Best Friends in Summer

Suzie and Co-Co, best friends and now sisters, find themselves embarking on the summer vacation of a lifetime in this second volume devoted to their adventures, following upon the initial Best Friends. With Mother and Papa safely married, and off honeymooning in San Francisco, the two girls travel to the beautiful Golden Valley Ranch, owned by Grandmother and Grandfather's friends, the Reillys. Here, in the company of Reilly granddaughters Judy and Debby, Suzie and Co-co enjoy a summer of riding - Suzie on the beautiful black horse, Starlight, and Co-Co on the French-language-loving donkey, Stubborn - and excitement. Initial jealousies and their resultant arguments soon give way to cooperation - thanks to the lovely Betsy, and her show more lessons on "group living" - and when danger threatens one of the girls, another rises wonderfully to the occasion.

As with the first title devoted to the doings of Suzie and Co-Co, I enjoyed Best Friends in Summer, finding it lighthearted and fun. The process whereby the two best friends become true sisters is convincingly laid out, with little heavy-handed didacticism. Given the publication date (1960), I was initially a little leery when I discovered that there were going to be some Indian (Native American) characters, especially when Debby turns out to have an interest in anthropology, and collecting Indian relics, but I thought that Walter and Jimmy were fairly engaging characters, and appreciated the joking references to stereotypical "Indian talk" that the characters use when teasing one another. All in all, an entertaining entry in this series, one that has made me eager to obtain the third and final title, Best Friends at School, which follows Suzie and Co-Co to boarding school! show less