in a pure-white dress. She stepped forward and clasped her hands.

"Swing low, sweet chario-ot .." Suddenly, miraculously, the turmoil of the dance was gone. The darkened room, her classmates, the band playing its soft accompaniment behind her, all became a part of the song -- her song, the song of her people. It was almost as if she were not Julie Brownell, but instead all those who had suffered before her, all those yet to come. Julie had realized her heritage. (from the back cover)

Follow Your Dream by Marjorie Holmes (1961)

So what's wrong with a girl's wanting to be a veterinarian?  Especially when she's Tracey Temple, who has been loving and caring for all kinds of animals since she was a little kid. Even now, a junior in high school, she really prefers animals to people, and her idea of excitement is being curled up with a good book on hoof-and-mouth disease.

Of course, the male D.V.M.'s want very much to exclude women from their ranks. That hasn't stopped Jane Baldwin, though.  Dr. Baldwin is outstandingly successful, and to Tracey the opportunity to work a whole summer in her idol's hospital is sheer ecstasy.

Not unmixed ecstasy.  Dr. Baldwin has a medical assistant, a young vet-to-be.  Tracey is normally quite at home with boys -- in so many endearing ways they remind her of animals. But Whit is not exactly a boy. He's not even an ordinary man. He is the tallest, handsomest, most terrifying member of the adorable sex she has ever seen.

He is something less than impressed with the clumsy "puppy" whom he derisively calls a canine Florence Nightingale. Yet, for all his sarcasm, he is always ready to help, to teach, to console when the newcomer lets a valuable dog escape -- and to be basically glad, too, that she is the one chosen for the trip to the zoo to help set a lion's tail. In a word, Whit is all bark and no bite, although there's nothing fake about the chunk he takes out of Tracey's heart.

From Dr. Baldwin the intense, gamin-faced girl gains deeper insight into the profession she yearns to follow. Through the glory and the misery of loving Whit, who is not hers to love, Tracey's dream of a career turns into a fuller, richer dream of life. Here, even for girls who shudder at snakes, is a sparkling, romantic, completely intriguing novel about highly animate humans and humorously human animals. (from the inside flap)

Saturday Night by Marjorie Holmes (1959)

 Carly is wearing a green Paisley skirt and an off-the-shoulder peasant blouse which she has bought with the first pay from her job at Deal's general store in the little Midwest town of Windy Lake. She is a junior in high school, but somehow her girl friends have outgrown her. She is timid adn feels left out of their fun, but she is terribly eager for life. Especially for whatever strange thrill may lie in wait for her during the hours of this magical Saturday night. "Something might turn up," she says when her mother asks her why she has changed to her new clothes.  And, sure enough, something does, "turn up": Danny Keller discovers her.

Danny is the most popular boy in town, a Peter Pan who won't grow up, with faunlike ears and merry, carefree chatter. He takes her to the Copper Kettle, where the high school crowd hangs out, for grilled cheese and a Coke. Carly knows that the really popular girls have in turn all been his steady dates, but he sweeps her off her feet and she now becomes "his girl." As such, she finds that she has become popular ... she belongs. She feels, however, a strange misgiving in the welcome she receives from the others, and her forebodings prove to be all too well founded.

Much of the action of the story centers about the lake, beautiful, fascinating, but able to assume a dark and tragic aspect too, as Carly learns to her horror.

The reader who follows this typically American girl through the experiences of her first love will learn, as she learns, the truth of what her father says to her: "Hurt is simply a part of growing up.  It's as inescapable as -- as cutting teeth." (from the inside flap)

Senior Trip by Marjorie Holmes (1962)

"Our treasurer reports that we have exactly one dollar and fifteen cents in the treasury. Despite this dismal fact, we voted unanimously to undertake a trip of eleven hundred miles to Washington, D.C., next spring."

What a wonderful, crazy idea!  For Fran, president of the senior class, it meant headaches, hard work ... and romance! (from the back cover)

Sorority Girl by Anne Emery (1952)

"I hereby pledge myself not to become part of any secret society at Sherwood High School."  Signed, Jean Burnaby.

