Did you love boarding school books? If so tell us why for chance to win a tennis-themed prize worth over £100 incl Trebizon books + tennis garden set

[SorchaMumsnet]

To celebrate the release of The Tennis Term at Trebizon, we're offering you a chance to win a set of the classic Trebizon series by Anne Digby and a great way to play tennis in the garden.

This delightful series follows the adventures of Rebecca and her friends through their time at Trebizon boarding school and the ups and downs of friendship. In the latest book, The Tennis Term at Trebizon, Rebecca has been picked for the tennis team, and Trebizon has high hopes of winning the cup. But then there’s a hoax phone call, and a fake fire alarm, and Rebecca finds herself under suspicion. If Rebecca and her friends can’t solve the mystery, there will be serious consequences...

“As warm and comforting as a cup of cocoa, the Trebizon books are a real treat” – Katherine Woodfine, author of The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow

Did you love boarding school books? If so tell us why for a chance to win this fab tennis-themed prize worth over £100: a set of SEVEN Trebizon books including The Tennis Term at Trebizon PLUS a tennis garden set!

This discussion is sponsored by Egmont and will end 1 August

[BathshebaDarkstone]

I loved the Mallory Towers books, now DD loves them as well! It always seemed much more fun than living at home as an only child.

[katemiddletonsnudeheels]

I loved the Trebizon books too. I found the characters so much more realistic than the traditional boarding school stories and I liked the fact that Ann Digby didn't shy away from addressing things like social inequalities and difficult decisions.

[NattyTile]

Loved reading boarding school books as I was in a very singy state school where anyone who actually wanted to learn was pulled apart and abused, and where teachers told me off for not hiding my intelligence.

So the idea of going somewhere like the chalet school, other eautidulsurroundings, really decent education, the chance to learn different languages, other girls who would compete intellectually and celebrate academic achievement, was fabulous. As I was also bullied for not having a local accent, the thought of proper English being encouraged was a bonus.

Trebizon books struck me as slightly more normal life boarding and didn't appeal quite as much, but it was still a case of anywhere better than here (in the absence of a Narnian wardrobe).

[ScarlettDarling]

I'm so excited to see this thread...I am the biggest boarding school book geek you could possibly find!

My copies of Malory Towers and St Clare's must have been read hundreds (literally) of times, and now my 9 year old dd and I read them together. The books are falling to pieces and are utterly 'vintage', but the pleasure they have brought me over the years is huge. My 12 year old ds loves listening in as we read them aloud even though he is far too cool to ever admit this!!

I adored the Trebizon books as a child but never owned them. I read a couple of them (the only ones in our local library!) over and over again, but never read the full series. I'm so excited at the chance of winning a full series of 7 books to share with dd and very cool 12,year old ds!

Boarding school books seem to strike a chord with all children who go to normal state schools. The thought of being with your friends all the time sounds like a wonderful adventure, every night being like an exciting sleepover with midnight feasts. In reality I'd have collapsed in shock and horror if my mum had ever suggested boarding school...I was always a complete home bird and struggled with sleepovers and school residentials, but the books just were so exciting.

Fab!

[CopperPan]

I loved Malory Towers books as a child, I've been able to pass on my battered copies to the dds who have enjoyed them as well. I would have loved to have gone to a boarding school when I was younger but it was never an option.

[WarmHugs]

I used to love Malory Towers as a girl, it all seemed jolly exciting! I imagined it all to be midnight feasts and sneaking out at night. My DD is now reading them, and would love these books too!

[BoGrainger]

Could never get enough of the Enid Blyton series even though there were words that I had never come across before e.g. Lacrosse, apple-pie bed, Mamzelle, eiderdown, Upper Fourth, tuck box. Funny how I still remember them! It was school but not school as we knew it.
After Enid Blyton I fell in love with the Margaret Biggs 'Melling' series about a weekly boarding school and the Blake girls and their exploits. Must try and find these on Ebay!

[BoGrainger]

Just ordered 'Head Girl at Melling' can't wait for it to arrive!

