Book picks similar to
Isabel Carleton's Year by Margaret Ashmun


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Two Chalet School Girls in India


Priyadarshini Narendra - 2006
    The Robin is also in need of a break, after losing her father earlier in the year. The visit will change their lives forever, and the friendships they make will have long-lasting repercussions. This is the book that Chalet School fans across the world have been waiting for. Elinor M. Brent-Dyer’s story of what happened when Joey Bettany and the Robin visited India was never published, and no trace of it remains. Readers seemed destined never to know the answers to questions ranging from how did Joey meet Erica Standish’s mother, to why Joey tore out the pictures from Mollie’s copy of Queechy? Now Priyadarshini Narendra has written her own version of the story, remaining as true to the Chalet School series as possible. Priyadarshini lives near Delhi, and has been a Chalet School collector since the age of six.With a foreword by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer’s biographer, Helen McClelland, explaining the history of the original book.

Wedding in the Family


Rosamond du Jardin - 1958
    She was delighted that her sister and Brose were so happy, and thrilled with the wedding festivities, but sad that Tobey would be leaving home. The best man, Johnny Randall--an older man-- catches Midge's eye. But Johnny's behavior and brotherly advice from Brose make her act her age. Later in the summer, Midge goes with her family and her friend Judy to the lake resort where the Heydons spend their vacations. It is there where Midge finds herself attracted to a good-looking, smooth, popular young man. Will she fall for this one or will her friend Tom Brooks help her see the light?

The Lark in the Morn


Elfrida Vipont - 1948
    Along with three older brothers who are currently away at school, dreamy, untidy Kit has been raised by their young, energetic cousin Laura. Ever since the death of Professor Haverard s wife, Laura has given herself to maintaining an ordered life for her uncle, conscientiously caring for his children, but also jealously protecting him from the day to day affairs of the household.Though Kit is a frustration to her orderly cousin, a stranger to her father and a puzzle to herself, she finds comfort in the realm of make-believe in books and in time shared with her close friends Pony and Helen. Her world begins to expand when, after an illness, she goes to stay with members of her mother's family whom she has never met. To her own amazement, Kit discovers within herself a deep love for music and as a person and as a singer she begins to raise her voice.

Best Friends


Mary Bard - 1955
    Someone to vent to, giggle with, and someone to help her face Millicent and the Select Seven at school every day. Those girls are boy crazy, talk in codes, and call Suzie “teacher’s pet.” It’s not easy being a teacher’s kid! And it’s not easy being eleven, going on twelve, without a best friend. Then Co Co Langdon moves in next door. Suzie has never met anyone like Co Co. First, she’s from France and has traveled all over the world. And second, she’s never been to school, having been tutored by the ultra-strict Mademoiselle. But now that Co Co is in America, she will go to school for the very first time. And Suzie will finally have a best friend by her side! First published in 1955, Best Friends follows two girls through one unforgettable school year as they take on mean girls, a cranky neighbor, boys, and a missing beloved neighborhood dog—but most of all, as they find out what it truly means to be best friends.

Four Girls at Chautauqua


Pansy - 1876
    Mitchell, Ruth's most intimate friend. Lighthearted and indifferent, Eurie knew how to laugh and chat merrily in any and all circumstances.Flossy Shipley, born to a wealthy family to be loved and cherished and allowed to have her own sweet and precious way.Marion Wilbur, a young woman of poor, yet hard working stock. She dressed in severely plain black or brown suits with almost--and sometimes quite--no trimmings at all on them. And yet, for all her apparent plainness, she ruled them all.Though they didn't know it, all four were about to embark on the adventure of their lives!Heartwarming stories of faith and love by Grace Livingston Hill's aunt—Isabella Alden. Each book is similar in style and tone to Hill's and is set in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Visitors for the Chalet School


Helen McClelland - 1995
    Brent-Dyer's own titles, but a new story written by the president of The New Chalet Club, following notes left by Brent-Dyer. Patricia Davidson hopes to train as a doctor but is prevented from realising her ambition by her possessive mother. Luckily, on a school trip to the Austrian Tyrol, Patricia meets Joey Bettany and other members of the Chalet School and is guided by them to find a way of convincing her mother of her future plans. Interspersed with a dramatic accident and typical practical jokes by the Middles, and with all of the Brent-Dyer pace and style, this is a book in the true Chalet School tradition.