But the Nightingales were different -- a service auxiliary.  So they said.

"Frankly, I think you'd better let it alone," said her mother.

"This is something every girl in school wants to be," Jean said, "every single girl!  Do you realize they take only about twenty or twenty-five girls a year? And they're choosing me!"

Another story about the Burnaby family.  (from the back cover)

Senior Year by Anne Emery (1949)

"The most awful thing ..." exclaimed Sally tragically.  At the very beginning of her senior year -- the year that was to be best of all -- her best friend goes off to another school.  Dependable Scotty starts dating someone else.  Sally finds herself a party fifth wheel.  Everything goes wrong, until Sally begins to discover -- Sally. (from the back cover)

Scarlet Royal by Anne Emery (1952)

The only thing in Margo's life that really counted was the horses themselves: riding them, hunting, showing, caring for them, loving them.  Especially her own horse, Scarlet Royal -- hers until the wealthy Cranshaws offered more than the struggling Macintyre's could afford to refuse.  Be nice to the Cranshaws, her mother said.  How could she like Ginevra Cranshaw, who went off with her beloved horse and her best boy friend?

A story of sportsmanship and courage by the author of Senior Year. (from the back cover)

High Note, Low Note by Anne Emery (1954)

Senior year -- the year of College Boards, of college plans, of scholarship applications.  Jean's last chance to improve her grades, to win recognition at Sherwood High School.  The last year to be with her friends -- especially Jeff, and Kim, and Scotty.  No wonder Jean has trouble keeping her mind on the music scholarship and all her fine beginning-of-the-school-year plans.

Another delightful story about the Burnaby family. (from the back cover)

Going Steady by Anne Emery (1950)

At her door, Scotty said, "I'll see you tomorrow, Sally.  First thing in the morning.  But after this week I'm going to be working, I think."

This was Sally Burnaby's first inkling that the world does not stop for couples in love ... that there is another side to every "happily ever after" story. (from the back cover)

Dinny Gordon, Sophomore by Anne Emery (1961)

When Dinny Gordon's friend Sue breaks up with attractive Curt Beauregard, Dinny finds herself confused and undecided for the first time in her well-planned life.  No boy had ever really interested her until Curt came on the scene. And she knows he likes her, too. But suppose Sue decides to make up with him?

Curt becomes very attentive to Dinny, and as she wrestles with this pleasant problem, who more agreeable young men seek dates with "Dateless Dinny."

The young lady herself, feeling rather breathless, suddenly is presented with an opportunity to give up that irritating title, and in a way that delights her impish imagination.

"As absorbing to teen-agers as their best friend's diary, this will sit solidly with the love and romance department." -- Virginia Kirkus (from the back cover)

Dinny Gordon, Freshman by Anne Emery (1959)

Popular, bright Dinny Gordon completely mystifies her friends by refusing to date.  Any one of them would absolutely jump, if they had Dinny's opportunities! But level-headed Dinny has her reasons, and one potent one is the example set by her gorgeous older sister, Roxanne, whose path through life is strewn with the broken hearts of adoring young men.

And Dinny's resolution never wavers, until, suddenly, a charming Southern boy named Curt Beauregard turns up at Rosemont High.

"Readers will find [Dinny's]  personality endearing, her independence attractive, and her intelligence stimulating." -- Chicago Sunday Tribune (from the back cover)

The Paris Hat by Mary Cunningham (1958)

Ever since Rex, already a professional ballet dancer at eighteen, had complimented her on her gracefulness and asked for a date, Cathy Darfield had dreamed only of dancing with him. Rex's dancing seemed inspired and excited her imagination. Now Cathy knew that the ballet was the career she too wanted to pursue.

If she hadn't been able to vacation at her Aunt Faith's, Cathy would never have had time to think about being other than a "mother hen"--a role she had had to assume when her mother died. The four youngest Darfields were in camp, and only her twelve-year-old sister, Bettina, was with her. So for this vacation time Cathy was free to dream, to practice her plies and jetes in anticipation of Rex's dates when they would dance together, and to plan a career.

