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)