Summer Term at St. Clare's

I hadn't read this for at least 25 years, and was surprised at how much I liked it. Somewhat caricatured people, of course; and yet despite the book being over 80 years old the conversations and situations feel mostly quite fresh and up-to-date.

There are five new girls in the first form at St Clare's, each one very different from each other, and the book mostly charts the way they settle in (or not) and their interactions with the rest of the class. Some positive ethical issues are demonstrated, with high value given to honesty, hard work and loyalty.

Regularly re-printed, I would recommend these books to anyone over the age of about eight, including adults like myself who first came across them fifty years ago (or more).

Longer show more review: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2024/11/summer-term-at-st-clares-by-enid-bl... show less

I read school stories because, as a rule, the authors encourage girls to strive for themselves and be very active in different things (school clubs, sports, etc). The problem with this book, which wasn't so prevalent in the first one, is that the plot doesn't revolve around a mystery, or who's going to a win a competition, or whether a pupil's piece is good enough for the school's journal. Each chapter has a new prank played on one of the teachers and there's a lot of bullying going on - in one scene, one of the girls almost drowns and at first she's teased solely because she's a good student. I really abbhor this kind of attitude and it seems Enid Blyton encouraged it, often having one of the teachers comment on a good student that she show more 'should laugh more'. To each their own, Enid, to each their own. Some students like studying and the sort of pranks your characters play don't appeal to everyone. Also, my primary reason for adoring boarding school stories in particular is that a lot can happen outside of class - sadly, nothing much happens here until the end, which is a real shame as I think girls living together is an ideal way for friendships to blossom in unusual circumstances. I missed the description of tuck boxes and food in this too, there weren't that many. This was a frustrating book but I loved the setting too much to give it less than three stars. show less

As I mentioned in the review for the previous book, this series has a lot of similarities with Malory Towers. The same class of teachers and principal, the same kind of girls... we have here the American girl who, inevitably, is vain and only cares about her appearance. We got that in Malory Towers too. Come on, Enid, using that stereotype once is OK, but if you use it too much it becomes tiresome.

Anyway, quite entertaining book of boarding school fun, with its doses of character development, adventures and studying.

Better kindlelization than the other St. Clare's, but still. Pretty poor. What a shame!

The story is a typical Blyton.

Novels/novelettes

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Isabel (Hanni) und Patricia (Nanni) verpassen in ihrem dritten Trimester die erste Woche - Quarantäne wegen Mumps. Glücklicherweise haben sich die beiden nicht angesteckt, und mit leichter Verspätung starten sie in die "neuen Abenteuer" (entsprechend dem deutschen Titel des dritten Bands). Auch in diesem Trimester gibt es neue Schülerinnen, die in ihrem Temperament nicht unterschiedlicher sein könnten - Carlotta kann kaum ruhig auf einem Stuhl sitzen, Sadie, eine Amerikanerin, hat - dem Klischee entsprechend - nur Mode und Aussehen im Kopf und hat Isabels und Pats Cousine schon ganz in ihren Bann gezogen. Dann ist da noch Prudence, die, ihrem Namen entsprechend, sich den anderen moralisch überlegen fühlt, Bobby, die show more hauptsächlich Flausen im Kopf hat, und schließlich der scheue Bücherwurm Pamela.
Wie auch in den anderen Bänden läuft die Geschichte darauf hinaus, dass die Schülerinnen von St. Clares sich charakterlich entwickeln sollen - und da ist des den Lehrerinnen und Erzieherinnen lieber, sie übertreten die Regeln, stehen dazu und erkennen, warum sie sich besser anders verhalten hätten, als dass sie immer nur brav sind und dann meinen, die anderen verpetzen zu müssen. Und Standesdünkel, egal welcher Art, ist gar nicht gern gesehen.

Der Fokus des dritten Bands liegt stark auf der unterschiedlichen Entwicklung der "Neuen", Pat und Isabel sind im Prinzip nur der Ankerpunkt der Geschichte. Was dem (Wieder-)lesevergnügen keinen Abbruch tut, und im Vergleich mit meiner alten deutschen Version wird auch deutlich, dass das nicht einfach eine Übersetzung ist, sondern dass der Text für die deutsche Fassung angepasst wurde. show less