All that was fine until the day a delivery boy arrived with an unexpected, golden, heart-shaped box from Chapeaux de Paris containing an enchanting hat for her beautiful young aunt. The gift could come only from her husband, and implied that Uncle Pat was returning from a diamond hunting venture in Africa and would soon be back in San Francisco. Two years ago another Paris hat had preceded his return from the Air Force, so it looked as through this significant present must be announcing his homecoming. Aunt Faith was stunned, Grandmother furious, and Bettina agog. But Cathy was worried about the family scene Uncle Pat's impeding arrival might touch off at the exact hour Rex was due to meet the family for the first time.

A hidden letter, prowler's footprints in the garden, and other curious happenings further complicated matters. Uncle Pat was notably undependable--Grandmother wouldn't let Aunt Faith forget that--but why should he be so mysterious?

When Rex didn't show up or telephone, Cathy equated him with Uncle Pat--talented, adventures, magnetic, but hardly reliable or realistic. She felt that Walt, her dependable high school pal, wouldn't understand her desire to be other than a "mother hen," but she was sure that Rex would encourage her to follow a ballet career. was Cathy just a hero worshipper as Walt hinted? Her glamorous cousin Gerry, a commercial artist and Cathy's confidante, also warned her that this could be true. A telephone call to Rex started a chain of exciting events that gave Cathy insight into the answer to her career problem, and solved the mystery of the Paris hat. (from the inside flap)

Julie Builds Her Castle by Hila Colman (1959)

Why in the world, thought Julie Hartman disconsolately, do we have to travel all the way across the United States to Cape Cod because Dad wants to paint the ocean? California would have been much nearer and just as good.

Julie began her summer on the Cape by building a dream castle and ended it by making plans for a real one. Although Julie, at sixteen, resented her artist father's nonconformity, she actually owed to it many of the summer's happiest moments. For as his daughter she found it completely natural to go out with the young son of a Portuguese fisherman. Peter was a boy you could rely upon, but his older brother Joe was a problem. And when Joe got into trouble, it was Julie's father who straightened him out. During this crisis Mr. Hartman told Julie his creed. "I believe in not going along with the mob for the sake of joining in; I believe in thinking things out and having your own integrity." But Julie had already begun to think out her own program for the future. (from the inside flap)


Skates for Marty by Barbara Clayton (1959)

Sports had little appeal for Martha Ann Fuller.  Although her beautiful mother had been an excellent ice-skater in her teens, Marty--plump, awkward, and self-conscious--never had any inclination to follow in her mother's footsteps. When Mrs. Fuller's job takes her to California, Marty is thrust into a new world. Moving to her grandmother's old stucco house in Ringport, Massachusetts, demands serious adjustments. Well-meaning grandmother is convinced that Marty can be transformed from a lonely, withdrawn girl into a social butterfly. And one way to accomplish this is for Marty to become a champion figure-skater!

Poor Marty resists in vain. The figure staking lessons she takes with Josef, a famous professional at the nearby Skating Club, are drudgery, and for a long time the rink is unbearable to Marty.

Besides, she has other pressing problems to solve. At the private girls' school she had attended, she never had to think about how to act with boys and they are a real puzzle to her. Now that she has had to transfer to Ringport High, she is really on unfamiliar "ice." Because she is so shy, her first real date is almost a catastrophe. The girls, too, are different, and Marty's unintentional blunders create friction with the prettiest and most popular girl in school, Taffy Wilson.

Yet, when Mrs. Fuller visits Ringport at Thanksgiving, she is impressed and pleased at the change in her daughter. With a glow in her cheeks and several pounds slimmed off from exercise, Marty appears more attractive and outgoing. Too, she is winning some friends, one of whom, a United States champion, kindles some enthusiasm in Marty for skating. But it is not until the Skating Club is host for the National Championships that Marty sees the fascination of figure-skating. She is captivated by the experts who have come from different parts of the country, and she begins in earnest to try to overcome her shyness and to develop as a skater.

