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The Girls of Central High #3
The Girls of Central High at Basketball, or, The Great Gymnasium Mystery
The Girls of Central High was a seven book series published between 1914-19, of which this is considered a highlight. Gertrude W. Morrison did not exist. Rather, it was one of many pseudonyms used by The Stratemeyer Syndicate, the first book packager for children. Edward L. Stratemeyer was the publisher and author of over 1,300 of the children's works. Many freelancers wrote for Edward L. Stratemeyer, including Mildred Benson, who wrote the popular Nancy Drew series. The author of the Girls of Central High series was W. Bert Foster, whose full name was Walter Bertram Foster (1869-1929). He wrote several books for the Stratemeyer Syndicate including for the Clint Webb, Ralph of the Railroad, Campfire Girls and Radio Girls series. He also wrote for several magazines The Argosy, Western Story Magazine, Tiptop Semi-Monthly, The All-Story Magazine, The Popular Magazine and others. His other works The Lost Galleon of Dubloon Island (1901), With Washington at Valley Forge (1902), With Ethan Allen at Ticonderoga (1903), In Alaskan Waters (1903), The Eve of War (1904), The Lost Expedition (1905), The Quest of the Silver Swan (1907), The Ocean Express; or, Clint Webb and the Sea Tramp (1913), The Frozen Ship; or, Clint Webb Among the Sealers (1913), Swept Out to Sea; or, Clint Webb Among the Whalers (1913), From Sea to Sea; or, Clint Webb's Cruise on the Windjammer (1914), The Last Door (1921), Galloping Thunder (1927), Harwick of Hambone (1927), From Six to Six (1927) and Cactus Trails (1927).
- GenresSchool Stories
222 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1914
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 16, 2015
This was the third in a series of books about the girls of Central High. I have not read the others, I just needed a book set in high school for a challenge and I picked this one because I like basketball...and old books.
Basketball itself had not been around forever when this book was published (1914). The rules were a little different: no dribbling at that time except for the bounce pass, and there were nine players on each women's team. So I had to adjust my images of the game when the tournaments were going on but that was easy enough, because game descriptions were fast-paced and exciting to read.
The main character in this episode of The Central High Girls was Hester Grimes, the butcher's daughter. She was a good student and wonderful athlete, but she did not have many friends in school; she had a terrible temper, a big chip on her shoulder, and not much self control. She could seem mean and nasty, but the reader is shown another side of her that her classmates and teammates can't see. This made her one of my favorite
characters in the story. I wanted so much for everyone to see Hester's hidden nobility.
Besides the basketball, there is a mystery involving damage to the school gymnasium, and Hester is actually one of the suspects, at least all of her teammates think she had more than a little to do with the incident.
There was more than one dramatic escapade for the girls, but the gym mystery does get solved during the final game of the basketball season. I got a kick out of most parts of the story: it was a fluffy, fun sort of read. There were times that the author stepped in to do some cheerleading about having organized sports for girls, and some creepy stereotypes of the day (the fat boy with the lisp, the black "Mammy" cook in one
household).
And there were a few weird sentences that made me scratch my head:
Three afternoons each week each girl of Central High, of Centerport, who was eligible for after-hour athletics, was exercised for from fifteen to thirty minutes at basketball. (Not only really clunky, but it makes the girls sound like race horses.)
When the practice was over Mrs. Case stopped Hester Grimes before she could run off the field. (Basketball is played on a court, right?!)
The colt snorted again, and the boy riding her tried to pull her out into a side path, to cut across the fields. (A colt is a he; a filly is a she, especially when the horse is big enough to be ridden!)
By the end of the book I was curious about the author and found that a man named W.Bert Foster wrote the entire series, even though 'Gertrude W. Morrison' was credited for the work. A little bit of trivia that helped me understand some of the slightly condescending tones here and there in the story. But still, light entertainment and one more task marked off the list!
Basketball itself had not been around forever when this book was published (1914). The rules were a little different: no dribbling at that time except for the bounce pass, and there were nine players on each women's team. So I had to adjust my images of the game when the tournaments were going on but that was easy enough, because game descriptions were fast-paced and exciting to read.
The main character in this episode of The Central High Girls was Hester Grimes, the butcher's daughter. She was a good student and wonderful athlete, but she did not have many friends in school; she had a terrible temper, a big chip on her shoulder, and not much self control. She could seem mean and nasty, but the reader is shown another side of her that her classmates and teammates can't see. This made her one of my favorite
characters in the story. I wanted so much for everyone to see Hester's hidden nobility.
Besides the basketball, there is a mystery involving damage to the school gymnasium, and Hester is actually one of the suspects, at least all of her teammates think she had more than a little to do with the incident.
There was more than one dramatic escapade for the girls, but the gym mystery does get solved during the final game of the basketball season. I got a kick out of most parts of the story: it was a fluffy, fun sort of read. There were times that the author stepped in to do some cheerleading about having organized sports for girls, and some creepy stereotypes of the day (the fat boy with the lisp, the black "Mammy" cook in one
household).
And there were a few weird sentences that made me scratch my head:
Three afternoons each week each girl of Central High, of Centerport, who was eligible for after-hour athletics, was exercised for from fifteen to thirty minutes at basketball. (Not only really clunky, but it makes the girls sound like race horses.)
When the practice was over Mrs. Case stopped Hester Grimes before she could run off the field. (Basketball is played on a court, right?!)
The colt snorted again, and the boy riding her tried to pull her out into a side path, to cut across the fields. (A colt is a he; a filly is a she, especially when the horse is big enough to be ridden!)
By the end of the book I was curious about the author and found that a man named W.Bert Foster wrote the entire series, even though 'Gertrude W. Morrison' was credited for the work. A little bit of trivia that helped me understand some of the slightly condescending tones here and there in the story. But still, light entertainment and one more task marked off the list!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews