Second Term at Trebizon

Fun, as always. Very easy to read, and I whizzed through it in a couple of days while on holiday - fast, for me. Though they're a touch dated now, they were refreshingly contemporary when I first discovered them when they were written, having grown up with Enid Blyton and Chalet School school stories which seemed more like stories than real life.

12 year old Rebecca Mason is about to start her second term at her new boarding school, where she has settled in with the help of new classmates. When she meets up with two of them at the end of the holidays she discovers one of them is behaving rather mysteriously. Her uncharacteristic behaviour continues through the term, but is finally explained at the end. In the meantime, the hockey team show more have to rise to the challenge of competing in the Gold Cup despite undergoing reorganisations, with key members unable to play.

I'm enjoying re-reading the Trebizon series. Unfortunately, details that made it contemporary at the time do date it, so young readers today might not identify with it; for instance, Tish is proud of her new cassette recorder. That's something that I could have had at that age (but didn't) and certainly, not everyone would have. Now, every child and his dog plays with electronic items, and my 10 year old (still in primary) wants an iPod or an iPhone because (apparently) 'all his friends have one'.

Still, they are more connected with the real world, rather than - for instance - foiling burglars, as I vaguely recollect Blyton's school girls doing. And it shows that the girls come from different backgrounds, both ethnic and financial, as well as a bit of Rebecca's home life and matches with other schools, so the school itself doesn't exist in a bubble.

This was fun; a nostalgic trip down memory lane. Unfortunately, my Kindle edition was full of spelling mistakes, most commonly mixing 'm's and 'nn's.

4 stars show less

Terrific story once again. I'm so happy I found this series of books, they're so good. I can understand how a lot of people would get fed up with Tish's antics in the books, she does go to great lengths to make her best friend happy even at the expense of losing everyone's sympathy, including the reader's. The story is surprisingly fleshed out in so few pages and I was pleasantly surprised to see the switch in point of view when the story called for it. Very very nice and I look forward to reading the rest.