Surprisingly, she has competition from her school antagonist, Taffy, who decides to begin skating again. Can Marty handle Taffy and resolve her conflict between school and skating? Why is she suddenly so anxious to sin the coveted figure skating scholarship offered by the Club? And will she be successful? The answers to these questions lie in the suspenseful climax of a story that sparkles with the flash of skate blades, the glitter of the ice rink, and the brave determination of its young heroine. (from the inside flap)

The Scarlet Sail by Betty Cavanna (1959)

Andrea Pierce, spending her summer vacation on Cape Cod, is given a scarlet-sailed Turnabout. But she doesn't know how to manage a sail boat and, being uncertain of herself, she thinks she will never be able to learn. Then Mike, the boy who is to give her lessons, further dampens her spirits by saying that the red sail which she found so cute is actually a safety precaution.

This is just the beginning of Andrea's conflict with Mike and with herself. But soon, through new-found determination, she takes second place in the boat race and wins the admiration of the people she loves ... (from the back cover)

Mystery in Marrakech by Betty Cavanna (1968)

The nine-hundred-year-old city of Marrakech appeared to Dizzy Driscoll very much as she had imagined it.  Medieval ramparts and ten great gates. Mosques with green-tiled domes and the wail of the muezzins calling the faithful. Even though she was visiting her roommate's family, Dizzy found her strange surroundings made her feel somewhat apprehensive.

Still she was unprepared when her vague fears were fulfilled, and her friend Felicia was spirited away from the city. Together with Rick, Felicia's brother, Dizzy set out on an anxious trip across the rugged Atlas Mountains to find help. Their journey led them finally to the ancient Casbah of Telouet, a cluster of ghostly spires reaching into the sky that seemed to emanate evil like a witch's castle in a fairy tale. What would they find concealed in its deserted 600 rooms?

Betty Cavanna, who has taken two extensive trips to Morocco, is a favorite author of young people's books. An exciting mystery plot against the striking Moroccan background makes this colorful adventure one of her most appealing stories. (from the inside flap)

Second Best by Barbara Clayton (1963)

Lucy Ritchard felt that she was always second best.  Her older sister Meg excelled scholastically and socially, her younger brother Brad was a baseball star, and to everyone in Berkshire, Massachusetts, Lucy was sure she was known as "the undistinguished Ritchard girl." Because Lucy and Matador, her golden retriever who is always recovering the wrong things, are involved in calamity after calamity, Lucy's brother has sarcastically labelled her "Lucky Lucinda."

When Professor Ritchard decides to spend the summer months writing a geology textbook on the coast of Maine, Lucy is delighted.  In Maine she'll have a fresh start.  She'll feel different, be different, and--maybe--finally shed the hated badge of second best.

Despite Lucy's dreams, her mortifying introduction to the Kettle Cove Yacht Club starts the summer off on the wrong foot.  Determined to erase that first bad impression, Lucy agrees to take sailing lessons with the Commodore of the Club.  Too late she realizes that sailing involves more hard work and discipline than she had bargained for, and that all of her old difficulties have traveled along with her the four hundred miles from Berkshire to Kettle Cove, Maine, where first is all-important.

A nearly disastrous accident forces Lucy and Marsh Norton, one of the young crackerjack sailors at the Club, to work off together the cost of the damages they have caused. Then, strange lights and happenings on spooky Witchpaw Light tempt the two of them to investigate the deserted island lighthouse and unravel a tantalizing mystery.

Labor Day brings the last exciting race, and as the summer of work, sailing, and racing on Penobscot Bay comes to an end, Lucy finds some of  the answers to her problems.  She discovers one important area where she can be first--and stay first! Armed with this new understanding, Lucy is ready for the return to Berkshire, confident that in the future she can be other than Second Best. (from the inside flap)

Jenny Kimura by Betty Cavanna (1964)

Wearing her kimono, Jenny faced her American grandmother and Alan. Her entrance was as theatrical as if she had planned it for the stage. Alan, the Kansas City boy who was showing Jenny so much flattering attention, liked her thoroughly Japanese appearance. But Mrs. Smith, her grandmother, was horrified to see her dressed so inappropriately for an afternoon wedding.

