A Future Chalet School Girl
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#1: A Future Chalet School Girl Author: Rachael PostPosted: Mon Jul 26, 2004 10:32 am


A summary of this book may be found here How do you like Minnie? What do you think of Melanie? How do the others come across in this book, particularly Len & Ruey? How does this "holiday" book compare to the others? Are this books coincidences credible?

 


#2:  Author: LulieLocation: Middlesbrough PostPosted: Mon Jul 26, 2004 11:22 am


I tend to like the holiday books, on the whole. How do you like Minnie? A very useful vehicle when you have eleven children and however-many-it-is wards! Her colour scheme (the infamous lime green and cream) just reminds me of Huddersfield buses - they used to be green and cream! What do you think of Melanie? She's one of the most spoilt brats in the whole series. I'd love to slap her and tell her to grow up - perhaps give her the 'not the only pebble on the beach' lecture! I think it makes it worse because she seems to be quite nice underneath, which does come out at her transformation. She's another one who vanishes into the bowels of the CS later in the series! How do the others come across in this book, particularly Len & Ruey? Len is her usual responsible self, in my opinion. I feel quite sorry for Ruey, she has simply come for a holiday with her adopted family and is plunged head first into Melanie's jealousy. I think she was probably right to ask one of her peers for advice, Len being the obvious one, rather than Joey as it would have only got Melanie into trouble and she obviously didn't want that, as she does like her. I can sympathise totally with the Maynard girls at the beginning when Joey asks them what they think about having Melanie along on the holiday. Even though they do live next door to the school and see their mother more often that most of the girls, they want to spend their hols as a family and to have a total stranger plonked amongst them must have felt like it being school all over again. I loved it when the minibus had its accident in the ditch Jack and the other driver had a swearing match in the middle of the road - that is the most realistic reaction to anything in the whole series!!! How does this "holiday" book compare to the others? It's about the same. No better than some, no worse than others. My favourite holiday book is Camp. Are this books coincidences credible? About as credible as other EBD conincidences!

 


#3:  Author: JennieLocation: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Mon Jul 26, 2004 4:18 pm


Minnie was what the family needed, transport big enough for all of them. I always found their travelling arrangements incredibly complicated as they seemed to need so many trunks to carry everything - did they pack the kitchen sink? The less said about the colour-scheme the better. Melanie really needed a good smacking, I thought she was a spoiled, selfish brat to take it out on poor Ruey who was in many ways still feeling the backlash of realising how unimportant she and her brothers were to their father. It was much better for her to ask Len for advice - it shows Len growing up into a sensible, thoughtful, mature girl. I think Jo would have made far too much of it, and that would have created even more bad feeling in Melanie. Ruey showed a lot of commonsense in asking for the advice. It must have been bad enough for the Maynards to have had to take the Richardsons with them, instead of having their parents to themselves for once, and Melanie on top, given the way that she behaved, must have made for a bad atmosphere at times. As a holiday, it was nothing really special, but there did seem to be plenty of time to relax. All I can say about the coincidences -EBD!

Last edited by Jennie on Tue Jul 27, 2004 3:20 pm; edited 1 time in total

 


#4:  Author: claireLocation: South Wales PostPosted: Mon Jul 26, 2004 7:37 pm


The first time I read this I didn't like it (my first ever CS book) but once I knew who the people they were talking about were I got on ok with it. Melanie is spoilt, and I can understand why the triplets didn't want her to come on their holiday. I don't believe Jo should have made them feel guilty about this as it does make it seem wrong for you to be just family and there is hardly any (if at all) times when they get to be just the Maynards en masse I didn't mind the coincidences but as this was the first book they were leaping out at me saying 'oh here's ANOTHER relation'

 


#5:  Author: patmacLocation: Yorkshire England PostPosted: Mon Jul 26, 2004 7:58 pm


I felt some sympathy for Melanie. Imagine being an only child, happy in school, lots of friends, parents gone away, living with Uncle and Aunt but all else stable and ---- 'Wham!' We're moving to another country. "Don't want to leave your school and friends? Too bad!" ---- 'Wham!!' Get used to living with umpteen other kids, find your feet and ---- 'Wham!' Here's another 3 kids competing for adult attention. I think too much is expected of her and her reaction is very realistic. I feel sorry for Ruey, who bears the brunt of it, and deals with it very well. the only jarring note is the unlikely coincidence of being related to Jeanne. (having said that, I've met such amazing coincidences in real life) I never before thought of the colour scheme of Minnie before! Can't help wondering if EBD did it deliberately as a joke!

