In 1917, the first eleven chapters of the book were published under the same name, Uncle Frank's Mary, and the subsequent seven chapters, along with five newly written ones, were published as The Quest of Mary Selwyn.

    Isabel is a high school senior, and her last year at school is crowded with good times, real friendships and wholesome sacrifice. An accident, which nearly becomes a tragedy, furnishes the action which girls demand in their stories. The characterization is refreshing: the scholarly, absent-minded professor; the understanding, comradely mother; the lively little sisters, - are all drawn with vitality. There is an unobtrusive emphasis on the higher thing of life: frequent mention of the books that Isabel read, an atmosphere of genuine culture in her home which unconsciously gives a little different background from that of the usual book for girls." -The Bellman