Mrs. Smith had invited her granddaughter to visit her in the United States, but Jenny, whose mother was Japanese and whose father was American, did not know how to please her domineering grandmother. As the summer flew by, it took even more than an intolerant attitude on the part of Alan's mother to show Mrs. Smith that her own outlook was also biased. All Jenny could do was follow her father's advise and be herself, however difficult that might be.

In this tender and thoughtful story, Jenny compares Kansas City and then Cape Cod to her home in Tokyo, giving readers the unique opportunity to see their country through another's eyes, and Betty Cavanna demonstrates again her complete understanding of the minds of young people. (from the inside flap)

A Girl Can Dream by Betty Cavanna (1948)

"Tomboy" Loretta Larkin excels in sports, but privately envies her popular blonde high school classmate, Elsie Wynn.  When the new local airport announces an essay contest with flying lessons as the tempting prize, Rette decides to enter--and wins!  She finds that learning to solo can be a way to not-soloing the prom.

TAB Club members voted heavily in favor of Betty Cavanna.  She writes of teen-agers with sure understanding of their inner lives and the high school scene.  A Girl Can Dream was a Junior Literary Guild Selection.  Before writing it Miss Cavanna herself took flying lessons and learned about "stalls" and "spins" From a flying instructor not unlike Pat Creatore. (from the back cover)


Fancy Free by Betty Cavanna (1961)


Some fancies dissolve in thin air ...

Frivolous Francesca Jones decides on impulse to go with her archaeologist father to Peru for the summer.  Dr. Jones is taking a group of students on an expedition high in the Andes. Fancy begins to regret her decision as soon as she meets all these studious types, but by then the plane is in the air.

Used to a kind of lazy life, Fancy, once in Peru, is amazed to find her mind stretching along with her muscles, as she learns the difference between a boy with charm and a boy with character; the care and feeding of a baby llama; and how not only to get along with eggheads, but to like them!  (from the back cover)

Angel on Skis by Betty Cavanna (1957)

Angela gazed down at the powdery new snow with a rising sense of anticipation.  Frost had turned its surface into crystals that glittered in the sun like sequins. She knew exactly the light swishing sound her skis would make as they lifted it in a sparkling cloud. This was her world--a white world of snow and speed and excitement. But to enter it, Angela had traveled a hard road.

When her mother moved to Vermont to support the family by running a guesthouse for skiers, Angela knew there wasn't a penny to spare for buying skis. But that did not lessen her almost fanatic determination to learn to ski. How she really did learn is a major theme of this novel. Because the author is intimately acquainted with skiing techniques, it is completely authentic. Because she knows so well how to re-create the breathless wonder of the ski slopes, it is enchanting. But that is not all. Miss Cavanna's story is warm with the glow of happy family life, and shining with romance; for the ski trails lead Angela to the glory of first love. (from the inside flap)

6 on Easy Street by Betty Cavanna (1954)

The Sanford family of Haverford has inherited a small inn in Nantucket.  All of the family except sixteen-year-old Deborah are excited over the prospect of a summer spent in learning how to run the inn.  Deborah is in love--and she is unhappy about leaving attractive Craig Vale for the whole summer.

Each of the children has a job to do in the old inn, and Deborah waits on table. Her main ambition is to get enough money to visit Craig in July for a week at the shore in Jersey.  Very few of the guests leave tips, however, and she is forced to work out a different scheme for saving the money she needs.

How Deborah faces her problems during this summer is woven into a story of how a girl grows up.  While it is difficult for her to overcome her selfishness and face the need for becoming mature, Deborah finds by the time the summer is over that her stay in Nantucket has turned out to be one of the happiest times of her life.

