Annette Sierra Summer

    Annette is heading to the town of Lost Creek in the Sierra Mountains to spend her summer vacation with her cousin Tonia. It's a long drive that Annette is making alone in her new little convertible. As its nearing 7pm and Annette is coming to town she gets a flat tire. When she goes to change it she realizes she lent her tools to her friend and forgot to get them back. There isn't many houses around but Annette goes to the closest one with the intent of calling her uncle to come get her. 

    Her knock is answered by a somewhat rude young man, Stan Turner, who tells her they have no phone and that she'll have to walk to the next house half a mile away. However Stan's little sister, Margie, then comes to the door and corrects Stan on his rude behavior. He then offers to go make the call and Annette is invited inside. Stan asks the name of Annette uncle that he is suppose to call and when she says Judge Bori the siblings mood immediately changes. 

    Stan announces he isn't doing any favors for the Judge's family and storms out. Margie at first looks at Annette angrily but then realizes Annette doesn't understand due to her being from out of town. She then explains that Judge Bori had sentenced the Turner's father to a prison sentence for something, Margie insisted, Mr. Turner never did. Annette says she understand their not wanting to help her and goes to make the call herself. As she passes her car on the side of the rode she sees Stan fixing her spare tire himself. His mood seems to be a little bit better and she thanks him before driving off.

    Annette arrives at her cousins house which is a historic mansion set in the mist of an apple orchard. She is greeted by her flighty cousin Tonia, her uncle Genio, and her aunt Betta. Soon after arriving they sit down to dinner and Annette asks her uncle about Mr. Turner. The judge explains that Paul Turner had been sentenced to 20 years in prison for robbery and murder. He had allegedly stolen a bag of gold from a prospector and was caught trying to cash it in. Although the prospector's body was not found the jury had believed Mr. Turner had disposed of him in one of the many canyons in the mountains.

    Tonia has invited a few friends over for the evening and together they all sing around a piano. One of the friends is Johnny Abbott, a conceited brat who Tonia has a huge crush on. Johnny plans on singing in a contest at the town's upcoming Pioneer Days celebration and is convinced he'll win and receive a recording contract. He seems to make subtle advances as Annette which has Tonia worried.

    The next morning the group goes for a horse back ride in the mountains. When Annette stops to get her and her horse a drink from a spring she ends up running into Stan Turner who is going fishing. They sit down to talk and he gives Annette his fathers side of the story; his father had moved the family to Lost Creek 6 years ago so he could hunt for gold. He never found much and the family lived very poorly. His father had also unwilling ended up in a rivalry with an elderly prospectors named Robbins. 

    

    One day Robbins, after attempting to shoot Turner, gets bit by a rattlesnake. Mr. Turner treats his bite and stays with him for several days to help him recover. To show his appreciation Robbins insists Mr. Turner take a pouch of gold nuggets. For some reason he becomes the target of suspicion when he tries to cash them in. He tells his story and when the police go to Robbins cabin in the mountains to verify the story they find Robbins is gone and does not end up appearing. This somehow leads to a robbery and murder charge. Stan hopes he can find Mr. Robbins and have him help get his father released from prison.

    As Stan finishes his story Johnny comes riding up looking for Annette. He appears to not like seeing the two together so he has his horse lunge at Stan which causes him to fall backward and look foolish. The two exchange harsh words before Annette breaks it up and has everyone go their respective ways.

    Once Annette and Johnny are back with the group they tour a bank and hotel in the old ghost town and then go to take pictures infront of the old ore mine. By the mine one of the boys, Deke, finds a pipe on the ground which still contains burning embers. Suddenly a boulder starts falling down a cliff causing a small avalanche right where Deke is standing. He avoids getting hurt but thinks he saw someone push the boulder deliberately. The rest of the gang does not believe him except for Annette who actually saw the man but she keeps this to herself as she worries Johnny would try to show off by fighting the stranger.

    A few days later the gang arranges to go gold panning at the river. Mrs. Bori accompanies the group to a spot she had found some gold the previous year. Once the gang has assembled at Tonia's house for the outing Johnny tells Annette he wants to take her picture. In an attempt to spur his romantic advances she calls Tonia over telling her that Johnny wants to take their picture. Johnny's unfazed and makes it clear he wanted just Annette's picture. When Tonia tries to get him to take her picture alone he unconvincingly pretends to run out of film.

    Once at the river Johnny disappears with a mysterious bundle he had brought along which turns out to be scuba diving equipment. Tonia watches him dive admiringly but Annette remarks he's being foolish to dive alone and in such cold water. He emerges with a gold nugget which, to Tonia's shock, he attempts to gift to Annette. After she refuses it multiple times he offers it to Tonia who angrily throws it off into the brush. Tonia and Johnny then storms off in separate directions.

    As the group is sitting down to eat their picnic lunch Tonia appears wearing Johnny's diving equipment claiming she's going to find her own gold nugget. The boys watch in amusement but Annette is the only one to realize how dangerous it is. She runs along the river bank keeping an eye on Tonia who quickly gets her flipper caught in an underwater tree root and can barely keep her head above the current. As Annette dives in to save her Tonia faints and Annette has to hold her head above the icy water as she waits for the boys to come help in the rescue. Everyone ends up safely back on shore and the near drowning dissolves the tension between Johnny and Tonia who drive home hand in hand.

    The next day is the first day of the Pioneer Week Celebration. Judge Bori gets word that Tonia has been chosen by the Queen committee as this years queen. That means she'll get to ride on the official float and chose a Prince Charming at the big dance. Tonia has been expecting to get queen and has promised Johnny a spot on the Queen's float, which he has been boasting about. 

    After receiving this message the Judge tells Betta that he thinks Annette should be crowded queen as recognition for saving Tonia's life. He talks to the committee who think it should be Tonia's decision. She cries over it for awhile before agree to let Annette have the honor. Annette is shocked and embarrassed about the decision but it's too late for her to decline as the announcement has already gone out. She immediately plans to have Stan be picked as Prince Charming but Tonia insists it will cause a scandal. However Annette believes if Stan wins the singing contest he might be considered an acceptable Prince. 

    Stan wants to compete but each contestant is required to have a guitar and he can not afford one. So Annette sets out on a mission to try to acquire one for him. She originally plans on borrowing Johnny's spare one but realizes that will never work after Johnny makes a big scene of tripping Stan while he is carrying a big tray of glassware at the Malt Shop where he works. But after finding every other guitar in town to be spoken for she decides on a scheme to get Johnny's. 

    He is still determine to ride on the float because after all his boasting about it he will look foolish if he doesn't. Annette agrees to let him on the float in exchange for the use of his guitar. He brings it to her and as she's leaving to take it to Stan, Tonia, jealous over Johnny's interest in Annette, tells him it's for Stan. Johnny gets mad and takes the guitar back, jumps in his car, speeds into town, and crashes up on the sidewalk. Annette drives into town just in time to see him being dragged off to the police station. A fire man near the car remarks that Johnny's in for a huge ticket if the car isn't moved quickly so Annette, feeling partially responsible for the accident, moves it to a parking spot, taking the guitar on the way.

    Johnny doesn't get released from jail until after the parade and when he leaves he finds his car is not where Annette had left it so a police report goes out for the big, flashy convertible.

    The next day is the singing contest and when Stan performs his song the crowd goes wild for it which causes Johnny, who is up next, to get worked up. When he spots his guitar case by the stage he realizes Stan is using his guitar and rushes on stage accusing him of stealing his car as well. The fight gets broken up and Stan is escorted away leaving Johnny to receive first place. After the contest is over Annette is able to clear up things with the guitar but when she finds out Johnny car had been stolen from where she left it she feels guilty and decides to go rest in her room instead of joining in the ongoing celebration activities.

    She soon receives word that Stan had been released from the police station but that he was told if he "causes anymore trouble" for Johnny he'll be arrested which doesn't help his already existing feelings that he's being overly persecuted because he's the son of a prison inmate. 

    Annette rushes to the Malt Shop to speak to him but finds Deke in his place. He informs Annette that when Stan came into work after being released Johnny had been there to instigate trouble. Stan belted him, quit his job, and said he was going to go pack up and leave town. Annette runs back to her car to try and catch Stan before he leaves but is stopped by Johnny and Tonia who inform Annette that they've talked to the celebration committee in an attempt to have Annette forced to chose Johnny as the Prince Charming.

     Annette brushes them off and drives away. She finds Stan sitting by the creek edge and apologizes for inadvertently getting him into trouble. He accepts her apology but still wants to leave town and set up a home for his mom and sister elsewhere. Annette drives him home and plans on explaining the situation to Mrs. Turner but when they arrive Mrs. Turner asks Annette to leave and has Stan get inside quickly. 

    Once inside Stan meets Mr. Martin, a rough, unkempt man who claims to have been friends with Mr. Turner in prison. He is planning on going to a cabin at Loon Lake that Mr. Turner had mention up in the Sierras. He has stolen Johnny's car and has it hidden in the Turners barn and once it's dark he plans on taking Stan captive to use as a guide. He assures Mrs. Turner that if she goes to the police Stan will not return.

    Meanwhile Annette skips out on the Celebration dance insisting she has a headache. She has Tonia take her place as queen and she gets to have Johnny be her Prince Charming. The next morning Annette receives a call from Deke who says a talent scout from a record company is looking for Stan but as the Turners have no phone no one can get a hold of him and the talent scout is leaving that afternoon. Annette rushes over to the Turner home and is told by Margie that Stan is on a vacation in Loon Lake with Mr. Martin, this having been the story that Mrs. Turner told the little girl. Annette decides to rush out there to find Stan.

    While on the mountain trail her car gets stuck in some mud as she has to continue the journey on foot. She walks 4 miles and is just about to approach the cabin when she hears a "psst". She turns to find an "old prospector" who tells her not to be seen by the cabin's inhabitants. He tells her from what he's heard Stan is being held a prisoner and by, what he assumes is a wanted criminal. Annette tells him the boy is Stan Turner and the man says that changes the situation as Stan Turner is the son of his prospecting partner; the man turns out to be the missing Robbins. 

    Annette informs him of Mr. Turners whereabouts and why and plans are made to get to the authorities and sort out both situations the next day. It's too late and dark to head down the mountain trail now so Annette sleeps in a mine-shaft while Robbins guards her throughout the night armed with a pickax. Meanwhile back in the Bori home everyone believes Annette's disappearance is due to her eloping with Stan. However Mrs. Turner soon shows up to the house on the edge of hysterics saying that Annette is in danger. She tells the story of Mr. Martin and how Margie had accidentally led Annette into the situation. Soon a car full of heavily armed police men are on their way to Loon Lake.

    As that's happening Mr. Martin has tied up Stan in the cabin and is planning to go hijack the first car he comes across. This just so happens to be Annette. Robbins has gotten her car towed out of the mud pit with his burros and as Annette is getting the car turned around Martin runs up brandishing a gun. Robbins comes at him with a pickax, Martin starts shooting, and Annette purposely drives straight back into the mud pit causing Martin to drop his gun in it. As he's searching for it the police car shows up with guns pointed and soon Stan comes running down the road.

    A few weeks later and Annette is getting ready to head home. Her and Stan have been labeled as big hero's by the newspapers and the publicity helps land Stan a record contract. His first record is called Songs For Annette and they plan on meeting up when he makes an upcoming performance in Annette's town.

- On page 142 Stan is called "Johnny". This is my 4th or 5th book in the past few months that I've seen name mix-ups in, I'm surprised at how often these mistakes whet unnoticed when being proofread.

- Annette feels partially responsible for Johnny crashing his car because "she got him angry". How ridiculous. It's not her fault he has anger problems, hates Stan, and likes to speed.

- I love that everyone thinks Annette and Stan eloped. I really would have loved to read a version where that happens.

    I don't have much to say about this I guess. I really enjoyed the parts about the town and the events involving the celebration. I didn't like the group activities or the mystery at the end. In fact I think it would have been more fun to follow Tonia around. She actually goes to the ball and the box social which would have been fun events. This book did move pretty well but I found myself getting bored around the middle and I really had to force myself to power through it till the end. I think I'll be letting this book go from my collection as I don't see myself reading it again especially since its about 300 pages whereas the other Annette books are around 200.

Annette and the Mystery at Moonstone Bay

    This books is by Doris Schroeder who also wrote Patty Duke and Mystery Mansion. The books have always reminded me of each other but it's just today I realized they were written by the same author. Schroeder wrote the majority of the Annette books as well as two of the Annie Oakley books, both Patty Duke books, and The Lennon Sisters book, all for Whitman Publishing. I find these all to be great books with the exception of Mystery Mansion which I have a suspicion I didn't like because it's weak in comparison to Mystery at Moonstone Bay.

    Its also worth noting that although these books are based on the tv segment, Walt Disney Presents: Annette, I've never seen the show and my knowledge of Annette only comes from these books.

    Also a little fun fact: the tv show was itself based on a book called Margaret by Janette Sebring Lowrey. Lowerey also wrote the ever-famous The Pokey Little Puppy as well as Rings on Her Fingers which was turned into a very popular movie in the 1940's.

    As the book starts out Annette is saying goodbye to her friend Lisa. Lisa is going off for the summer vacation and although invited Annette must stay home. An old family friend is visiting her Aunt and Uncle, with who Annette lives. The friend is Jim Burnette and his daughter Sandy. Annette and Sandy have not seen each other since childhood and both are happy about a reunion. Mr. Burnette has spent years and years trying to strike it rich in the oil industry and several weeks before he finally found a big oil well. He's now extremely wealthy and plans to permanently move out to California with Sandy.

    Aunt Lila and Annette go to the airport to pick up uncle Archie, Jim, and Sandy and are shocked when they see Sandy made up as some glamorous movie star. She's wearing a mink stole, 4 inch heels, and a full face of makeup. She also appears sullen and moody.

    Once at home Sandy overheard Aunt Lila criticizing her appearance to Annette and becomes emotional. Sandy explains that she hadn't chosen her wardrobe herself, her father had, purchasing all the most expensive things and made Sandy give up her normal wardrobe. Mr. Burnette doesn't want anyone to know they had previously been poor and is trying to hide their past with expensive appearances. Annette helps Sandy pick out some subtler clothes and lends her some of her own clothing items so she can fit in better.

    The next night Annette's invites all her friends over to meet Sandy and everyone gets along great. The girls get invited on a picnic/swim outing the next morning. It will involve horseback riding to the picnic location and although Sandy has never ridden a horse before, she's very eager to go. So Annette takes her to the stables an hour earlier to get some practice. Sandy does fine on the ride to the picnic spot but once there her horse becomes startled by a dog and makes a wild run knocking Sandy off and into the path of another running horse. Annette comes to her rescue which seems to cement the girls friendship. Sandy decides she'll start taking riding lessons immediately and also that's she's going to have her father purchase a house by Annette.

    However when the girls get home Mr. Burnette informs them he's found a large manor 100 miles away he is looking to buy. He and Sandy head out the next day to look the place over and end up staying as guest of the current owner, Mrs. Glaven. On the 5th day Sandy calls Annette asking her to come because she is scared.

    Annette arrives the next day and nearly has a collision in the driveway with a young man who we later find out is Mrs. Glaven's stepson, Brod, who has just had a heated argument with his stepmother.

    Once greeted inside Sandy explains that every day her father gets more and more interested in buying the place. She then shows Annette a note that had been slipped under her door that says "Word of warning. Justice will be done. Do not buy this house or you will be sorry.". Annette and Mr. Brunette brush it off as a joke but Sandy remains worried.

    The visitors of Moonstone Bay have been invited to participate in an upcoming fox hunt in the next week. Annette worries that Sandy is not skilled enough on a horse to be able to safely participate so she begins teaching her using the horses in the properties private stables. One horse that is off limits is Black Prince. He had belonged to the late Mr. Glaven but, according to his widow, has become vicious since it's owners passing. Annette finds Black Prince to be gentle but Mrs. Glaven still has made plans to sell him.

    When the girls make a trip into town to get riding outfits for the fox hunt they stop at a gas station and Annette recognizes the attendants as Brod Glaven. The girls are curious about him and his apparently sour relationship with Mrs. Glaven. They hope to quietly find out more information about him around the manor.

    After lunch the girls go for a horseback ride planning to visit the original Glaven house which is a historic adobe building out in the woods. By the time they arrive it's pouring down rain and they go inside to get warm. They're surprised to see that the place is spotlessly clean and when the go into one of the bedrooms they find boxes of books, papers, and horsemanship trophies. A car then pulls up and into the house comes Brod.

    He explains that he's not living there, just storing the boxes that the girls have already seen. The items in the box had been a part of his fathers study. After his passing Mrs. Glaven had turned the study into a sitting room and put all it's contents into storage. The storage fees had not been paid and so the items were about to be sold. Brod had been informed of this by a storage employee and so raised up enough money to reacquire his father possessions. Among the trophies are some of Brods own that he had won with Black Prince who it turns out was his horse. After his father passed Mrs. Glaven was able to transfer ownership of Black Prince into her name instead of Brods who it was suppose to go to. The girls inform Brod of the upcoming sale of the horse and he is outraged. The girls dry off and chat with Brod about less serious topics and it appears Sandy has quite a crush on the young man.

    As the girls are riding back to the manor they are discussing the situation with Black Prince when Annette comes up with an idea. She suggest that Sandy tell her father that she wants to buy the horse knowing that Mr. Burnette will use his new found wealth to outbid anyone else for it. Mrs. Glaven who is in desperate need of money surely couldn't refuse to sell to them.

    The plan is all set but almost becomes ruined when that night Annette sees Brod sneaking into the stables. Assuming he plans to steal the horse she rushes out to stop him and arrives at the stables just in time to see Brod getting "caught" by a stable hand. A fight ensues with the stable hand yelling "robber!". When the other stable-hand, Patrick who is fond of Brod, arrives Annette and Brod sneak into an empty stall and hide. Patrick tells the other one the "robber" was probably just an old employee who often comes by to visit the horses. The two go off and Brod and Annette are able to sneak out undetected. 

    They stop infront of the house to talk for a bit; Brod says he wasn't planning on stealing Black Prince, just on saying goodbye before he's sold. Annette shares the girls plan for Sandy to purchase the horse and Brod is thrilled but he's not happy at the prospect of the Burnettes buying Moonstone Bay. He tells Annette that the property is half his but that his fathers missing will has kept him from being able to claim his half. His step mother has banned him from the manor to thwart any attempt to find the will. He also sheepishly admits to writing the warning note and having one of the servants slide it under Sandy's door. When Annette goes inside she's surprised to find Sandy in her room. Sandy had seen Annette and Brod together outside and assumes they had sneaked out for a late night rendezvous. She throws an emotional fit until Annette explains the situation to her.

    The next morning Sandy tells her father of her desire to own Black Prince. He's hesitant but when the girls start talking about all the blue ribbons Mr. Burnette would win with the horse he decides to purchase it.

    The girls talk to Mary, an old time servant who is fond of Brod and says that she has looked all over the house for the missing will but mentions a locked desk drawer in Mrs. Glaven's room that she has never been able to get into. Sandy sneaks into the room and attempts to open the drawer with a hairpin. She is almost caught when Mrs. Glaven comes in but is able to hide behind a screen in time to avoid detection. She overheard the woman make a call to an interior decoration with whom she owes money. She promises to pay them $5,000 cash the next day. Later in Annette's room the girls are pondering where she plans on getting the money when Mr. Burnette enters the room giving Sandy a ruby necklace he has just purchased from Mrs. Glaven for $5,000. He plans on taking it to a jeweler the next day to have it appraised to be insured. Mrs. Glaven attempts to persuade him not to and when he insists she becomes cold.

    The girls go for a horse ride to the old adobe house to visit Brod. Annette has Sandy go on ahead of her so she can have some alone time with Brod. However she quickly comes back saying the two had quarreled after Sandy told him of her acquisition of the ruby necklace. Brod claims that was his mothers necklace and Mrs. Glaven had no right to sell it. The two return to the manor and Sandy finds that someone has been in her room and the jewelry case for the necklace has been opened. Sandy however had hid the necklace in a vase for safe keeping. Soon they see Brod appear at the house and then leave angrily not long after. Mrs. Glaven claims Brod had demanded the necklace and had made threats which neither of the girls believe.

    That evening Sandy is down playing bridge with her father, Mrs. Glaven, and some visitors while Annette is writing a letter to her aunt in her room. She hears someone enter Sandy room and when she goes to look she is attacked from behind by someone who holds a blanket over her head until she loses consciousness. She awakes to find the household around her, the ruby necklace missing, and Brod's well know red and white striped hat is laying on the floor. Mrs. Glaven claims that Brod had snuck in to steal the necklace, assaulting Annette in the process. When the girls stand up for him and point out somethings such as Brod's hat having gone missing days before and the culprit smelling of tobacco when Brod doesn't smoke, Mrs. Glaven makes up more and more lies to incriminate Brod.

    The police are called and they plan on questioning Brod. Annette sneaks out and drives over to Brod's boarding house to warn him but just as she arrives the police show up so she has no choice but to head back to the manor. There Sandy and Annette discuss things and come to the conclusion that the actual thief is Higgens, the stable hand who Brod had fought with the other night. It was during their scuffle that he had lost his hat. Plus the girls had seen Higgens hanging around the house that evening. The decide they must search his room and discuss this with Mary and her husband Patrick, the stable hand that likes Brod. They both agree to help keep Higgens and the other employees busy so the girls can investigate.

    The next morning Mary wakes Annette up telling her now is her chance to investigate. Annette tries to wake up Sandy but she's too tired to get up so she goes alone to Higgens room. Before she can do any searching Higgens comes in and while Annette hides in the closet he takes something from his dresser and heads to the service yard where he throws the item in the incinerator. Annette tells Mary and while burning garbage she looks thought the ashes. Mary finds some melted red glass and Annette decides to take them to a jeweler to be sure of what they are. The jeweler becomes suspicious when she asks about rubies and after she leaves he phones the police.

