The Naughtiest Girl Series

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Re: The Naughtiest Girl Series

Post by Courtenay »

Well, I stayed up late last night finishing The Naughtiest Girl is a Monitor, but I'm sorry to say I found it unexpectedly disappointing. :(

(SPOILER ALERT for anyone who hasn't read it)

It was fairly obvious from the start that Elizabeth's all-too-proud attitude towards her new role as a monitor, thinking she was going to be so wise and good, was going to lead to trouble pretty quickly. But actually, we see very little of her being a monitor. As soon as she runs into a serious situation — things being stolen from students — she takes it into her own hands and things all go belly-up from there. Of course she is told very firmly later that she should have referred the matter higher up instead of laying traps and thinking she could resolve it herself, but not before it's all dragged on far too long in an increasingly tiresome manner and caused great upsets for a number of people, not just herself. I just feel it would have made for a much more satisfying story if things had been wound up quicker, with Elizabeth learning from her mistakes properly and finally growing into her responsibilities and earning the admiration and trust of others, instead of acting arguably even more foolishly for most of this book than she did in the previous two.

Arabella looked from the start like she was going to be a brilliant example of a character we love to hate, but after helping to turn most of Elizabeth's friends against her and excluding her from the midnight feast, she fizzled out almost completely. There was some indication she was learning to be less vain, but she never really got her comeuppances as most Enid Blyton anti-heroes do, and we didn't see her undergoing any genuine transformation for the better. Felt like a complete waste of a character.

Julian... what do I say? I'm afraid I could not warm to him at all. His "don't-care" attitude comes across as downright obnoxious, at least to me. When he plays those tricks on Elizabeth — not for any good reason (this is before she makes that terrible accusation against him!), but just because he can — that shows an incredible amount of selfishness and partly leads to Elizabeth's demotion from being a monitor. What a twerp!! :evil: And yet, after that awful blow, she suddenly just cracks up laughing and forgives him because, well, he's Julian. :roll: Totally unconvincing. Of course, we do then see him meeting with terrible news that changes his attitude towards life, but I felt Enid also handled that episode clumsily and not very credibly, especially with such a sensitive issue as a parent in danger of dying. Which is something some of Enid's readers might actually have experienced in real life, quite possibly without the happy outcome Julian had.

The quite sudden revelation of Martin's wrongdoing also didn't seem to fit in well. We've hardly seen this bloke all through the book and now we find he's to blame for so much? This whole story was really quite a complex one, but it just seemed badly paced and awkward all the way through — unusually for Enid.

And the happy ending... Elizabeth saving the child from drowning comes in one chapter before the end, unrelated to anything else in the story before it, like a sort of deus ex machina plot device. I was certainly hoping she'd get to be a monitor again by the end of the book, but where's the logic in what happens next? She hasn't yet shown in any way that she can handle the responsibilities of that role — she's only proved throughout the whole book that she can't, and that she wasn't really ready to be a monitor when she was elected the first time — and yet she's almost spontaneously re-elected as a special reward for rescuing the child, not because she's shown any of the growth in character that she truly needed and that Whyteleafe is supposed to foster. There's not even a vacancy for a monitor at the time, but well, let's change the rules just this once for her because she's Our Elizabeth. :shock: Doesn't seem consistent with the Whyteleafe ethos — which has been promoted so heavily throughout these books — at all!!

Sorry to tear this book apart when I know others here have really enjoyed it, but I just felt hugely let down after all the enjoyment I got out of the first two. If we had star ratings for books here, the previous two would get at least 4.5 out of 5 from me, but this one I'd give a 2 out of 5. Very, very disappointed. :( :( :(
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Re: The Naughtiest Girl Series

Post by Rob Houghton »

We can't all like the same things, of course - and we all see things differently, so reading is always an objective exercise, lol! As you know, I rate the third book as the best in the series, and feel that Julian is a very well-drawn character exactly because he is a contradiction. I find that a great strength, as he's very three dimensional.

I do agree about Elizabeth saving the child at the end - I have always felt this to be contrived and just 'tacked on' - it is, for me, the one weakness in a very strong book! :-)
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Re: The Naughtiest Girl Series

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Courtenay wrote:Well, I stayed up late last night finishing The Naughtiest Girl is a Monitor, but I'm sorry to say I found it unexpectedly disappointing. :(
Aw - that's a shame, Courtenay. I must admit I don't mind the predictability of Elizabeth coming a cropper through her pride at being a monitor as it makes for some dramatic situations. Enid Blyton explores some interesting issues, e.g. the fact that being a monitor sets Elizabeth apart from her classmates so that she is left out of things - and that her eagerness to prove her worth causes her to take too many decisions without seeking advice from senior pupils like William and Rita. Since she is an impulsive person and her active imagination leads her to carry out some quite extraordinary ideas, things are bound to go wrong if she has no restraining influence from someone more down-to-earth.

I agree with you about Arabella "fizzling out" and that's one reason I don't rate this book as highly as the first. Yes, I'd like to have seen more focus on Arabella and a clear "turning point" for her, but she fades into the background as other characters come to the fore.

