to want to re-read the whole Malory Towers and St Claires series?

[SlightlyJaded]

Oh the twins. And drippy Gwendoline Mary, and Darrell Rivers... although I can't quite remember who went to which school.

"I wonder what they are all doing now?"

Chatelaine I think Darrell went to St Andrews University, didn't she? I think she took up with some titled bloke and despite getting a good degree just ponced about pretending to work in her parents' business but really only killing time waiting for him to marry her. All that early promise wasted! Or am I muddling her up with someone else?

The idea of the apple pie bed us not so much the incinvenience of the missing top sheet, but the shock of the moment when you get in and find the bed is only half as long as you thought - it's like finding there's one step on the flight of stairs more or less than you expected. If you've jumped in with particular enthusiasm (no central heating remember) then you might even put your feet straight through the sheet.
Why yes, I did go to boarding school, and for some reason duvets were a privilege reserved for the senior girls.

Darrell's dad was a top surgeon (he saved Sally's life when she was ill with appendicitis in the first book), so she wouldn't have been able to join the family business. I think she was going ot be a writer - did she not write the pantomine in the fifth form book?

loved St Clares and Mallory Towers but The Chalet School was much better (about 50 books) and would like to read them again. Now want to re-read:

Little House On The Prairie Series
All The Little Women Books

Why do I only have boys?

Omg a chalet school forum! I am hooked. I didn't really understand the background for ages - i mean, why did they go to the tyrol wherever that was? what was wrong with Jo? why were they all so obsessed with scarves and gloves? remember the one where a rival school set up and at this school they were allowed to wear their scarves just wound round their necks not crossed over their chests (which apparently was a bit chavvy but sensible) so they all got pneumonia? then suddenly they all Had To Leave and ended up in the channel isles or somewhere. Took me years to work out it was because of the Nazis. Surprising really, they probably would have fitted in quite well...

ooh off to ebay. or will someone upload their originals to Kindle please???

The Little House series is magical but real - not the same thing at all. But I love those too. Strongly recommend Farmer Boy (which is not one of the series but written by Laura Ingalls Wilder) which is great to read to boys.

I got a load of transcripts from someone on that site but apparently GGBP got a but annoyed with the reprinting and whatnot. They reprint about 3 a year for about £12 each? I'm upgrading my collection to shiny unabridged versions!

drfayray 'I also love the five findouters and dog. Anyone remember Fatty? And Mr Goon the copper?'

I remember those , though didn't seem to be as popular or well known as the Famous Five.

My favourites were the 'Adventure Series - Island of Adventure etc.'

IN the new versions of Mallory Towers, Darrel becomes a journo.

Have they really changed all these old books? Shocking - these are classics now. I'm serious this really pisses me off! Might as well change Dickens, Harper Lee, Louisa May Alcott etc. These are a little slice of society and history of that time. What I love about classics is that they were written at that time, not some modern author imagining what it's like to live in the past! Harrummphhh!

Yes, all EB books have been sanitised. No mention of Dick, Fanny, negroes, gypsies (now called travellers), golliwogs etc

Moon face is Mr Moon, Dame Slap is Dame Snap etc

I read this my whole childhood and never ever associated a golliwog with a black person, never thought Big Ears and Noddy were gay and so on.

I always though Julian was rude to adults though and wondered who these adults were to allow a 14 year old boy to tell them off. Oh and why were the girls in the books never allowed to do the dangerous things or wear shorts. That is the only thing I found offensive.

I reread them every time I go to visit my parents. I hate the CS though - Joey has to be the most annoying, priggish, wet character ever and every plot seemed to hinge on her getting sick. Also I remember a book where the middles set up their own branch of the Ku Klux Klan (in order to get the rival school) and they also seemed to be using some kind of Truby King method on their babies - training them up to be good chalet girls from day 1 by leaving them to cry in their prams.

If you want to read boarding school books that are actually well written with interesting characters then Antonia Forest is the way to go.

There are new versions of Mallory Towers!? OMG - why?

I've read the Antonia Forrest Books but just don't remember them that well though sure I enjoyed them. Love the Chalet School Series, much darker and more sophisticated then EB . Remember A Trebizon School Series which was more modern with stroppy teenagers.

and, and, and - Gwendoline Mary, who Darrell (as head girl) tries to help in the final one, gets her 'come-uppance' (as Miss grayling very gravely told Darrell, by her poor father having a heart attack and nearly dying! Poor Gwen had to become a 'secretary' in an 'awful office' and not go to finishing school. I was devastated. And Mary-lou became a childrens nurse, which suited her splendidly.

I need to get back to work....

Anyone remember a series of books about a girl called Masha? It was set in Russia before the Revolution and she joined the Ballet.

All i remember and can't track it down.

The Antonia Forest books were about the twins, Nicola and Lawrence and had some fabulous complex villain girls like Lois Sanger and Marie Dobson. They go to school determined to be brilliant but everything goes wrong for them... They series is a bit bizarre because it takes place over about 4 years but was written over 30. So in one book they are 12 and the war has just ended and in the next they are 13 and it's the 70s and they are dealing with drug smugglers or whatever.

I have all St Clares and all Malory Towers and all the Chalet school books (am gradually replacing my Armada CS books with GGBP editions).
I also have Ballet Shoes, which I recently re-read - it holds up very well as a perfect picture of 1930s childhood as much as anything - I remember being a bit bemused by some aspects of it when I read it as a kid as I hadn't understood it being set in a specific time (got it for my birthday just after starting ballet lessons age 7 or so).

YANBU to want to re-read them but find yourself a second hand bookshop to get older print runs. Darrel does not give Gwendoline Mary a stinging slap anymore, she shakes her roughly which just isn't as good. We have a fab little second hand bookshop locally which I can spend hours in and they helped me complete my collection.

I've somehow missed out completely on these Chalet School books, I have got to get me some of these!

begonyabampot: "Masha" - author was Mara Kay. It was set in a boarding school in St Petersburg at the start of the nineteenth century. She didn't join the ballet - the sequel was "The YOungest Lady in Waiting", which kind of gives away what happens to Masha, which culminates in the Decembrist Revolution. HTH.

YANBU.

Look at this

That front cover is all sorts of wrong.

I loved them both but probably MT slightly more. Am reading them with dd2 who adores them. I love them second time round, all that swimming in the natural pool and uppity girls being brought down a peg or two - love it!

SO WRONG Darrell Rivers would never look like that!

Darrell looks like this

YES. Look at her smirky little face and is she wearing...LIPGLOSS?

OH

MY

GOD

Thanks Jeee!

That's it - loved it though did think she had joined the ballet, need to reread!

Ariesgirl - definitely!!! That was my copy (I cherished all of those books for 4 years, then lent them to a little cousin, along with all our Enid Blytons and she quickly got bored of them and gave them away. :( )

There is also a newsletter/fans club for Chalet School books for anyone interested. Called [[http://www.chaletschool.org.uk/
Friends of the Chalet School]] you get 3 big newsletters a year and people write (usually very good) short stories about the characters etc. Also there are sales/wants pages full of children's books and details of the new GGB unabridged books that are being published. Well worth £9 per year. :)