Enid Blyton
Mass Market Paperback | Pages: 240 pages Rating: 4.03 | 7380 Users | 293 Reviews
Itemize Appertaining To Books The Naughtiest Girl in the School (The Naughtiest Girl #1)
| Title | : | The Naughtiest Girl in the School (The Naughtiest Girl #1) |
| Author | : | Enid Blyton |
| Book Format | : | Mass Market Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 240 pages |
| Published | : | April 1999 by Hodder (first published 1930) |
| Categories | : | Childrens. Fiction |
Chronicle Supposing Books The Naughtiest Girl in the School (The Naughtiest Girl #1)
Forget 1984 and Animal Farm - if you thought that was scary, you should read The Naughtiest Girl in the School. In this Stalinisque exposé of life under a brutal regime, we see the conversion of little Elizabeth Allen from a normal little girl to one who learns how to knuckle down to the system and praise it.Elizabeth is a pretty eleven year old little girl who has spurts of fun and laughter, like any normal little girl. She is given to a bit of naughtiness (like pinning her governess' stockings together and laughing about it) and the obvious conclusion her parents arrive is to send her away to boarding school about which she is not told until a week before she has to leave. Nor is she given any information about the school and how it functions and her very natural fears of going to a strange place and meeting strange people is not put to rest, except to tell her that she will become a better person because no one would put up with her nonsense at Whyteleafe School. Way to go with the great parenting bit!
So poor Elizabeth lands up at Whyteleafe, and before she even reaches, she is for some strange reason, ostracised by the students because she again very naturally, refuses to make friends at first sight with random strangers. The real trouble starts once they reach the school, where we make the acquaintance of monitor Nora, who probably later hopped over and joined the Cheka or something. Like a good upholder of the values of the regime, Nora has locked away Elizabeth's cherished belongings, threatened to do her bodily violence, and mocked at her distress, all of within one day of the starting of the school. But Elizabeth's trials are not yet over.
The weekly Meeting is yet to come her way. In this school, the students govern themselves and have weekly meetings to dole out punishments and rewards in public, all presided over by William and Rita, the head boy and girl. Brrrr!!! In theory, this appears rather progressive, but in practice, it's more reminiscent of North Korea than anything else. The students often have lessons taken away from them (whut?!) and they are sometimes forced to do manual labour if they made mistakes. They also have a system where all children have to put in their entire pocket money into a common fund and each person gets two shillings to spend per week. You can ask for something extra but it is up to William and Rita to sanction it. In short, you have to ask permission from the regime leaders to spend your own goddamned money - and it can actually be refused! Moreover, much of the money actually ends up being used on the beautification of the school or some such nonsense! What exactly do they do with the fees, then?
When Elizabeth very properly decides not to hand over her parents' hard earned money to these thugs, her money is stolen from her! Literally grabbed and plonked into the common fund and moreover, she does not get her two shillings either! You don't mess with
I actually found this book extremely terrifying when I read it for the first time. Unlike with the Malory Towers or St Claire's series, I never dreamed of studying in Whyteleafe School. The later books in the series are better (mostly as Elizabeth becomes the enforcer rather than the enforcee) but the first one makes me shudder as Elizabeth's spirit was slowly and gradually broken down by all the mocking, threats and punishments she receives for absolutely no reason at all. The teachers seem powerless to help her, and mob power is given full reign in this system. I dare R L Stine to come up with something so scary!
Particularize Books As The Naughtiest Girl in the School (The Naughtiest Girl #1)
| Original Title: | The Naughtiest Girl in the School |
| ISBN: | 0340727586 (ISBN13: 9780340727584) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | The Naughtiest Girl #1 |
| Characters: | Elizabeth Allen, Miss Scott |
Rating Appertaining To Books The Naughtiest Girl in the School (The Naughtiest Girl #1)
Ratings: 4.03 From 7380 Users | 293 ReviewsAssessment Appertaining To Books The Naughtiest Girl in the School (The Naughtiest Girl #1)
The Naughtiest Girl in SchoolI bought a couple of Blytons books a couple of years ago because I thought that I might have missed out not having had the chance to read them when I was a child. I never got around to reading them until one Friday afternoon a couple of weeks ago. The books all seem a bit formulaic and I had to constantly remind myself that they were written at a totally different time in a rather different society. Nevertheless I couldnt shake the conflicting feelings about the book* 4.25 out of 5 starsReread it in 2020 after almost 17 years... and it was wonderful! Major nostalgic feelings!
Forget 1984 and Animal Farm - if you thought that was scary, you should read The Naughtiest Girl in the School. In this Stalinisque exposé of life under a brutal regime, we see the conversion of little Elizabeth Allen from a normal little girl to one who learns how to knuckle down to the system and praise it.Elizabeth is a pretty eleven year old little girl who has spurts of fun and laughter, like any normal little girl. She is given to a bit of naughtiness (like pinning her governess' stockings
Of all Ms Blyton's school series, the Whytleafe School series featuring Elizabeth Allen have remain personal favorites since I read them about three decades ago. Even when I was young, the notion of student based bodies - students bringing problems and students solving it themselves in a common forum - made a deep impression on me. There are also socialistic tendencies around everyone getting an equal share of money which also seemed to be so right to me. So to me, the Naughtiest Girl series was
Ahhh I adore this book! I used to read it all the time when I was a kid after my mum gave me the copy she had growing up. I've been in such a slump lately and thought I would read an older book to get me back into reading. I'd forgotten how cute the book actually is!!Four out of five stars but only recommended to people who are already fans of Enid Blyton's work, since this book is very different to children's literature of this day and age.
Forget 1984 and Animal Farm - if you thought that was scary, you should read The Naughtiest Girl in the School. In this Stalinisque exposé of life under a brutal regime, we see the conversion of little Elizabeth Allen from a normal little girl to one who learns how to knuckle down to the system and praise it.Elizabeth is a pretty eleven year old little girl who has spurts of fun and laughter, like any normal little girl. She is given to a bit of naughtiness (like pinning her governess' stockings
My daughter has really enjoyed this as a chapter book for bedtime reading, thanks to myself enjoying a trip down memory lane she's been up later than usual for "one more chapter" on many a night. I love that my children love books as much as me
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