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Brief Summary by Julie Heginbotham: Darrell's last term at her beloved Malory Towers, and happily she is made head girl of the school, an honour she takes very seriously and is immensely proud of. But the term has its ups and downs with Gwendoline constantly grumbling about her father, and then suddenly finds herself faced with a tremendous shock which has her leaving before the term ends. And new girl, Amanda, who constantly boasts about her old school, Trenigan Towers, which sadly burned to the ground, and so finds it difficult to settle at a school she sees as second best.

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Full Review (This may contain spoilers):

Jo Chambers' Review
The last book of the series sees Darrell about to embark on her last term at Malory, as head girl of the entire school. She is planning to go to university with several of her friends and knows that, although she will miss Malory, university will be fulfilling and rewarding as well.

Unusually, there are two new girls entering the sixth. One, the French girl Suzanne (who incidentally is never really developed as a character and seems peripheral at best) is niece to Mam'zelle Rougier and the other, the hefty Amanda, comes from a famous sports school and calmly announces that she intends to go in for the Olympic Games. Sally, Darrell and Moira realise that they are likely to come into conflict with Moira, especially as she proves to be easily the best sportswoman in the school.

As in the previous two books, the lower forms are included in the action, most specifically the Second Form, of which Darrell's sister Felicity is now a member. Amanda infuriates the Sixth Formers by telling them that there is a girl in the Second Form who could be the best sportswoman Malory Towers has ever produced — herself excluded, presumably! When pressed she reveals that June is the girl and a surly agreement as regards coaching is struck between the two.

Meanwhile, Felicity's classmates are growing tired of one of their number — the bumptious, boasting and idiotic Jo Jones. Jo gets her bad manners from her vulgar (and presumably nouveau riche) parents and infuriates all the girls by flinging her money around and boasting of her family's possessions. When Jo is sent to Coventry by the other second formers for causing them to be punished for something that she alone did, she determines to run away with a first former, Deirdre. As a result of this, Jo is expelled — but there is an indication that she may one day be able to redeem herself as she comes to realise that her parents have failed her. These illustrations are hidden by default to ensure faster browsing. Loading the illustrations is recommended for high-speed internet users only.