    The next day is the fox hunt. As the girls are having breakfast Mary slips in and hands them a note from Brod saying that he had found the will in his fathers diary and to meet him at the adobe house. Little do the girls realize that Mrs. Glaven has overheard them. When the girls arrive at the fox hunt they see the police sergeant there and worry he may become suspicious if both of them slip away so they plan for Sandy to go alone and Annette to remain. Not long after Sandy takes off for the adobe house Annette sees Higgens disappear in that direction. She quickly follows and finds Sandy on the ground with her horse no where in sight. Higgens had come up being her and scared her horse so it knocked her off. Her and Annette head to the adobe house and begin to sneak up on it. Inside they hear Higgens fighting with Brod. As they're about to enter the sergeant arrives, accuses Annette of being Brods accomplice and tells Sandy to keep an eye on her while he goes after Brod. However at that moment Brod appears tossing a limp Higgens at the police sergeant. Higgins is taken to police headquarters where he confesses all;

    Mrs. Glaven had long ago sold the ruby necklace and the one she sold Mr. Burnette was only a glass imitation. Once Mr. Burnette bought Moonstone Bay she planned on asking to buy the necklace back for "sentimental reasons". However when he planned on getting it appraised and insured she panicked and hired Higgens to steal it and plant evidence to put the blame on Brod. She also hired Higgens to follow the girls to Brods hide out and steal the will so she could destroy it.

    Mrs. Glaven ends up being held for trial, Brod is granted his half of the house, Mr. Burnette purchases the house, and Brod plans on moving into the adobe house. The book ends with Annette parting with a very happy Sandy to return home to her aunt.

- While on the horse ride Sandy says that riding a horse is actually easy. Annette thinks that Sandy is just lucky because she didn't have a high spirited horse but why would someone ever be put on a high spirited horse for their first ever horse ride. Sandy is not "lucky", she's just a standard beginner.

- Glaven is such a funny name because it reminds me of Professor Frink on the Simpson's and that's how I kept saying it in my head.

- I think the ruby necklace being an imitation was pretty obvious and I'm not sure why Mr. Burnette didn't get it appraised before purchasing it or right after purchasing it.

- At first it says Sandy only has over the top glamorous clothes and that she can't borrow Annette's because she's so much taller than her but suddenly she has normal clothes out of nowhere.

    Overall the book was alright. It was fast paced and moved along very well. The plot is obvious but it's still entertaining.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

    I've read this book once before and gave it 5 stars on GoodReads but I no longer remember what it's about. although my rating and previous review suggest I adored this book I recall not being too fond of it.

    I'm going to do my summary a little different for this book. It has six chapters I will summarize them individually.

1. Gentlemen Prefer Blonde ( March 16 - April 7 )

    Lorelei is a beautiful young blonde woman from Little Rock, Arkansas who is living in New York as some kind of sugar baby. She was originally working as an actress, including being an extra in Intolerance, and had done some modeling. She considers herself very intelligent and the men around her are constantly saying she "has a lot of brains". However her constant misspelling and horrific sentence structure indicate this is said to flatter rather than as an honest remark.

She has a gentleman friend named Mr. Eisman, the wholesale button king of Chicago, who did not approve of an acting career and so she quit. She finds Mr. Eisman boring but is fond of him, mainly because he finances her luxurious lifestyle.

    She's hosting a small party for some intellectual men and her girlfriends and meets Gerald Lamson, or Gerry as she calls him, and the two take a liking to each other. They become engaged even tho Gerry is already married and he insists she have nothing to do with Mr. Eisman and asks her to move back to her fathers in Little Rock where he will send her books to keep her company. He's been giving her quite a few books to read and she has her maid Lulu read them for her which she considers just as good.

    When Mr. Eisman gets back into town he tells Lorelei she shouldn't settle down to a life of just being Mrs. Lamson. He is soon going to Paris for business and offers her a trip to meet up with him there. She accepts and her and her best friend Dorothy sail out while Gerry is out of town.

2. Fate Keeps on Happening ( April 11 - April 15 )

    While on the ship Lorelei see Mr. Bartlett, a district attorney from Arkansas who had argued a court case against her seven years ago. It seems Lorelei had been sent to secretarial school in Little Rock by her father to get her away from the affections of a boy. There she was picked to work for a lawyer who she had an affair with. After finding him with another woman she shot him but was acquitted and after the judge bought her a ticket to Hollywood to go into acting.

    She tells all this to Major Falcon, a man Dorothy has befriended on the ship, and he tells her Bartlett is going to Vienna on government business and Falcons current mission is to find out what the business is. He encourages Lorelei to befriend and romance Bartlett to get this information, which she does. Bartlett falls for Lorelei and asks her to leave the ship with him in France and accompany him to Vienna. She claims he's going there to meet a woman and refuses to agree until he tells her the detail of his government mission. The next morning she sends a not saying she's not going with him and, remembering all the mean names he called her in court, decides to tell Falcon the info.

3. London is really nothing (April 17 - April 25)

    After arriving in London Major Falcon takes the girls around to meet people, most of whom want to sell them things. A woman named Mrs. Weeks has a diamond tiara to sell for $7,500 and Lorelei is very interested in it. She puts a $100 hold on it and cables Mr. Eisman for $10,000 but he declines and offers to only send her $1,000. Not wanting to lose her hundred dollars she looks for another man to buy it for her, this ends up being Sir Francis Beekman, who Lorelei nicknames "piggie". Piggie is a notorious penny-pincher and married man but Lorelei is determined to get her way. She sends herself a dozen orchids without a card and pretends he sent them, telling him how generous he is and how she's falling for him. Eventually she is able to talk him into buying her the tiara and in exchange she agrees to stay in London permanently to be with him, but the next day she sails for Paris.

4. Paris is Divine (April 27 - May 5)

    The girls are having a lovely time in Paris when one morning Lady Beekman shows up and demands the tiara back from Lorelei, who refuses. The next morning a lawyer named Robber shows up and his son, Louie, soon arrives after. They've been hired by Lady Beekman to get the tiara but are so smitten with the girls they'd rather take them out. They devise a plan to take the girls on dates, charge it to Lady Beekman, and attempt to steal the tiara in the process, finding it a win-win regardless of if they acquire the tiara. When Lorelei finds this out she makes a plan to have an imitation tiara made with paste stones and constantly show it off to the men, making them always feel just in reach of it, then use this to encourage the men to take them on shopping trips, charging it all to Beekman of course.

    After a night out both Louie and Robber make separate offers to Dorothy to steal the tiara in exchange for 1000/2000 francs respectively. Her and Lorelei devise a plan to sell it to both; Dorothy would get the money from Louie and then Lorelei would enter the room before Dorothy hands over the tiara. Dorothy would then sell it to Robber that night. This goes successful until Lorelei decides she wants to keep the fake tiara. She sneaks it out of Robbers pocket but he makes such a fuss upon realizing it's gone that the girls tell them of their ruse. Together the four decide to purchase another fake tiara and give it to Lady Beekman for an exorbitant price.

5. The Central of Europe (May 16 - June 1)

    Mr. Eisman arrives in Paris but soon heads to Vienna on business. Not long after he sends for Lorelei and Dorothy to join him. While traveling on the Orient Express Lorelei meets Henry Spoffard who is some type of New York morals enforcing person. He's famous and comes from a very wealthy family. Lorelei befriends him by saying she is traveling with a girl she is trying to reform. Upon his suggestion the girls stop with him in Munich before heading into Vienna. Once there Lorelei balances her relationships with Spoffard and Eisman by seeing the former during the day and the latter at night.            When she finds out Mother Spoffard's companion has been looking into her past, particularly the part about being paid $10,000 by a man's family to not marry him, Lorelei weasels her way into a tea with the woman where she sucks up to her and wins her over. Soon after Spoffard has to return to New York but he proposes to Lorelei who accepts by telegram before actually deciding if she wants to accept and hopes that he'll back out of it so she can sue him for breach of promise.

