What is your favourite school series?

[Rob Houghton]

My edition is a 1970s Dragon paperback and the title of the last book has been altered to Fifth Formers at St. Clare's to fit in with the rest. The same thing applies to a couple of later Dragon and Armada editions:

http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/book ... +Clare%27s" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Interesting! Thanks Anita! It makes sense to do that, but I see it didn't last long before reverting to 'of'!

[Wolfgang]

I have the Dean omnibus "Back to St Clare's", 1993, and the title is again Fifth Formers of St Clare's.

[Pauline]

It's so hard to choose between Malory Towers and St Clare's. In the end I voted for St Clare's, but have already changed my mind. I feel that MT has a greater range of interesting characters and relationships; those faithful and loyal friends Darrell and Sally; witty sharp-tongued Alicia; timid, shy little Mary-Lou, scatty, but brilliant Irene and Belinda and last, but not least, dear, darling Gwendoline Mary...

When I was a child I used to imagine myself at one of these schools and think about how much I would have liked it. In actual fact, I'm not sure I would have liked it at all. I think I'd felt right out of place.

[mynameisdumbnuts]

The girls at Malory Towers strike me as more individual. Girls at both schools pair off with someone -- Darrell and Sally, Janet and Bobby, etc. -- but the MT crowd have their own one-on-one relationships. For example, when the MT girls are putting on their pantomime, Alicia inwardly hates seeing Darrell so upset when she quits as the Demon King. I love that scene because it shows a deep friendship between two girls who aren't classified as "best friends."

I can't think of an equivalent scene at St. Clare's. For the most part, everyone feels the same way about everyone else -- they respect Hillary, laugh at Doris, get fed up with Mirabel. There are some exceptions, such as Angela's grand passions for problematic people that speak to her character development, but I can't think of a moment equivalent to that MT pantomime scene that displays that kind of unique one-on-one friendship outside a pairing.

[Irene Malory Towers]

I am about 2 years late I know but i have recently read all the school series. I think I must be the only person in the world who didn't like the naughtiest girl series. I found the transformation of the "bad" characters too quick and too complete, ie they all became good part from Elizabeth herself who still struggles with her impulsive nature. It maybe that this series is for younger children. Also like one other commenter I found the principle of sharing out the money not sensible. Life is full of ups and downs and inequalities and it takes away the incentive to work hard if you receive the same as people that are not prepared to work. That is why communist societies do not work. It is a life lesson which children need to learn that not everyone will receive the same and that life is at times unfair.

Comparing Malory Towers and St Claires i much prefer Malory Towers as there is the continuity, one per year, and closure - ie one at the end. Also much more character development whereas in St Claires the characters apart from Alison and briefly Mabel, generally improve within a term and that is it ! The characters are generally ore fleshed out - eg compare Bill with Bobby, or Alison with Janet or Darrell with the twins. Plus the marvellous scenery helps. In addition there are some very touching scenarios like Gwendeline finding out her dad being ill, June nearly being expelled and Moira unexpectedly coming to her rescue, Daphne saving Marie-Lou and even Josephine being expelled. Another aspect of Malory Towers is from Upper Fourth onwards (ie half of the series) we have stories from the upper and lower halves of the school with June and Felicity in the lower half . And that makes for a more complete picture of the school.

[Katharine]

I don't know that I have a favourite school series, but agree with the point about the pocket money. Maybe there could be a sort of hardship fund that the less well off pupils could apply to for certain things, such as getting a tennis racket fixed etc., but I always felt it was very unfair that a child would be sent money for their birthday and they would have to hand it in.

Perhaps the Naughtiest Girl books have the slight edge as I don't think there is quite the same emphasis on sport in those as there is in the two series.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I think I must be the only person in the world who didn't like the naughtiest girl series. I found the transformation of the "bad" characters too quick and too complete, ie they all became good part from Elizabeth herself who still struggles with her impulsive nature. It maybe that this series is for younger children.

Gosh, it's amazing how people take such different things away from the books. I think the Naughtiest Girl series actually has some of the most in-depth and emotional plotlines - e.g. Joan Townsend's struggles in The Naughtiest Girl in the School, Elizabeth's clumsy but well-meant attempts to help her, and the end result of it all. That must be one of the most moving and sustained episodes Enid Blyton ever gave us, with some very interesting psychology. The same book sees Elizabeth dealing with prolonged internal conflicts too.

Later in the series, the stories of characters like Robert and Martin are dealt with in detail - and then there's the solemn tale of Julian Holland and the heavy price one may have to pay for wasting one's talents.

Having said that, the Malory Towers series is my favourite because we follow the girls through the school and see their gradual development. The St. Clare's series is more uneven in that respect and I agree that the characters are not as fully fleshed out. In my opinion it's the weakest of the three series - although Fifth Formers at St. Clare's is an absolutely brilliant book with fascinating plotlines which are masterfully handled and woven together beautifully.

[Wolfgang]

Actually the system of collecting money could backfire. If pupils come again, they know that they have to give their money away, so in consequence they would only take the required minimum to school and could ask, if there's birthday money, to send it to their home instead.

[Daisy]

That's a good idea, Wolfgang... other school stories I have read seem to have a system of collecting all moneys at the beginning of term and then doling out a prescribed amount of pocket money each week, plus any more if a request is made - for such things as buying a present for someone.
The Naughtiest Girl series differs from the other two series in that it is a coeducational establishment, which makes for some interesting plot lines. I wonder how much it was based on Summerhill - the experimental school which would be well known when the Naughtiest Girl series was written. I'm not sure it is my favourite though. Malory Towers just has the edge for me.