 


#6:  Author: Sarah_LLocation: Leeds PostPosted: Mon Jul 26, 2004 8:55 pm


How old was Melanie? I used to think of her as the same age as the Trips, but now I think she might have been a bit younger. I do think it was unfair of Joey to make the Trips feel guilty about their reaction to Melanie coming on the holiday. With such a big family, it will have been hard for any of the children to have individual quality time with their parents, and the addition of one more just adds to it. One thing that always bugged me about this book and Joey & Co is that the holiday was so long. They spent practically the entire summer in the Tyrol. Surely, coming from boarding school, it would have been nice to spend some time in their own home too.

 


#7:  Author: EllieLocation: Lincolnshire PostPosted: Mon Jul 26, 2004 9:01 pm


How do you like Minnie? It certainly seem's a more practical and realistic method of transporting the whole family than the expandable cars that the doctors managed to pack twenty or so girls in. Actually I'm surprised that they didn't have a mini bus earlier. The colour scheme retrospectively reminds me of the gold lame mini shirt and lime green twinset! It probably wasnn't out of place in those days though - remember the Canaryy yellow Ford Capri? I was less keen on Jack deciding to buy it without consulting Joey, but I suppose that was a sign of the times. What do you think of Melanie? Yes, she was a bit of a brat, but she had been suddenly uprooted from all that was secure and familiar in her life - and before that she had been passed on to her aunt and uncle by parents who were more interested in their career than in their daughter. (Or so it may have seemed to her) How do the others come across in this book, particularly Len & Ruey? Len is already showing the qualities of the head girl she was to become isn't she? I think she's just being the responsible eldest triplet ew all know and love(?) Although the scene where she collapses in tears after being out in the thunderstorm shows how young she really still is. Ruey was quite understandably upset and puzzled by the hostility aimed at her from a girl she had never met. I agree that Len was the best person for her to talk to, all in all I think she handled the situation very well. It must have been tempting to retaliate in kind. How does this "holiday" book compare to the others? I like all the holiday books - they seem to have a lovely carefree, relaxed air about them, but I prefer 'In the Tyrol' to this one, although for Drama 'Rescue' has to be the best. Are this books coincidences credible? Someone once wrote that real life contains far more coincidences than any novelist would dare use for fear of being thought unbelievable, I somehow think EBD disproves that theory.

 


#8:  Author: RosieLocation: Huntingdonshire/Bangor PostPosted: Mon Jul 26, 2004 10:05 pm


Jennie wrote:
Minnie was what the family needed, transport big enough for all of them.
But was it?? Jack says it only seats 12. I know the 'small fry' are small, but it's a good job they didn't have to have seatbelts!! And what about when they all grew a bit bigger? I can understand where Melanie was coming from in this. As people have said, she had had a pretty unsettling time prior to the holiday, but it was still bad for poor Ruey - who had also suffered a fair bit of course! I am very fond of the holiday books, but occasionally I feel sorry for the little ones who get left out of trips etc. Then again, it must have been nice for the older ones NOT to have to look after the babies. Luckily the Maynard family were able to leave them behind though, not every family has the option!!

 


#9:  Author: MissPrintLocation: Edinburgh PostPosted: Tue Jul 27, 2004 1:06 am


Minnie was just like a bus we had on a school trip, in decor, if not seating layout. We had a wearying trip around England, and broke down twice. I thought Minnie was really made rather too much of, it's only a bus, not a new girl. And all this wedging of tinies on peoples knees seemed unrealistic, and the ever useful hammocks slung up for naps bored me frankly. And Melanie was a pip. Not my favourite holiday book, by a long chalk. But, at least EBD had realised that it would strech credulity too much if she packed all of them into one of her elastic sided motor cars. Though I have been one of ten schoolgirls in a Mini, with the cook driving. I was one of two tall people wedged side by side on the front seat with a littl'un on our knees. Quite how the other seven got in the back I do no know, and fortunatley we were only driving into the nearest town as there was hardly room to breathe. I would not have fancied motoring accross Europe in such circumstances.