6. Brains are Really Everything (June 14 - July 10)

    The girls soon head back to New York. Once Lorelei hears there's a man on the ship with some uncut diamonds she makes his acquaintance, acquires the diamonds, then fights with him the evening before docking so he'll leave her alone and Spoffard won't see them together. After her homecoming Henry takes her to meet his family in Pennsylvania. She briefly considers trying to marry Henry's father who is 90 and ill because then she could get his money when he soon passes but decides it's too risky. She finds the trip so boring she decides not to marry Henry after all. She enacts a plan to go jewelry shopping and charge it all to Henry then have Dorothy tell him how much Lorelei is always spending and that he'll soon be poor if he marries her. She then plans to sue him for breach of promise.

    While Dorothy is talking to Henry, Lorelei is having lunch with Gilbertson Montrose, a struggling script writer, who suggests she should marry Henry and then use his money to finance Montroses latest project, hinting that Lorelei could play the lead. Henry however has already been scared off by Dorothy and has jumped on the train back to Pennsylvania. Lorelei gets on at the last minute, tells him Dorothy was testing to see if he really loves her, that the jewelry she bought was glass and just props for the test, and begins crying over him failing the test.

    The diary ends a month later with Lorelei recapping her wedding and her, Montroses, and the Whole Spoffard family's involvement with the movie. She believes she has mad everyone happy with her actions and declares she's now too busy to keep a diary.

- There's quite a funny joke I didn't understand the first time I read this book. Once arriving in London Lorelei sees a familiar "little girl" who turns out to be actress Fannie Ward. Lorelei made friends with Fannie in Hollywood and her mother also went to school with Fannie. They then go and buy hats in the children's department. Fannie Ward was an actress who was known for being incredibly youthful looking throughout her life due, at least in part, to plastic surgery. At the time this book was written Fannie Ward was 53.

- The only redeeming quality Lorelei has is her anti-racist beliefs. Lulu, her maid, is black but she thinks this makes her no worse than her and she also thinks it's rude of people to use the N-word.

- Lorelei is not likable and I have no idea if this is suppose to be the case. She is, quite clearly, awful but I don't know if it's suppose to be endearing or not. I couldn't stand her. I think at the time she would just been considered a...greedy vamp? I don't know what to call it but by today's standards she is committing crimes such as international fraud, blackmail, extortion, and even espionage. I also do not like how she is always badmouthing Dorothy.

    Overall I don't like this book. I think it's good in theory but having to read such horrifically bad writing for 217 pages was obnoxious. The spelling is way off for a lot of words so you have to take a second to decipher it, the same sentence will be said multiples times in a row but with the words rearranged, and some of the stupid things Lorelei says are a little too forced. I considered not finishing this book and only pushed through since this will be my last ever reading of it I presume.

The Secret of Grange Farm

    Years ago I saw this book on Etsy and was intrigued with the name and cover. I had never heard of it before but it seemed interesting. It was for sale for a long time and I finally ended up spending the $14 to buy it. I recall being a little disappointed in it, both the story and the appearance. The dustjacket was more scuffed up than it had appeared in photos and the book is actually rather small. As for the story I had anticipated something along the lines of the Meg series meets Betty Cavanna. But there was no chance of that once I realized this is a British book. I find there's a huge difference in styles when it comes to British and American books, even when they're from the same time period and aimed at the same audience.

    I didn't completely dislike like this book, I actually remember feeling it had similarities to The 39 Steps by John Buchan, which is an amazing action/adventure book. My biggest qualms with it was that just when the exciting part begins to happen to our main character it switches over to the side character and we later hear about all the excitement in a retelling and don't actually get to be there for it first hand. I remember quite a bit about this book but have no idea if I'll like it or not.

    While sixteen year old Bette is at school her mother has married an unknown man and gone off to France for her honeymoon. Bette is temporarily staying with her aunt during the summer holidays but as her aunt is about to head to Scotland to meet up with her husband, Bette has plans to stay with her friend Mavis. At the last minute Mavis writes that Bette can not come because her sibling has come down with the measles. Bette doesn't want to be a burden on her Aunt, who is very excited to go meet up with her husband, so she instead decides to invite herself to Grange Farm.

    Grange Farm is owned by Nicholas Ferndale, or Nicky, who is Bette's cousin. Bette has wonderful childhood memories of staying on the farm with her kind, dotting cousin and is excited to see him. While fighting in Cyprus with the British army Nicky was at one point missing and considered dead when he suddenly returned looking rougher and with a harder personality. He came back to the farm, shooed away his cousins Hugh and Clover, and replaced all the workmen.

    When arriving in town Bette is mistakenly taken to Hugh and Clover, who run a small shop. They tell her they're surprised to hear she is going to the farm as Nicky is not very hospitable. Bette receives a cold reception at the farm and Nicky tells her she can not stay. At that moment a plane crashes and Nicky and Bette rush out to rescue the pilot. 

    He is Ian Trent, a former Cyprus fighter, and refers to Nicky by the name Smiler. The man must stay at the farm until he can be moved to the hospital and Nicky has Bette, who has had nurse training, stay to take care of him. After Ian and Nicky have a private conversation, Ian tells Bette he is in danger there and asks her to help him escape in the night and tells her that if anything should happen to him to call a man named J.B. Smith and inform him. Bette feels that Ian must be delirious from the crash but changes her mind when she returns to the farm, after visiting Hugh and Clover, and finds Ian gone.

Nicholas claims a friend came to pick up Ian but Bette later finds a message written in the dust on a shelf in Ian's room saying "Got me. Old Quarry, heard them. Tell Smith". 

    Later that evening Bette notices and unwisely remarks that Nicky is missing the tattoo on his arm. Bette then realizes that this man is not her cousin Nicky, rather an impostor who stole Nicky's identity and inheritance, presumably after the real Nicky had died in battle.

    After nightfall Bette sneaks out of the house to call J.B. Smith at a payphone but finds him out of town. She then heads to the Quarry where at the bottom she finds Ian Trent who has miraculously survived being thrown over the edge. Trent confirms that "Nicholas" is in fact Smiler, a tough customer who he knew in Cyprus and that Bette must not return to the farm house. She then plans to go get a doctor for Ian and then flee to Hugh and Clovers, however when she emerges from the quarry she finds the men searching for her. 

    She is able to communicate to Bobby, a little neighbor boy who is out searching for his lost pet, that a man is hurt in the Quarry and to go tell his father who just happens to be a policeman. Then the men spot her and she is forced to run into the Wychwood Forest where the men attempt to hunt her down with dogs. She crosses a stream to break the scent trail and, inspired by Charles II, climbs into a large oak tree where she waits. 

    Once the men have given up the search for the night she goes farther into the woods where she takes a nasty fall and goes unconscious. Upon waking in the morning she finds herself hopelessly lost and eventually stumbles upon a cottage where an elderly woman lives. The woman feeds her and mends her clothes but when Bette tries telling her story and expressing the importance of her getting medical help for Ian Trent, the woman does not believe her and advises Bette to rest while she contacts Grange Farm to come get her. 

    Fear over takes Bette and she runs out of the cottage looking for a house where she can use a telephone but all of them are closed for the season. Finally coming to the road Bette hails a van and accepts a ride from a man who turns out to be working for the fake Nicholas and takes her right back to Grange Farm where she is placed in a room in the cellar.