[Irene Malory Towers]

Just realised I had misspelled St. Clare's, put an extra i in it. Out of the St Clare's my favourite is the 5th book though, it is not a bad series I just prefer Malory Towers. Interesting your points about the Naughtiest Girl series where the lessons in life are more fleshed out as I disagree. Although the Joan case is moving and most fleshed out but I felt the others were too pat and the transformation from good to bad overnight. Occasionally that does happen I am sure but for most people it is a slow and gradual process with quite a few relapses. Picking up from someone else's point the O'Sullivan twins just fade out after the first term whereas Darrell is prominent, warts and all in all the Malory Towers books. Alison, the twins cousin, in some ways is more interesting. She battles with her weaknesses and partially overcomes them and plays a more major role in the stories.

The theory of sharing pocket money sounds good in principle but it doesn't work. Of course it is important to have a caring society/community which looks after those not as fortunate as others, but not to level it all down so that it is equal. Not only does it take away the incentive to work hard, leads to gross abuse of the systems, eg some are more equal than others (Animal Farm) or whatever the quote is. It fundamentally does not cater for human nature.

But maybe it is just down to personal taste in books. Good that we don't all have the same opinion. I must read some other school books that other people have been mentioning in this forum to compare them.

[Debbie]

I found the Naughtiest Girl stories made me uncomfortable when reading them as a child.
As a shy child I would have carefully handed in all my pocket money-and never dared ask for more when I needed it. Also it may be fair in theory, but can you imagine Great-Uncle Bob's reaction to finding the 5 shillings he struggled to put together had been handed in and shared out?
In my school the children were given a set amount of pocket money (I think it was £1 for 1st years rising to £5 for 5th years, meaning the first years were poor compared to the day pupils, but the 5th years rich!) and I would expect that to be standard. It was part of the fees, and they'd get it given out on a set day.

The council sounds a good idea on paper, but in reality would have easily led to bullying. It would have been a way of the popular children leading the way-as anything like that tends to be. I remember one of my children's school asked them to dress up (as a British character) for a competition. The children voted on the winner of each class. In one of my dc's class the winner was asked who she was and she said "this is my favourite dress, I'm not dressed as anyone". Just showing that it was entirely about popularity rather than the competition.

I like the Malory Towers series best. The characters are well rounded, and I think the only thing it really misses is that you have the hints of the other towers, but other than Betty, very few appear, even mentioned in passing, or as "the South Tower girls". It took me ages to realise as a child that there were other children in the form. They could have had mentions along the lines of "West Tower had a midnight feast last week; we must have one soon." or "The East Tower girls were grounded for having a midnight swim" or "We must win the netball this year; last year South Tower beat us 21-3."
However there's aspects of St Clare's I love. They're very funny in places. However I don't warm to the twins, and I thought making them both Head girls was a right cop out. They tend to be just "jolly school girls" not like Alicia who is popular, but can be really nasty; or Marylou who is quiet and shy but very much a character of her own.

[Wolfgang]

I actually wonder why pocket money wasn't included in the fees. If it had been, some girls in the stories might not have been tempted to use questionable ways to get some. But if the system of how to deal with pocket money was up to the schools...

[Irene Malory Towers]

More on that - I hadn't thought about the point that the school councils could just lead to popular people getting their own way and hence an opportunity for more bullying to occur. However, I think the heads were present at some or all of the meetings so that presumably would be avoided. But it did strike me that some of the punishments were quite humiliating as the whole school would find out about pupil's misdemeanours rather than just the class or year. So all in all although in principle school councils sound a good idea they probably would not work. The pupils can and should have some sort of responsibility but not too much. Power could go to their heads. Look at what happens to adults when they get too much power ! Can think of a few politicians.

[Hannah]

When I first read the Naughtiest Girl books I felt that I would never want to go there. I wasn't too worried about the way they collected and shared the money but the thought of a school where pupils had so much power frightened me as I was most of the time an outsider and sometimes there was bullying too. I remember who became head girl or head boy of our form in the election - and wouldn't most of them have abused their might had they been given a chance to! Luckily they did not have nearly as much power or influence like in the school stories I read.

It was different with the other school stories. I wondered if I would have found a friend and I wouldn't have liked that you couldn't really have some time of your own (and that you couldn't go out for a walk if you didn't find someone to go with you) - but I don't think I would have been bullied. I wasn't overly selfish or conceited and I wouldn't be mean to others which where the things that got you in trouble with the other students at SC, MT and St. Rollo's. You also weren't frowned upon in Blyton books just for having good grades which was a problem during my time at school. Only "cool" kids were allowed to have good grades without becoming a victim .

I like both Malory Towers and St. Clare's. MT is lovely with the sea so near and the pool and like others have already pointed out you see more of a development and there's a book for every year.
I might have been happier at St. Clare's though. It somehow seems more homely to me. I also think the mistresses were a bit more involved there. I'd think that maybe Miss Roberts or Miss Jenks or Miss Theobald wouldn't have ignored Ellen the way it happened at MT.

I also like the books by Pamela Cox and the German books that have been added (though they aren't typically Blyton books but I didn't realize that as a child and of course I only know about life in Germany - but not what would be typical for an English boarding school). I can't say the same for the continuations of Anne Digby. I like the Trebizon books but the NG books just seem to have all the same plot - including that Elizabeth is accused of some misdeeds and no one believes her when she denies it. They should have known by that time that despite some faults Elizabeth wouldn't lie to save her skin!

I would have liked to read more about St. Rollo's too.

[Boodi 2]

I much preferred Malory Towers to St. Clare's! I think I probably read at least one of the Naughtiest Girl books when I was young, but oddly enough I have absolutely no memory of it so either it failed to make a lasting impression on me or I am mistaken and I did not read it, so perhaps it is time to recitify that omission!