Forever and Ever by Janet Lambert (1961)

A high school junior--and she's never gone to a real school before!

Josie Campbell, growing up all over the world, has never gone to a "real school" in her life! So she doesn't know how to act when a girl friend becomes an enemy over the star role in the school play ... or when a boy who is going steady asks her for a date!

Another delightful story about the irrepressible, unpredictable Campbell family, by a favorite teen author. (from the back cover)

Where the Heart Is by Janet Lambert (1948)

Imagine living in a barn because of the housing shortage! Christy could bear it ... until Celia. (from The Famous Janet Lambert Books for Girls listing on a back cover)

Treasure Trouble by Janet Lambert (1949)

Who took the treasure map from the book where Christy had hidden it? Christy has a mystery on her hands. (from The Famous Janet Lambert Books for Girls listing on a back cover)

High Hurdles by Janet Lambert (1955)

The glamour and excitement of the Horse Show in New York are dimmed by the absence of Rob Wayne. (from The Famous Janet Lambert Books for Girls listing on a back cover)

Summer Madness by Janet Lambert (1962)

Ginger Johnston, finishing her junior year at high school, is uneasy about the coming summer. Her main problem, or at least so Ginger thinks, is the change that she is convinced will have undoubtedly have taken place in Spark Plug Blake, the "boy next door," pal and now, college man. The last description of Spark Plug worries Ginger most. She has overheard conversations between her mother and Mrs. Blake that indicate that Spark Plug worries Ginger most. She has overheard conversations between her mother and Mrs. Blake that indicate that Spark Plug is romantically interested in a college classmate and has invited her to visit him during the vacation. Ginger decides that the only course of action against this unknown and sophisticated girl is unobtrusive, but constant attendance to Spark Plug throughout the summer.

While Ginger is working out the details of her campaign, her parents have also been struggling over a decision about the future that will change Ginger's plans, not only for the summer, but for a long time to come. Mr. Johnston is going to take a job in another city, and the family will have to move there.

This is the situation in which Ginger finds herself. Pulled between her loyalty and love for her parents and her devotion to Spark Plug, the emotional adjustment she is asked to make proves to be the biggest she has yet had to face. What is Ginger to do about Spark Plug, about her friends, about her whole way of life if her parents move away from Cheltham.

Janet Lambert, as always, writes with a sharp insight into the continually changing world of teen-agers and with a sympathetic understanding of the problems that young people must work out for themselves. (from the inside flap)

Boy Wanted by Janet Lambert (1959)

In this captivating novel, Janet Lambert once again proves her gift for telling a lively story with warmth and rare insight into the world of young moderns.

Beautiful Patty Palmer was demanded and totally self-centered. Her best friend, Ginger Johnston, was a cheerful second-fiddle, absorbed in other people and the world around her. As sophomores in high school, they were wondering about popularity, personality--and boys.

Patty didn't like it when her brother compared her unfavorably to Ginger but she had to admit that both boys and girls preferred Ginger to her. Nor could Patty understand Ginger's interest in "Spark Plug" Baker who concentrated on his 1914 touring car far more than he did on Ginger.

Tim Ford was a different matter. Patty thought that she and Tim were practically steadies, and when Tim didn't share her feelings, she blamed Ginger.

The story of how Ginger takes her first step in emotional independence from Patty, and how the girls learn to evaluate their friendship will delight all teenagers. (from the inside flap)

Introducing Parri by Janet Lambert (1962)

Meet Parri . . . 14-year-old daughter of famous actress Penny Parrish. Her trip into New York for a "sensible" coat ended with a tryout for a Broadway play . . . and began a whole new life of fun and dating. Another wonderful Parrish family story by the author of Star-Spangled Summer, Wedding Bells, and The Stars Hang High. (from the back cover)

A Bright Tomorrow by Janet Lambert (1965)

In New York, a city of eight million, Bitsy Jordon could be alone. She took art classes in the mornings, and, with her portfolio under her arm, hounded publishers' offices in the afternoons. And she always loved coming home to her quiet one-room apartment. After growing up in a large family, Bitsy hugged her new-found privacy and independence to her.

But when tragedy struck the Jordon family, Bitsy suddenly realized she needed other people, and that friends couldn't be turned on and off like water faucets. As the roommate of two young career girls, Bitsy discovered that sharing problems, as well as joys, was illuminating and often very helpful.

Janet Lambert, the popular author of more than forty books for teen-age girls, has written a moving yet ebullient story. The delights and the sorrows of being a member of a big family and the frustrations and rewards of pursuing a career in one of the world's most exhilarating cities are sensitively portrayed and Bitsy herself emerges as a sympathetic and charming heroine. (from the inside flap)

Wedding Bells by Janet Lambert (1961)

"You can't keep me a prisoner in my own--afraid to go see my own sister, or to have her family come to see me. If I marry you, Bobby, trust has to work both ways!" It's only a week till the wedding. And it looks as if Susan Jordon and Bobby Parrish's marriage may be ended before it begins! (from the back cover)

The Stars Hang High by Janet Lambert (1960)

"I'm not going to the Orient with you and Daddy," Bitsy Jordon says firmly. "I'm going to stay right here." Who's turn down a marvelous trip like that? Only a girl who wants to fight her battles on home ground: battles for friends, for a job of her own, for being somebody besides Susan Jordon's little sister! (from the back cover)

Myself & I by Janet Lambert (1957)

In spite of her youth, eighteen-year-old Susan Jordon has always responded to the demands of her large family, even when it meant giving up something she herself desired.