    Meanwhile Bobby, who is afraid of tell his father he had been out in the night, is able to get his friend to make an anonymous call to his policeman father and thus Ian Trent is rescued, which leads to a number of questions. Unfortunately Ian cannot answer them since he's unconscious.

    From here the story switches to Hugh and Clover who have been impatiently awaiting Bette. They receive a telegram signed by her stating that she has gone to London however they feel uneasy about the message and that feeling grows when they learn of Ian Trent mysterious presence in the Quarry. 

    Hugh and Tim, a sharp witted young man who is temporarily working at Hugh and Clovers shop, bike out to Grange Farm to ask some questions. While they are gone the fake Nicholas arrives at the shop and gives Clover a lovely box containing jewelry for them to sell, however he insists the box must be returned to him later. Meanwhile Hugh and Tim have received a rude welcoming from Mrs. Della, the house keeper, and decide to sneak into the house where they find Bette's locket in one of the rooms. On the way out they run into Nicholas who informs him he left Bette at the train station that morning. 

    They then bike to the train station where the man working there informs him no one fitting Bette's description had been there. Very worried they sit down on a bus stop bench to talk things out. The elderly woman next to them overheard and informs them that Bette had been to her cottage in the woods that morning but that she had ran away after the woman hadn't believed her story. 

    Tim then calls J.B. Smith from a telephone and finds he had arrived home that morning but was out at the present time. As they bike back to the shop Tim, who is familiar with Smith, recognizes him coming out of Grange Farms driveway where he had been to ask questions regarding Ian Trent. Tim and Hugh explain the situation to the man who seems to take the news very seriously and appears worried. He visits the shop later that night to acquire more information and after he leaves Hugh and Tim take a look at the box Nicholas brought and become suspicious of it's small interior. Tim, always sharp, looks for a false bottom and finds one in which is money and 2 printing plates. They become suspicious that Nicholas is printing counterfeit money and brought the box to their shop to hide it since so many policemen have been around the farm asking questions about Ian Trent. 

    They tell their story to an inspector but when Nicholas shows up he denies ever seeing the box before and the inspector appears to believe him. The next day they find a plainclothes policeman watching their shop and it's clear that they're under suspicion. Clover asks Hugh and Tim to go back to Grange Farm and when they arrive they find it completely deserted aside from the farm animals. It appears that "Nicholas" and his gang have cleared out.

    Then miraculously the real Nicky makes a surprise appearance at the shop soon followed by J.B Smith. We learn that Nicky had been having trouble reentering the country without his identification, which had been stolen by Smiler, but that J.B. Smith had helped fix things. J.B. then tells the group that Grange Farm is on fire and they all head over to extinguish it. 

    The next morning J.B. and Nicky pick up Hugh and Clover to go see Bette who is safe. Bette has been laying low at the old lady's cottage in the woods and after her reunion with Nicky they all settle down to hear her story.

    After being placed in the cellar Smiler comes to talk to Bette and tells her that she knows too much and therefore he can't release her and gives indications that he plans to keep her quiet for good. Later Mrs. Della says she will help Bette escape as long as she promises to stay in hiding for one week. J.B Smith then informs Bette that her "escape" was actually Smiler's plan as it gave him and the gang a week to clear out. Once Bette is out of the farm house she makes a run into the woods headed for the cottage when she is grabbed by a man, J.B. who had been keeping a constant eye on the farm. Fearing that he was one of the gang she kicks him and runs for it, he trails her and seeing her arrive safe at the cottage leaves her be. 

    Then Nicky tells his story. He had met Smiler, who was not a fellow soldier but a wealthy gangster in Cyprus, when he had been captured and injured. While recovering in a hospital Smiler visits him and suggests he take a 2 week trip on his yacht. Nicky takes him up on his offer and has a lovely time until one night when he is beaten, robbed, and tossed overboard. He later is rescued but suffers from amnesia. Upon recovering his memory he tries to come home just to be told Nicholas Ferdale had already returned home a year ago. 

    This is where J.B. Smiths story comes in. Smith, a lawyer who had been working on solving the mysterious counterfeiting, had gone to Grange Farm upon receiving the message Bette had left for him. There he immediately recognized Smiler and so begins his search for the real Nicholas. And then the real kicker comes in; J.B. Smith is the unknown man Bette's mother had married which explains why he was not home when Bette called, he was on his honeymoon.

    The book ends one month later with J.B., Bette's Mother, Nicky, Bette, Clover, Hugh, Tim, and Ian all enjoying a good time at Grange Farm. Smiler has been caught, Tim has been permanently hired on at the shop, Hugh and Nicky are now partners at the farm, Bette adores her new step-father, and there even seems to be some chemistry between Bette and Ian.

- When looking at other peoples reviews almost all of them mention this book as talking about WW2 when it mentions Nicholas's army experiences. But it's actually the Cyprus Emergency that he fought in. This book does not have a copyright date but looking it up it was published in 1961 which lines up with the Cyprus Emergency which took place 1955-1959 (if you're unfamiliar with this historical event as I was, it was when Cyprus fought to end the British's ruling over it). It also mentions EOKA (National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters) which confirms it.

- There's a chapter called The Nine Lives of Ian Trent which is just such a cool chapter title to me. This is one of the things that remind me of The 39 Steps along with Bette's being pursued on foot, meeting people along her journey, and being captured and locked in a room.

- After Bette has been captured the rest of the story switches to Hugh and Clover and we don't see Bette again until the end. This is really frustrating as Hugh and Clovers part of the book is not as interesting as Bette's.

- The whole bit with the inspector and the box is kind of annoying. When Clover, Hugh, and Tim show the inspector the printing plates and forged money he appears to believe Nicholas over the three. What's more likely; that 3 teenagers with a small second hand shop are printing excellent counterfeit money or that the wealthy grown man with a large isolated farm who is under suspicion for a pilot becoming seriously injured and an underage girl disappearing, while both in his care, has been printing counterfeit money on his large, isolated farm?

- On page 147 Clover is accidentally called Bette ("What on Earth?" cried Bette who sat in the shop polishing some old glass."). I'm curious if this mistake is removed from the Retro Classics Publishing edition of this book.

- Is it just me or are sparks flying between Bette and Ian at the end. I kind of need a sequel telling me what happens with those two.

    I didn't really take a lot of notes as I was rather engrossed in the story, it's a good book. I do still get a bit annoyed when the story switches over to Hugh and Clover. Not much is happening with Bette at the time so it makes sense that the story switches but still, I wish it would switch back and forth or even switch to J.B. at some point. There just wasn't enough with Hugh and Clover to stay on them for 90+ pages in my opinion. 

Sara Gay Model Girl

    I heard about this series years ago and was extremely intrigued by it but because it's a British series it can be a little hard to get at an affordable price overseas.

    

    I recall thinking it was an alright book but not good enough that I had to immediately get the other 3 books in the series. I can't really remember anything about it except for a little fashion show Sara and the other models at school give as well as Sara's audition at the end with the water and funny hat.

- Pretty quickly into the story I remember why I didn't like it; the rivalry between Sara and Nina.

Sara can't afford to attend the Lena Lane modeling school so Ms. Lane puts her up for the schools scholarship. However Ms. Lanes assistant, Lydia, is trying to get her niece, Nina, the scholarship. Nina is already an up-and-coming model with plenty of money but winning the scholarship is apparently such an honor that it gives your reputation a big step up in the modeling world.

