I enjoyed this - its a short easy read - but I would have absolutely adored this book in about 4th or 5th grade. Train trip to school should strike a verrrry familiar ring to fans of the Harry Potter books.

Thanks to Archive.org for the free membership and allowing hourly online checkouts of this classic. Bookmarked it in my browser and was easily able to check it out to read when I had a few minutes. ( )

As a boy, when I became an Enid Blyton fan, the books from her I saw around were The Famous Five, of course, the Adventure series, the Secret Seven and the girl boarding school books. I loved the Famous Five and the Adventure books, the Secret Seven seemed to me too childish at that age (I was just graduating out of the Happy Hollisters, my first literary love, and I wanted stories for bigger boys), and the boarding school books, with their girlish covers, seemed to me unsuitable for my boyish dignity and interests. It seemed to me they would be full of girls playing girl games, which I wasn't interested in, and anyway, imagine the shame if someone saw me reading those! ;)

The joke's on me, because I would have enjoyed them if I had given them a chance. I enjoy old boarding school stories, like the ones by Talbot Baines Reed, with their themes of friendship, loyalty, fitting in, rivalries, sports... And these seems like the same. Really, girls and boys were not as different as I imagined as a kid. Darrell Rivers is a likable protagonist to follow, eager and friendly. ( )

I loved this book as a teenager and read it many times, along with the others in the series. Dipping into it now, for the first time in about thirty years, I was surprised at how much I liked it. The writing is basic, and some of the characters stereotyped - can anyone really be as awful as the spoilt, spiteful Gwendoline? - but Darrell, the heroine, is realistic: honest, kind, and yet she has a terrible temper when roused.

While I recalled the overall story, such as it is, I had forgotten almost all the detail, and found a couple of scenes surprisingly moving.

Recommended to children (mostly girls) of about eight and upwards, and to adults like me who remember these books with nostalgia. Reprinted many times.

Longer review here: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2022/12/first-term-at-malory-towers-by-enid... ( )

Darrell Rivers, una joven adolescente inglesa de doce años que ingresa en un internado, llamado Torres de Malory donde interactúa con otras adolescentes y conoce las características del colegio y de sus compañeras. También intenta hacerse amiga de una joven llamada Alicia, pero esta es una deslenguada y al hacerle caso acaba teniendo malas notas, con lo cual decide estudiar y no hacer tantas trastadas con Alicia... También había una niña llamada Sally, muy cerrada y obtusa que al fin y al cabo es feliz y muy tranquila, pero tiene problemas con los celos. Sally al final acaba haciéndose muy amiga de Darrell.

Nuestra querida Darrell es una niña con mucho genio, cuando se enfada. La pobre Gwendoline Mary me entenderá. Los personajes que Enid Blyton ha querido enseñarnos en esta entrega han sido:

Las mademoiselles Rougier y Dupont, la señorita Potts, el ama, la directora Grayling, las niñas: Mary-Lou, Alicia, Betty, Katherine, Gwendoline Mary, Sally, y por supuesto Darrell... también algunos profesores como el señor Young (el profesor de música). En este curso Gwendoline le hace la vida imposible a Mary-Lou por rechazar su amistad. Por otra parte,Darrell le da una ayuda a Sally, para que quiera a su hermana recién nacida, en vez de enfadarse con ella.

I don't know how old I was when I read this series. But I do remember where I was.

On the second story of my neighbours farmhouse. I was living on a non-working farm with so much open space after having moved 9 (-ish) times at that moment in time. The move before that was to Amsterdam. Where I couldn't go outside on Sunday because of religious reasons as a non-religious child. Where I had no friends or people I trusted. But was always surrounded by people who made so much noise, but couldn't shut up the noise in my mind. I always had books. Wherever I was. And that helped.

In that house I found a place that was quiet. I could sit on the wooden floor at the window. Or in a leather chair at the same window. I was allowed to just read until dinner time. I could talk to my neighbour about the books she read when she was a child. It was such a safe place for me. It was also the first place I read Harlequin books. So yeah.

The five stars are totally because of those childhood memories. I can't remeber anything except that Pitty had a party in the middle of the night with her friends? And that her mother dropped her off? And she had a little sister? Or am I thinking about another boarding school story? But wasn't that with twins?

Ok going to find these books now! ( )