High Hurdles

Dria Meredith #3

by Janet Lambert

A Dria Meredith Story. Dria could hardly wait for the first day of her senior year in high school. Rob Wayne, the boy next door, was also anticipating a fun year with Dria. Plans change when Dria's wealthy grandmother decides to enter Star Dream in the National Horse Show. A story filled with romance, decisions, and the thrill of riding.

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1955

About the author

Janet Lambert, born in Crawfordsville, Indiana, was a popular girls' story author from 1941 through 1969 (and beyond to today). She wrote 54 books during that time about a number of different girls and their families. Her most popular series were about the Parrishes and the Jordons. These stories, and many of her other series, became entwined as the various characters met each other, married, and then had children of their own!

Janet, having an interest in both the theater and writing, decided to write her own plays in which to act. She did achieve her goal and appeared on Broadway. When she married a career Army officer, her life on stage came to a close, but her stories were still flowing. Knowing well the "life of the Army," many of Ms. Lambert's books are set on Army posts throughout the United States.

Legend has it that her stories started as bedtime stories for her children while they were overseas. Each night, the author would tell the next "installment" of the series. Later, after her kids were grown, she penned one of her stories (Star Spangled Summer) and—according to legend—it was sold to a publisher the very day after she sent it to them.

Reviews

[J.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Third and last in the Dria Meredith series. I loved these sweet little books not so much for the writing, as the style is rather dated with plenty of fill-in-facts-from-previous-stories-in-tedious-dialogue moments, but for the wholesome friendships among these teens. None of them are perfect--even Dria has some very unreasonable moments--but they are mature enough to realize their own immaturity and grow from their mistakes. The little romance in these stories pleased me--I would not have chosen Rob as the "hero" a few books back. He was the immature and self-centered boy-next-door who paled in comparison to the considerate, gentlemanly Chad.

But in the end, his faults and imperfections are what made him endearing, and he turns out rather a satisfying teen hero in the end. The romances in these books are low-key and sweet--the central teenagers realize how young and immature they are and, for the most part, keep their relationships at a friendship level until they are ready for commitment and marriage. There is some kissing, but quite chaste. I would consider these books ideal for pre-teens and young teens, featuring strong, intelligent, hard-working young women who have ideals and goals and make plans for their futures--and this, in books written during the 1950's!

[Rebekah Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was kind of sad to know that this was the final book about Dria. But it was fun to read.
Once again Dria has to deal with real life situations and people who don’t act just right. She has decisions to make about what is right and wrong, and I love how she does it.
Rob was a mixture of annoying and sweet. And Gran, Mama, Holly, and Millie, and Will– The combination just made for the perfect mix of irritation, amusement, and enjoyment. I enjoyed seeing Dria handle the stress of the horse show and how she stayed the same sweet girl she had always been.

There were some euphemisms, and a few quick kisses, but nothing beyond that.