    To help make sure Sara doesn't receive the scholarship Lydia lies to her about the interview time being changed, which Sara blinding believed even though Ms. Lane had made the actual time very clear. After showing up late for the interview Sara runs into Nina who straight up tells Sara she has no chance of getting the scholarship, especially when compared to herself ("Poor Aunt Lydia, however could she have seen you as any sort of competition for the scholarship!"). 

    Nina's dialogue is extremely over the top to let you know she's the evil enemy. It made me roll my eyes. Sara of course remains super sweet and believes Nina when she says she's better than Sara which makes it a total surprise when Sara is awarded it. I think we're suppose to take this as meaning Sara is humble but it comes off as gullible.

    It's annoying, it's overdone, and it's transparent. Not only that but I can't stand books where the main character has a nemesis that's always causing trouble. It's one of the reasons I don't enjoy The Dana Girls series.

- One of Sara's fellow students is Marion Richards who everyone is shocked and disgusted to see because eww, she's fat or, as the book says, "lumpy" and a size fourteen...the horror! Sara assumes Marion must be very conceited to think she could ever be pretty enough to be a model. I get that this is a book about models in the early 1960's which was known to be a negative environment but damn, this turns into intense bullying. The modeling students share a cafeteria with the charm school class and the models remarked that the other girls obviously aren't there for the modeling school cause so many of them are fat like Marion.

    "That explains it." a third girl remarked. "I didn't think they looked like future models. Some of them are quite fat."

    "They're not the only ones," Nina said and stared pointedly at Marion Richards, who flushed scarlet and turned away.

- Marion's weight is constantly discussed, it's like they're obsessed with it. When Sara goes out to lunch with Anne and Elspeth they talk about how Marion should be made to feel bad because, as Anne says "people should know their limitations and not try to put themselves where they don't belong". 

    They continue to talk about it on the walk back to the school, laughing over Marion being a model for diet pill "before" pictures. Then the meet up with Jean and Sylvie and they all talk about it. Upon arriving at the school they see Marion get out of a limo and decide she must be rich and have bought her way into the modeling school for which they immediately start to bully her in the coatroom. They surround her and start to verbally assault her, then Marion understandably gets upset and shoves her way out of the room they use that as "proof" that's she's a bad person, getting offended that she would leave when they were in the middle of hurling insults at her.

- A physiotherapist reviews all the students bodies and individually gives them exercises to reduce or build up any areas that are not ideal measurements. Sara is perfect and doesn't need to receive any. When all the girls go to the hair salon to get makeovers Sara is the only one whose hair is left untouched. She also naturally knows how to model without being taught. Ugh, perfect characters are so boring.

- One student is named Honey Wei. Even though we're told her name she is still referred to as "the Chinese girl" ("Sara (...) was classified with Nina and the Chinese girl").

- Sara ends up finding out the Marion doesn't actually want to be a model. Don't worry, she doesn't think she's pretty after all. She actually wants to be a vet and live on a farm with her boyfriend who she says isn't good looking either. 

    Marion confides in Sara that she's very unhappy because her mother is constantly trying to force her into her deceased sisters place. Her sister, Eva, was her mothers favorite and they shared a love of fashion, elegance, and refinement. After her passing Mrs. Richards started forcing Marion to occupy her place, all against Marion's will. 

    Mrs. Richards then shows up carrying a bouquet of tea roses (Eva's favorite flower) for Marion and then begins to complain about Marion wearing ready made clothes. Mrs. Richards then compliments Sara's looks and Sara admires the dress Mrs. Richards is wearing. Sara then decides Marion is clearly a selfish brat and should be thrilled to have a mother so interested in fashion. Who cares if she controls Marion whole life, forcing her onto a starvation diet, putting her into a modeling school where she gets bullied, forbidding her to follow her true career dreams, or ever see the man she loves because eww, he's poor.

- Things get even weirder with Mrs. Richards when she begins trying to turn Sara into Eva. She gives Sara one of her dresses, invites her to a charity ball and insists Sara spends the night and stay in Eva's room, which she has previously forbidden anyone else staying in. Sara is on-board because she gets a wealthy older friend who gives her expensive things and invites her to glamourous events. She continues to scold Marion over not appreciating her mother and tells Marion she should just be the daughter her mother wants.

- Apparently getting the Lena Lane scholarship and Gold Medal Award gets you to the top of the modeling world yet it didn't help Sara because she had a bad modeling photo. You'd think the clients would be interested in seeing her in person if she won the scholarship and award with such a bad photo. It doesn't add up.

- The photographers young assistant takes Sara out to dinner where she eats spaghetti for the first time. He admires her for being so willing to try something "so foreign". This was written in 1961 when spaghetti was already a common household meal in Britain. I guess the author didn't know any actual foreign foods.

    I think this is an interesting topic for a book series but I wasn't much of a fan of this. I rolled my eyes constantly over Sara and how perfect she was, the way she switched between timid and conceited so much, and her strange unsolicited advice to Marion. I'm still interested in reading the rest of the series eventually but I'm gonna let this one go for now.

Arden Blake: The Orchard Secret

The Orchard Secret is the first book in the Arden Blake series by Cleo F. Garis. I've been interested in this series mainly because Cleo is the daughter of Lilian Garis who wrote the Melody Lane series, among other books. I adore the Melody Lane books and I'm hoping Cleo's work is just as good as her mothers.

This 3 book series can be hard to get your hands on like many of the other series published by A.L.Burt. Unlike others this one was never republished by Saalfield or any other budget publishers. However I recently found all 3 books on Project Gutenberg so now I can delve into these mysteries without having to spend a fortune, or even spending anything at all (it's also available on Archive.org).

I read this book over 9 months so when I started writing this review I wasn't yet adding detailed plot summaries to my posts so I didn't have one for this. I'll just give a quick summary: Arden, Sim, and Terry have just arrive at Cedar Ridge College for Girls. Immediately they begin hearing about mysterious happenings going on in the school's apple orchard and they experience these first hand when they go into the orchard at night for a freshman hazing quest. Throughout the book they also rescue two men who have been mysteriously injured in the orchard. The other mysterious happenings is the school's old fire alarm bell ringing even though it's rope pull has long since been cut. Arden wants to solve these mysteries while also tracking down a missing young rich man who there is a $1,000 reward for.

- To my knowledge Arden Blake is just a normal girl with no previous involvement or interest in mysteries. However she says to Terry “If there’s any mystery here at Cedar Ridge we’ll have the time of our lives solving it. But I don’t believe there is." Why does Arden feel so confident that the 3 girls can solve a mystery so easily? Also how do they know no other students might what to solve it themselves?

- The cliffhanger at the end of chapter one is quite weak. Sim mentions swimming in the campus pool;

"“Listen, freshie!” she exclaimed, “let me tell you something about that pool!”

The three girls looked at their guide apprehensively. Was there something mysterious about the pool, as the taxi-man had intimated there was about the orchard?"

No, Miss Everett simply tells the girls that the pool is long broken and used to store vegetables now.

- When asked why the pool hasn't been fixed Miss Everett says it's due to lack of money partially because of the depression. I adore when these old books have plots effected by the great depression, it adds a sense of realness to them.

- The hazing in these old college books is always so creepy to me. On the first day there the dean pretty much tells the freshmen girls to shut up and take it;

"Miss Anklon, “Tiddy” to the initiated, implied that as far as instructions along those lines went, the sophomores would not be long in making such matters clear to the freshmen. But it was all to be taken in a sporting manner and in the end would do much to cement friendships and foster school spirit, smiled Tiddy."