 


#10:  Author: Kathy_SLocation: midwestern US PostPosted: Tue Jul 27, 2004 7:58 am


I agree with everyone else that Len is maturing nicely, and was the right one for Ruey to consult. Likewise, it’s easy to empathize with Ruey over Melanie’s inexplicable dislike. On the other hand, I don’t find Melanie such a brat as all that. It would be extremely traumatic to be yanked out of a school you love (despite Mother Mary Joseph’s bizarre choice of parting gift), when already feeling rather abandoned by parents, marched off to a foreign country, and then, just when you start to feel a bit secure as holiday guest, to perceive yourself a second class citizen compared to the Rs. She’s amazingly fast to come to terms once she understands Ruey’s situation, and likewise apologizes quickly to Len and takes the blame after the Bärenbad incident. Plus I like the way she declares Anna “awfully clever” re/ her miraculous tisanes and hairwash. As for Minnie – well, the colors wouldn’t have registered before Joey’s exploits in Pop Idol! But, having grown up in a family in which “normal” involved 10 people piled into a nominally 6-person car named Nellie, I didn’t find the concept of Anna, Rösli, Melanie, Bruno and 13 Maynards in a 12-seater terribly peculiar. Those vans were still pretty newfangled in the early 60s, and the only one in our neighborhood was owned by a family of 15. Remember, seatbelt and child seat laws hadn’t yet been conceived. I found the Con-Mike squabbling and the singing in the car (except the high quality) fairly realistic. As for the speeding motorist: Jack’s language wasn’t half so, um, impressive as Joey’s furious flattening of the offender. Re/ the coincidences: Irma didn’t really seem coincidental, given the attraction of the area for her. As for Jeanne- I didn’t mind the coincidence, but didn’t care for the “at least we know that Mélanie has every right to be a Chalet School girl” comment. As usual, I enjoyed the holiday and the tidbits arriving by letter. (Imagine someone ending up in Indiana!) Many thanks to whoever prepared the transcript!

 


#11:  Author: LesleyLocation: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Tue Jul 27, 2004 11:25 am


How do you like Minnie? It's certainly far more plausible than either expanding cars or travelling with that brood via train! Like some of the others though - I also am unimpressed that Jack just went ahead without even consulting Joey. I know that people have said it's the time they lived in, but we're talking about 1955 here - my parents got married 1960 and I know for a fact that my dad would never have dreamed of making such a big decision without first at least discussing it with my mum! Just another way of showing that EBD was still stuck in the 1930's! What do you think of Melanie? Felt sorry for her -can't have been easy, having to leave school,leave England and then be very ill. Then catapulted into a huge overwhelming family.Then, just as she's starting to get her feet, some others appear that seem to have no relation to the Maynards but act as if they own the place! At least once she was told,she reacted well toward Ruey. Like others I feel that the way Joey caused the Trips to feel guilty if they said Melanie couldn't join them was very poor parenting. How do the others come across in this book, particularly Len & Ruey? In character really - especially the Trips - poor Len never had the chance to be anything but responsible. Felt that she was rather unfairly castigated by Jack when she had gone in search of Melanie - I mean she was trying to help! Ruey came out of it well -showed maturity in consulting Len and in confrontation with Melanie. How does this "holiday" book compare to the others? Pretty good.Not one of the best, but a reasonable one. Are this books coincidences credible? Are any of them? Why does EBD seem to feel the need to have all her characters related to the CS? Unnecessary in my opinion!

 


#12:  Author: claireLocation: South Wales PostPosted: Tue Jul 27, 2004 7:01 pm


Jack and Jo may have been talking about buying a bus at some point in the future so when Jack came into the money he decided to go for it, rather than Jo having no idea (but no idea that it was arriving then)

 


#13:  Author: LesleyLocation: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Tue Jul 27, 2004 9:35 pm


I don't think they had been discussing it- it was a complete surprise to Jo and Jack says he decided to spend the money on a minibus as it struck him as just the thing they need for their crowd. Don't have any problem with the fact that he got it -it's a good idea, but he did it without even letting Joey know - she only found out pure minutes before the rest of the family.