The Curious Charms Of Arthur Pepper: Free Sample


Phaedra Patrick - 2016
     8 Golden Charms. One Man’s Journey of Discovery. “[A] charming, unforgettable story.” – Harper’s BazaarHaving been married for over 40 years, 69-year-old Arthur Pepper is mourning the loss of his wife. On the anniversary of her death, he finally musters the courage to go through her possessions, and happens upon a charm bracelet that he has never seen before.What follows is a surprising adventure that takes Arthur from London to Paris and India in an epic quest to find out the truth about his wife’s secret life before they met, a journey that leads him to find healing, self-discovery, and love in the most unexpected of places.

A Sweet Girl Graduate


L.T. Meade - 1891
    Benet's College for Women, but it is threatened by false accusation. Never a seeker of popularity, Priscilla holds true to her noble character. But is she prepared for what it will cost her?"A Sweet Girl Graduate is a vivid and detailed description of college life among a perfect bevy of young misses in the old English university town of Kingsdene. It follows the fortunes of a young Devonshire lass who goes away to college and finds herself among entirely different conditions of life and points of view than those that prevail in her own narrow village." -from: The Critic, Volume 16, 1891Originally published in 1891 as A Sweet Girl Graduate, then reprinted in 1998 as Priscilla's Promise, part of Harvest House Publishers' "Victorian Bookshelf Series."

The Nicest Girl in the School


Angela Brazil - 1909
    Patty Hirst was no great scholar, but she was the "nicest girl" at Morton Priory, and a gifted artist as well.

The Little Colonel


Annie Fellows Johnston - 1895
    Published in 1895, this is the first in the series of books about Lloyd Sherman, the Little Colonel.

Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch


Alice Caldwell Hegan Rice - 1901
    Wiggs scrabbles for survival with her brood of five children.

George, Don't Do That ...


Joyce Grenfell - 1977
    This edition contains all the material in the original volumes of George, Don't Do That and Stately as a Galleon, including the bloodthirsty 'Ethel' and the unforgettable nursery school monologues.

By the Light of the Study Lamp


Carolyn Keene - 1934
    The girls plan to place it in their study room at Starhurst when they return for their sophomore year. But before the girls leave, the lamp is stolen! After the sisters return to Starhurst, they discover the lamp in a secondhand shop and buy it back. Unwittingly, the girls make an enemy of their classmate, Lettie Briggs, not only because the girl had planned to buy the lamp but because the Danas' room is the one Lettie wanted to have at Starhurst.The Danas are overjoyed when they discover that their friend Evelyn Starr has returned to Starhurst. Evelyn's family once owned Starhurst, but Evelyn and her brother now have very little money, and Evelyn is unsure that she can pay for the tuition. The Danas hope that they can find a way to help Evelyn stay at Starhurst, little realizing that the solution to Evelyn's problem is held within the antique study lamp.

Maida's Little Shop


Inez Haynes Irwin - 1909
    Inez Haynes Irwin used the pseudonym Inez Haynes Gilmore. She was a feminist writer and was a member of the National Women's Party. Maida is a sweet little girl whose father is one of the richest men in America. She is pale, listless and lame. Her father buys her a small shop in Charlestown, Massachusetts in the hope that this will give her an interest and help restore her health. His only requirement is that she not tell anyone who she is or who her father is. Maida makes friends for the first time in her life who see her as an ordinary girl.

Meet the Malones


Lenora Mattingly Weber - 1943
    Mary Fred spends the fifteen dollars that is intended for a new formal to buy her beloved Mr. Chips, a lame horse. Elizabeth's husband, Don, is sent overseas, and a weak and wan Elizabeth arrives at the Malones' with her two-week-old son, Martie. When Mr. Malone is called away on business for the Call, the children's step-grandmother, Nonna, arrives to "run" the household and shower them with gifts. It is quickly evident that Nonna has earned her title as "the iron hand in the velvet glove." When Nonna provides Mary Fred expensive new clothes and relieves her of her household responsibilities, will Mary Fred be able to manage her confused priorities?