There is good characterization in this story, and a delightful picture of a family who know how to live together in heartwarming comradeship.  There are glimpses into the thoughts and feelings of this family and their friends which are genuinely true to life, and bring the reader into acquaintance with real people.  And there is the authentic background of Nantucket to add extra interest, zest and color to the story. (from the inside flap)

The Look of Love by Denise Cass Brookman (1960)

Candy was Kirk Stock's girl, and to be Kirk's girl was to be admired and respected--even envied.  For he was a letterman in football, president of the Senior Council, a good mixer, a good dancer and the most popular boy at Ryder High School.  Although they had similar tastes and backgrounds Candy found, oddly enough, that they had little to say to one another when they were alone.  All their friends shared the same comfortable standards and all of them conformed to the same safe, snug pattern that sometimes seemed to stifle Candy.

She had an indefinable yearning to find her own sense of values, and it was this quality that Joe Czierwotni recognized.  Joe's world was different.  Experience had made him realistic and truculent, but he was attracted to Candy even though common sense told him that he was remote from her life and therefore all wrong for her.  But the moment was right, and--feeling that she had everything, yet nothing--Candy was drawn to him regardless of her family's concern.

In this new junior novel about two people who are different--yet somehow the same--the author of The Tender Time introduces a sensitive, levelheaded young heroine who tries her own wings for the first time.  (from the inside flap)

Say Hello, Candy by Bianca Bradbury (1961)

Candy didn't start out by saying hello.  In fact, she felt she was saying goodby to everything; to the only home she'd ever know, to all her friends, and most of all, to Tom.

For Candy the world had stopped turning and the bottom had dropped out of life.  Here she was heading for Maine with Mom and Dad.

They had often spent summers in Maine, but this was for keeps.  Ever since Dad's accident, which confined him to a wheel chair, money had become a problem for the Andrews' family.  They were trying to solve the problem by moving to the house they owned in a small Maine town.

But loneliness can be deeply rooted in a teen-age girl, and Candy was not to be thawed by the friendliness and sympathy of a small town. She was there, all right, but she didn't have to like it!

Bianca Bradbury has written a deeply understanding story of loneliness, and a young girl's growing up.  Every reader will understand Candy's search, and will share her glow when "that certain boy" comes into her life.  (from the inside flap)

Christy by Carole Bolton (1960)

When the doorbell rang, Christy was wearing faded jeans and big fat curlers in her hair.  She was in absolutely no condition to meet her fate, but here he was, standing at her door.  Gideon Myles was a successful writer; he was dashing and glamorous--and he was almost as old as her father.  But he made her feel as though she had passed from one room to another, where a blue light was burning instead of the pink one she had left behind.

Christy soon became caught between her teen-age world and an impossible dream.  She found herself saying catty things about Julie, the thirty-year-old librarian who had always been dear to her--until Gideon's arrival.  She quarreled with Frank, a wonderfully solemn student of archaeology, whom she denounced as a callow youth.  And she learned, finally, that even when love goes away, its sad, sweet poignancy remains.

Christy's efforts to win Gideon are sometimes childish and absurd, sometimes agelessly feminine.  In this delightful book, which introduces a fresh new writing talent, Carole Bolton describes them with a keen awareness of the rue and humor and touching reality of love at sixteen.  (from the inside flap)

Meet Me in St. Louis by Sally Benson (1941)

"Meet me in St. Louis, Louis, meet me at the fair ..."

St. Louis--at the turn of the century, back in the age of innocence, when a date was called an engagement, a wolf was a lady-fusser, a long-distance phone call set the whole town talking, and the St. Louis World's Fair was the most glorious, exciting, glamorous thing that ever happened in the whole, wild world!

Here is the delightful, funny and wonderfully real story of the two pretty Smith girls, Rose and Esther, their beaux and romances, their troublesome small sisters, their young brother, Lon, a "Princeton man," and their nice parents, just as bewildered and bewildering as parents today. (from the back cover)