 


#14:  Author: MissPrintLocation: Edinburgh PostPosted: Wed Jul 28, 2004 1:16 am


I hadn't even considered Jack's not talking it thought with Joey as odd, My Dad still likes the thrill of driving home in a new car and springing it on the family, and those in the know are sworn to secrecy until the rest of the family have been suitably surprised. My little brother is just the same, and I hadn't seen his car one time, and he had pointed arguments over lunch with his wife about who was driving and who was drinking, until I asked if he had, by any chance, a new car. Boys and their toys! I imagine a minibus would be a very big thrill to a chap. (/irony)

 


#15:  Author: RuthLocation: Lincolnshire, England PostPosted: Thu Jul 29, 2004 10:41 am


A Mini-bus is a very good idea--I too come from a family where there are 11 children and a dog, and we do have a mini-bus! Although it often breaks down and then the family has to take my car, my brother's car and my sister's too! Melanie is annoying and a spoilt brat! I think having to leave her school and move to a different country was good for her--who knows, if she had stayed in England she might have remained a brat. Len is maturing nicely here and I think Ruey copes with Melanie very well. This is actually one of my favourite holiday stories (Rescue is the best). EBD's coincidences are rather re-occuring aren't they? I look out for them though!

 


#16:  Author: VikkiLocation: Sitting on an iceberg, freezing to death!!! PostPosted: Fri Jul 30, 2004 12:27 am


*wonders if Ruth's last name is really Maynard!!!* Shocked Shocked

 


#17:  Author: Lisa_TLocation: Belfast PostPosted: Fri Jul 30, 2004 2:52 am


The mini bus thing never bothered me cos i got the impression it was a prize and Jack decided to surprise Jo and the kids- no problem there!! Melanie I find a bit insipid but my sympathies were engaged with her very early as i know what it's like to have chicken pox when well on into the teens and it's no fun. Although they did rather exagerate the depression recovery bit, but that's pretty much normal EBD. I like Len and Ruey in this- but I'm intrigued by the books the girls read. I wonder, if we were to list all the real books/plays referred to in the series, would we get a different slant on the CS? The bit that always annoys me is when Len asks Joey to ask Hilda not to make her a prefect/ sub pree in the new term and does she? No. Either that, or Hilda ignores the request, but that would be inappropriate and unprofessional to say the least. Is this the book where they find out about Daisy's daughter and the Trips hit the roof because Laurie refuses to have adaughter named Helena Constance Margaret?

 


#18:  Author: Kathy_SLocation: midwestern US PostPosted: Fri Jul 30, 2004 4:11 am


Quote:
Is this the book where they find out about Daisy's daughter and the Trips hit the roof because Laurie refuses to have a daughter named Helena Constance Margaret?
I don't know about the trips hitting the roof, but it is certainly mentioned in this book that a letter is on the way explaining that Laurie has put his foot down -- not sure why really, as it's not a bad name. Of course I may be influenced by the knowledge that the name substituted, Mary Margaret, was our first family cat, who turned out to be male and famous for defeating the beagle down the street.

 


#19:  Author: LulieLocation: Middlesbrough PostPosted: Fri Jul 30, 2004 9:05 am


Maybe the Trips were not pleased and hit the roof because instead of Helena Constance Margaret they chose Mary Margaret, which is Margot's real name. Perhaps they thought Daisy had named the baby after Margot instead of all three of them and that's why they were upset.

 


#20:  Author: Lisa_TLocation: Belfast PostPosted: Fri Jul 30, 2004 8:08 pm


When actually, the Margaret was after Daisy, Margot Venables, or Madge- take your pick!!!! Shocked Shocked

 


#21:  Author: EllieLocation: Lincolnshire PostPosted: Fri Jul 30, 2004 8:30 pm


I had the impression it was Margaret after Madge, but shortened to Margot to please Daisy. On the whole it's not really surprising that Daisy named her baby after her own mother.

 


#22:  Author: CazxLocation: Swansea/Bristol PostPosted: Sun Aug 29, 2004 10:02 pm


This book made the 8/9 year old me cry when I read about Jeanne. I'd always wanted to know what had happened to her and I was really sad to know she had drowned. I also liked them discovering Irma, although I didn't realise who she was when I read it first. Melanie was just the ordinary stereotypical EBD later day new girl only it wasn't the CS that made her come good but the Maynard family.

 




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