Now Susan has reached a critical point in her life. She has decided that her own individuality must express itself--that "myself" and "I" are more important than "ourselves" and "we." She must find a way to release her "real self."

But the sensitive Susan soon discovers that it is difficult to be firm, when for so long she has been acquiescent. Susan's resolution of her problem and her response to the demands of exuberant Bobby Parrish make a delightful story for all girls who themselves desire an opportunity to express their own personalities.

Join Susan as she travels from Gladstone to West Point, then straight into a trap set by Bobby Parrish at Fort Knox, and finally home again to start her first job and learn that life cannot be lived happily without other people. (from the inside flap)

A Dream for Susan by Janet Lambert (1954)

Susan Jordon simply could not believe her ears! All her life she had dreamed of having a home and family like her friends. Going to Turkey with Dad and keeping house for him had seemed like a dream come true. But now General Jordon was calling to say he had to go to Japan instead, and once more Susan was to be thrust back into the boarding school she loathed.

But there's much to be said about wanting something badly enough. And when a girl has a twin brother like Neal and an older sister like Alice, she can't feel miserable and homeless for very long.

First, Neal has a wonderful idea to be followed by an even better one from none other than Tippy Parrish's mother. With the whole Parrish clan joining forces with the Jordons to help Susan realize her dream, she soon finds herself with a home, a family, and a very ardent admirer.

Janet Lambert has a very special touch when it comes to the people she loves. Her books are chock-full of wonderful, fun-loving, very-much-alive young people, and Susan Jordon is one of the most charming and lovable of them all. (from the inside flap)

Star-Spangled Summer by Janet Lambert (1941)

"Poor little rich girl Carrol hasn't been having a nickel's worth of fun.  But then she's invited to spend a summer with Penny Parrish--and things really start to happen!  Her first horse show.  Her first formal dance.  A moonlight picnic.  Summer suddently becomes a joy-filled season, bringing friendship . . . and love." (back cover - 1972 edition)

I have three editions of Star-Spangled Summer, one hardcover from 1941, and two Scholastic paperbacks: one from 1961 (shown above) and one from 1972, which is the one I grew up reading.  This innocuous little paperback introduced me to (as the back cover of my 1941 edition reads): "Stories about teenagers . . . written specially for teenagers.  The Famous Janet Lambert books for girls."  Star-Spangled Summer is the first in a sprawling series of books in which characters in two army families repeatedly intertwine--and marry.  You can find a partial listing of the series here.  Enough introduction!  On to the story!

As the novel begins, Carrol and Penny are on the train, heading to the army post where Penny's family lives for a visit.  They had recently met when Penny was visiting family in the city.  Carrol lives with her grandmother, and hardly sees her cold, rich father, so this visit to Penny's rowdy, big family will be quite a change. And they are rowdy, as we see when the whole family piles out of the station wagon, from Major Parrish to his wife Marjory ("attractive in a red-gold gypsy kind of way"), rambunctious children Bobby and Tippy, to handsome older brother David.  Don't forget colored olderly Williams and dear cook Trudy (who is a well-drawn, complex character--despite the "lands" and the "laws"). 

Carrol settles into her visit, getting to know the rituals of the post, and life among a group of fun-loving kids.  She goes riding with David, and they become friends despite her earlier contention that he was "terribly conceited."  The group plans a scavenger hunt that takes them all over the post--including to an attractive young officer's quarters.  Drama ensues when Carrol gets a large, unsolicited check and a cold letter from her father which Penny's jealous friend Louise discovers and badmouths her as a snob.  But it all works out.  But Penny has a plan--to reunite father and daughter.

The next big event (after a horse show) is the hop, or the dance on the post. 

"There were no formal programmes.  Someone asked you for a dance--and away you went.  When the first encore began it was sink or swim, for anyone could cut.  If you were popular you danced joyfully from one pair of arms to another and if you weren't, you probably went home and cried yourself to sleep."

Carrol's father does come to visit the family at the post, but he's cold and difficult to know.  Things change, though, after the moonlight picnic.  Mean girl Louise angles with Carrol's father for an invite to New York (not knowing that Carrol lives with her grandmother, not her father) and then Louise's horse acts up, and suddenly "Carrol lay on the ground, very white and still, and blood was trickling slowly down her forehead."  Despite being kicked in the head by a horse, Carrol recovers, reunites with her father who invites her to live in New York with him, and since David is on his way to West Point, they all fly off together in a private plane.  On to the next adventure!

There's no other word for these books than charming.  They are filled with engaging characters--Penny in particular is a hoot--and strong relationships, especially among the family.  The depiction of 1940s life, as well as pre-war army life, is so vivid you'd swear you were there.  I'll let the book jacket of the 1941 edition sum it all for me:

"A happy, wholesome story, full of high excitement, gaiety and keen humor.  The girls are delightful, the young men gallant--West Point bound.  Girls, and boys too, in their early teens are certain to find this tale of modern American army life absorbingly entertaining."