[Haggismcbaggis]

I adored the Trebizon books as a child. My Dad used to tease me that wash I first started reading them as a child I mispronounced it "Trezbizon". It was always called that in our house.

I think I really loved boarding school books because parents are absent. In all the best books children are free to have their adventures without their parents interfering. I liked Rebecca as she grew from a shy newcomer to quite a confident sixth former. I always thought the books would do well of rereleased so it's lovely that that is happening.

[cocochips]

Mallory Towers books were my favourite! The crazy antics kept me gripped for hours.

[handbar]

I liked them because the children could have secrets and adventures without their parents stopping them. Boarding schools were usually in spooky historic houses to add to the atmosphere.

[Witchend]

I loved boarding school stories because I am very much lacking in social confidence and at times felt very lonely. I could imagine to myself arriving and being in the popular group (as the books are always about a popular group) and everyone wanting to be friends. Unlike the reality, which was I could sit invisible at the back for a long time before making quietly and slowly a friend because they were in the same situation as me rather than we were totally suited together.

I read them all:
Mallory Towers, St Claires, Chalet School, Trebizon, Antonia Forest etc. And my gran's Sunday school prize. A little book called "Winning her Way" on which Daisy Pulls it Off could be based.

Dd2 (12yo) now loves them. She cried when I had to tell her the Chalet School didn't exist. She wanted me to send for a prospectus.

[mistykins]

I loved boarding school stories as a child, mallory towers and Trebizon were my favourites. I loved the escapism and imagining I lived in the schools. I loved the thought of always being surrounded by friends and the independence the girls had.

[robinson131]

When I was little I loved the Enid Blyton's Mallory towers books.

[PennyPinwheel]

I loved the Trebizon books. I think it was because the characters were so impossibly competent at dealing with everything themselves, they didn't seem to need grownups at all. They were such good friends to each other, something I didn't have in real life. I remember being so disappointed when I realised I was older thanot the characters in the stories and it (boarding school) would never happen to me! I spent far too much on buying the rarer stories in the series online a good few years ago and still reread them now. Just waiting for my DD (4) to be bold enough to enjoy them too!

[PennyPinwheel]

*than
*old not bold!!

[hedera45]

My daughters loved the Malory Towers books; as a child I was more a fan of Enid Blyton's 'Adventure' series with Philip, Diana, Jack and Lucy. I did like reading about boarding school adventures though and got my ration from various girls' comics such as 'The School Friend', 'Girl' etc. It didn't seem to bother me that as a working-class child I was reading about 'posh' people although the person I really identified with was the plump, studious Lily Rose in 'The Family from One End Street' by Eve Garnett.

[freefan]

I loved these when younger, so made me wish I was in a boarding school all those midnight feasts and lifelong friends.... we can all still dream and get lost in a book

[pookie66]

I loved reading Mallory Towers by Enid Blyton when I was a young girl. I have just bought the box set for my daughter in the hope she enhoys them as much as I did.

[jodiecrossley1]

I loved the Mallory Towers books and hope my daughter takes an interest too when she is older!

[joanf]

I loved Mallory Towers as a child and imagined how it would feel to board. Will look out for Trebizon books and read them first before giving to children!

[MashaMisha]

I collect boarding-school books. Or at least, I used to before having children, but we don't really have the space now to expand any more. As a child I mainly loved them for the escapism of the exciting stories, (so different from my own school, and already old-fashioned even when I was reading them!) as an adult more for the social history.

Trebizon are a bit modern for me really, but I do have some. I can't want to introduce my children to my whole collection, but I'm holding back on my real favourites, as I think they are still a bit young.

[rennie1811]

I liked them as they always had the fantasy element - you would dream about what it would be like to be there with your friends all sleeping in a dorm and the adventures you would have

[tiddles12]

I always used to read them as a child and always wanted to go to boarding school, and I did when I was 16 for 3 years- best 3 years of my life too.

[pennwood]

I always enjoyed books about boarding schools as it seemed another world of fun & great friendships, usually with adventure too