Cause nothing fosters school spirit like being abused and degraded daily, right?

- When the girls go to the post office they stop to look at the wanted posters. Arden becomes interested in one of an attractive and familiar looking young man. The poster reads;

"“Harry Pangborn,” the statement read, “is not wanted on any criminal charge whatever. He disappeared from his friends and his usual haunts merely, it is surmised, because he was expected to assume the duties and responsibilities of the large estate he was about to inherit from his grandfather. It is understood that he stated he did not want the inheritance just yet. Of a high-strung and nervous temperament, Mr. Pangborn is believed to have gone away because the responsibilities of wealth are distasteful to him and also, perhaps, because he seeks adventure, of which he is very fond. If this meets his eye or if anyone can convey to him the information that he will be permitted to assume as much or as little of the estate as he wishes, a great service will have been done. All that is desired is that Harry Pangborn will return to his friends and relatives as soon as possible. His hasty action will be overlooked. It is rumored that Mr. Pangborn may be in the vicinity of Morrisville, though he may have gone abroad, as he was fond of foreign travel."

I feel like this is way too much personal information to be sharing on a wanted poster. Why not have it simply say he is not a wanted criminal, his inheritance is waiting for him, and his family wants him home. Also it's very obvious Tom is Harry Pangborn and the $1,000 reward will be used to fix the swimming pool, I'm calling it now.

- Multiple times it mentions that "so much" had happened on the girls' first day at college but that's really not true. All that happened was they were shown to their room, the dean addressed all the girls in the freshman hall, they invited girls back to their room for cake, and they wrote letters home before bed. How is that "so much"?

- When the girls find Tom unconscious in the orchard and think he might be a dead body they run up to him instead of away. That's one thing I like about the 1930's series, the girls were just tougher.

- I find it annoying how the dean grounds the girls for Sim breaking curfew. They're grown adults in college, being grounded is too juvenile.

- Arden is constantly thinking people look familiar but not able to place them. I'm surprised she doesn't think Sim and Terry look familiar but can't figure who they are.

- As Arden and Terry are walking to class Anson Yaeger tells them to stay out of the orchard and starts to explain what's going on there when Terry interrupts by telling Arden "lets not stand here and listen to him". This was dumb and annoying.

- Arden's form is seen leaving the police station and everyone, including the dean, immediately assumes a college girl was arrested and it's scandalous. This is also dumb and annoying.

- At 9 o'clock the lights in the housing building all go out, including in all the dorms. This means people don't have control of their lights in their own rooms which is really weird.

- The girls along with 3 other girls decide to get a midnight snack from the kitchen and end up taking 4 pies and 2 chickens! That's so much for a snack for 6 and I feel like it's kind of rude since that food is for all the students.

- Arden is so positive the Dean is lying about a ram causing the attacks in the orchard that she goes to investigate. Then a ram appears and tries to attack her. This made me burst out laughing. She was so sure there was no ram that it was just really funny ("I don't see any ram hooves marks, obviously there was no ram" *turns around* "oh god, a ram!").

- As I expected the answer to the mystery was not so mysterious. I expected this since this is how Cleo's mother, Lilian, wrote mysteries. Tom, of course, ends up being Harry Pangborn but Arden doesn't realize until he shaves his mustache at the end (how big must his mustache have been to disguise his whole face?). He's run away to learn to grow apples since that's his dream and with that accomplished he is heading home. The girls beg to be allowed to claim the reward money for finding him, even though they didn't find him.

    All the other mysterious happenings were caused by Anson who wanted to create a mystery just so he could solve it with the hope it would get him a raise but all he got was fired.

Overall I did not like this book. I thought it occasionally had good atmosphere like the foggy day when Arden sneaks off campus to the post office but as for the story itself, it's just not substantial at all. It felt very weak and boring. I don't think Cleo Garis was a very talented writer and assume she just gave it a try because that was the Garis family trade. I might end up reading the other two books someday but certainly not for awhile.

Peggy Lane: Peggy Plays Off-Broadway

    This is the first and only Peggy Lane book I have read. I recall finding the beginning boring but liking it once I got farther in. I consider the Peggy Lane series to be one of the three "glamorous series" Grosset and Dunlap put out at this time. The other series all feature more average girls; Nancy Drew is a suburban daughter, Judy Bolton is a housewife, Cherry Ames is a nurse, the Dana Girls are schoolgirls, pretty much they are all embellished version of everyday women. However Peggy is an actress who later travels to Hollywood, Vicki Barr is a flight stewardess who travels to exciting locations, and Connie Blair is a big city career woman. Anyways I'm getting off topic in my analysis of Grosset & Dunlap series.

    "In the second book of a thrilling new series for girls, Peggy Lane, aspiring young actress, takes her first important step up the ladder of success. She lands a small part in Randy Brewster's experimental play Come Closer--a part she secretly suspects Randy wrote especially of her.

Unknowns all, the cast is headed by lovely Paula Andrews, an inspiration on stage but something of a problem otherwise. Hit's don't just happen for an experimental group. They are created out of hardships and disappointments. The show's production is threatened with financial difficulties, and everyone's hopes now depend in the special presentation they are to give for a prospective backer. When Paula, at the last minute, backs out, Mal Seton, the director, blows up. Peggy, he says, can have the part.

    Peggy, knowing she is not yet ready for a leading role, proposes a radical solution. The, trying to help Paula, who appears tense and troubled, Peggy inadvertently discovers a mystery that cannot be unraveled until Peggy herself resolves a dilemma!"

- I think it was pretty mean of Peggy to tell Paula how she knows the director and that Paula will most likely get the part. What if she didn't? She shouldn't have gotten her hopes up like that when she wasn't sure.

- There's a lot of talk about how actors have to look just right for the part, that it doesn't matter how good they can act if they don't look just right. But then Mal tells Greta he cast her because of her acting and her appearance will have to be changed to match the characters. I hope no one was hoping to get casting advice from this book.

- The Penthouse Theater sounds interesting. The main floor is rooms for rehearsal, the second is the theater, and the third is rented rooms for actors. Apparently Peggy finds the theater for her friend in the first book and there's a mystery involved with it. Definitely has me intrigued.

- I don't understand why any of these girls in any of these series can't have steady boyfriends. Peggy and Randy have some weird non-relationship kind of relationship where they date, kiss goodnight, and Peggy even gets jealous thinking about him dating other girls in the past yet it's made very clear they are not dating.

- I think it's very selfish of Paula to accept money from Peggy and her friends. Paula wouldn't need money if she would give up her expensive park avenue apartment but she won't because she "likes it there". I Remember how this book ends and so I know Paula actually has money and is just playing some strange game of "poor girl". The people she's taking money from are actually trying to make it on their own and need that money themselves. Not only that but couldn't Mal just give her an advance on her pay since he was given a lot more money then he had asked for from that British backer.

- I find it strange that Amy and Peggy skip a night of rehearsal to set up a little friendship party in Paula's apartment. This isn't a school play put on for fun, it's a professional one with a lot riding on it's success. They aren't getting paid to skip rehearsals.

- The final chapter opens with Peggy writing a letter to her friend Jean Wilson. It took me forever to figure out where I'd heard that name before. I kept thinking it must have been in a Nancy Drew book or maybe even an episode of I Love Lucy. Finally I remembered it's from an episode of Faulty Towers.

    Overall this book was alright, it dragged a little in places and wasn't filled with very many thrills but it did go by fast.