The Girl Scouts at Miss Allen's School

Girl Scouts Series #1

by Edith Lavell

Good friends Marjorie Wilkinson and Ruth Henry arrive at Miss Allen's school as incoming freshman. Hoping to room together, they are instead split up, with Marjorie finding her way into an exclusive sorority, while Ruth founds the school's first Girl Scout troupe.

241 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1922

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the first volume of Edith Lavell's "Girl Scout" series, Marjorie and her friend Ruth are starting boarding school. Ruth has chosen to go for the sole reason of hoping to be admitted to the school's exclusive sorority -- only four girls from each class are selected -- and her chum Marjorie follows in her wake. Marjorie is indifferent to the charms of the sorority because she's more interested in hockey, so Ruth is bitter when Marjorie is chosen while she is not. Ruth then decides to start a girl scout troop at Miss Allen's, which is a Good Thing, but her motives are Flawed. She sees it as a way to get revenge on Marjorie, who for various reasons isn't able to join, though she desperately wants to.

The book, which was published in 1922, is basically scouting propaganda, and is hackneyed and predictable The moment Ruth changes Marjorie's answers on a Latin test, which the latter needs to pass to join the troop, I knew that Marjorie was going to save Ruth's life at least once before the end. Bingo!. It doesn't really deserve three starts, but I have a bad cold and my brain is mush so this was peaceful and soothing.

[K.L.]

Marjorie and Ruth are best friends when they go off to boarding school, but Ruth soon becomes jealous of Marjories natual popularity and when she is chosen to join the exclusive sorority. But Ruth is not. When the school decides to start the Girl Scouts Ruth sabotages Marjorie's chances of joining by causing her to fail her Latin test. it is only when Marjorie saves Ruth from drowning that Ruth confesses. Marjorie is allowed to join the Scouts and she forgives Ruth, although she will never really trust her again.

[Susan]

I first read this book over 40 years ago when my grandmother gave her set of these books to my sister. The book was first written in 1922, so it's obviously a different age. The characters are fairly one dimensional and simplistic, but for me, reading this series is more about nostalgia than anything else.