Elinor M. Brent-Dyer (1894–1969)

Very short novel, less than 100 pages, but very eventful. The story is a about a new house mistress at a boarding school for girls, who substitutes a beloved teacher who has left the school. Because of that, the girls under her care (the middles, around 14 years olds, led by a girl called Barbara) are hostile and determined not to like her. The story, as could be expected, is about how the new mistress earns the girls' trust.

As it was so short, there were not many details about how the girls try to wage war against their new housemistress. There's just little time. There is always something going on. School plays, fires, rescues... always something.

Rather sentimental and featuring extraordinary coincidences. Not great literature, but I found it charming and entertaining.
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Needing to support herself and her sister Josephine "Jo", Madge Bettany decides to open a school in an Austrian chalet in a location she and her sister enjoyed visiting in the past. A lot of time in this first installment was spent introducing readers to the girls attending, but readers are alerted to potential problems brewing when a couple of students show disregard for rules earlier in the book. Most of the big problems occur near the end of this installment, and readers know they'll be introduced to a few more students in the next installment. I don't think this book will translate well for 21st century girls, but older readers will appreciate the reminders of simpler times.… (más)