Book Club

[Oznell]

My mother put me on to the engrossing "Cherry Ames" mystery series by Helen Wells and Julie Campbell, when I was about 10 or 12,  and the two stellar teenage detective series' written by Julie Campbell,  "Trixie Belden" (at least, the first six were written by Julie),  and "Ginny Gordon".   

Today, we were idly browsing an antique shop in a neighboring town, and I found a set of the first four "Cherry Ames",  plus two later ones.  In nice condition.  (All in all, there are over 2 dozen books in the series!) 

These are wonderful books for children in your life.  In addition to finding them in thrift shops and while antiquing, Amazon has second hand copies too.

It's World War II,  and Cherry (short for "Charity") is an idealistic young woman in small town Illinois.  A family friend, Dr. Joe Fortune, has inspired her to go into nursing, a badly needed profession during the crisis and shortages of war.

Cherry trains at a big, metropolitan hospital, "Spencer", makes life-long friends, starts a love affair with nursing, and oh, solves a few mysteries along the way.  Of course, there are a few distracting interns around too.  I remember one dynamic sandy-haired charmer that Cherry liked--  "Lex" or "Lexington" or something.... 

After Spencer,  Cherry plunges right into the war effort, gets shipped around the world, and post-war, enjoys a million different nursing settings.  I remember really liking "Army Nurse",  "Country Doctor Nurse",  "Cruise Nurse"-- really all of them I could get my hands on.

Illinois author Helen Wells adored New York City, and soon in the series she has Cherry clubbing with other nursing school pals to rent an apartment in Greenwich Village.  This becomes the base for the women, and they fan out from there, taking other jobs, but apparently, hanging on to the adorable apartment and returning whenever they land a job in New York...

Cherry is resourceful, curious, deeply compassionate, adventurous, and with the highest integrity, a terrific role model for young girls.  I remember even as a kid, being struck by her sense of service and patriotism during the war time books.  She wanted to be part of something much bigger than herself.

So, while they originated in the 1940's,  the books are timeless and perfect for any generation.   We got "The Hardy Boys" for our son, who liked them, despite also being far removed from the Hardys' generation.  I'm a little less familiar with "Nancy Drew" than the books I've mentioned here, but also respect what went into those inspiring books for girls.  Nancy had such smarts and spunk.

Oh, boy, I've been decluttering my book collection, but now have six more that I couldn't resist getting.  They will be fun to re-visit though.

         

[KailaS]

Great find.  I read books from that series when I was about 10 or 11.  

[KathyM23]

I spend way too much time reading and always have.  I read all the Cherry Ames books, Trixie Belden (I remember getting a Trixie book for Christmas one year), Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Beverly Gray and Polly French.

One of my favorite books when young was "Paper Moon".  It later reminded me of the Mary Tyler Moore TV program.

In high school I was picked by the Librarian to be her assistant in our school library.  Loved doing that.  Also worked for the Guidance Conselor (nothing to do with reading but I also enjoyed that)

[Somertime]

Oh, @Oznell , what memories you have brought back for me!  I must have read every single one along with Nancy Drew and another favorite, Vicki Bar, Airline Stewardess. They enhanced my joy of reading, the places they took me, the careers they had...opened all possibilities that I could live on my own, support myself, have a career, travel.  Expanding a young mind but mainly exposing a mind to the wonders of dreams, the powerful language of words that create an opportunity to travel and visit where ever you wish without leaving your favorite chair.

Thank you so much for bringing these cherished people back for me to remember how glorious they were to a very young girl!

[AuntG]

I have one of those on my bookshelf although I preferred Nancy Drew books.

[Harpa]

I never heard of this gal! Nancy Drews, though, were flying back & forth in grade school. And later, Frank & Joe Hardy.

You can listen to a lot of these old series in youtube. I'll try to check one out this week.

Thanks, @Oznell !

[Jasmine19]

I loved the Cherry Ames series and read them all. Sue Barton was another good series that follows a student nurse from training to various nursing careers. These books inspired me to become an RN and eventually a nurse practitioner.

[Oznell]

@KathyM23 , what an honor you were picked!  I would have loved doing school library stuff too.. We 'bookish' types eat that up....

@Somertime ,  "Vicki Barr" was good--  Helen Wells and Jullie Campbell (married name, Tatham) alternated in writing those books too!

@Harpa ,  you're most welcome!

@Jasmine19 ,   how fantastic that that inspired you in your choice of career!   I can see why, too.       

[candyagain]

Nancy Drew was my all time favorite. But I read Cherry Ames and the Hardy Boys. Also Little Women and Little Men. I loved to read, still do.