My feelings about Julian are very different from yours, though. I find him an alluring character with his don't-care ways and brilliant mind. He simply wants to enjoy life and will only put effort into things that engage him - until, of course, something happens that shows him he can't waste his abilities like that. As a child I thought it would be immense fun to have a friend like him.

I rather like the story about Martin too - I love it when Enid gets all psychological!
Courtenay wrote:And the happy ending... Elizabeth saving the child from drowning comes in one chapter before the end, unrelated to anything else in the story before it, like a sort of deus ex machina plot device. I was certainly hoping she'd get to be a monitor again by the end of the book, but where's the logic in what happens next? She hasn't yet shown in any way that she can handle the responsibilities of that role — she's only proved throughout the whole book that she can't, and that she wasn't really ready to be a monitor when she was elected the first time — and yet she's almost spontaneously re-elected as a special reward for rescuing the child, not because she's shown any of the growth in character that she truly needed and that Whyteleafe is supposed to foster.
Good point. You're right that it would be more satisfying if Elizabeth were made a monitor again as a result of demonstrating that she had grown in sense and judgement.
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Re: The Naughtiest Girl Series

Post by Wolfgang »

Well, Courtenay still has to read the fourth book to decide whether it is a good finish or not - unless she wants to read the Digby continuation stories.
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Re: The Naughtiest Girl Series

Post by Courtenay »

Wolfgang wrote:Well, Courtenay still has to read the fourth book to decide whether it is a good finish or not...
True, but I don't feel like I really want to. :(
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Re: The Naughtiest Girl Series

Post by Rob Houghton »

Have I missed something? It's only five chapters, so hardly 'a book' - and its not very exciting at all!
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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Re: The Naughtiest Girl Series

Post by Wolfgang »

The Famous Five Voilier books (at least the early ones) had only one chapter ;-). I understand your point, Rob, but it is sold as a single volume now, so I'd better mention it for completeness' sake.
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Re: The Naughtiest Girl Series

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Going back to The Naughtiest Girl is a Monitor, it's interesting to take a closer look at the name Arabella Buckley. It's the perfect name for a haughty, doll-like girl but it was also the name of an author with whose work Enid Blyton was familiar. Arabella Buckley, also known as Mrs. Fisher after her marriage, wrote science and nature books to be used in schools. As I said in a Journal article some time ago, I own her Eyes and No Eyes, a nature book divided into six sections – 1) Wild Life in Woods and Fields, 2) By Pond and River, 3) Plant Life in Field and Garden, 4) Birds of the Air, 5) Trees and Shrubs and 6) Insect Life. My copy dates from 1910 but it was originally published in either 1902 or 1903, and at some stage the six sections were published separately. The book introduces us to three friends, Peter, Peggy and Paul, who walk to school together every day and observe the natural world around them. The volume – or at least some sections of it – is supposedly Paul's account of their discoveries. There is a preface by Arabella Buckley in which she informs teachers that she has "tried to make each lesson the groundwork for oral teaching, in the course of which the children should be encouraged to observe, to bring in specimens, and to ask questions." Blyton's own nature-writing for children also puts the focus on youngsters observing and discovering things for themselves out in the countryside, and often revolves around siblings going on nature rambles. Enid Blyton read Eyes and No Eyes, as we know from her 'From My Window' article "On Little Things", published in Teachers World, Issue 984, September 5th 1923:
When I was little, I read Eyes and No-Eyes, and the lender of the book explained to me that there were two sorts of people in the world.

'There’s the kind of people who never notice the lovely sunsets, and can go through a wood without seeing the carpet of bluebells – and there’s the kind who always see those things.'

Coming across the book the other day, I remembered the conversation and thought about it again. It occurred to me that times must have changed since those remarks were made, or else that they were wrong then – because it is very few people, if any, who can really be blind to such an enormous spectacle as a sunset, or who can go through a spring wood without admiring the bluebell mist.

No, I think if people must be divided into 'sorts' it is more correct to say there are those who see only the big beautiful things, and there are those who see the little ones as well. Not many people see both. The colours on a wet limpet shell are as exquisite as the colours in a glowing sunset, but it is usually only children who notice the limpets...

...'Eyes' sees a great deal more [than 'No-Eyes'] and loves a great deal more. There is no need to be an artist or poet – most intelligent children are 'Eyes.' What joy if grown-ups were too!
Blyton even used the title 'Eyes and No-Eyes' for one of her own short stories, first published in The Enid Blyton Pennant Series, number 9, 1950. The story is about two brothers whose teacher refers to them as 'Eyes' and 'No-Eyes', because one is alert and notices things while the other is dull and unobservant.

In his article 'Loose Ends' (Journal 42, Summer 2010), David Chambers reports on some Blyton family connections and postulates that Arabella Buckley (Mrs. Fisher) might have been part of Enid Blyton's extended family: "Bertha and Sidney Blyton (siblings of Enid's father Thomas) were staying with their aunt Sarah Jane Fisher in 1871... Intriguingly Bertha Hamilton Blyton became Bertha Buckley by marriage so there were Fishers and Buckleys in the family. Which raises the question as to whether it was just coincidence Enid was given a book on natural history by Arabella Buckley (Mrs. Fisher)?" Fascinating stuff. Incidentally, Eyes and No Eyes is liberally illustrated by Mr. A.Fairfax Muckley and no doubt Enid, with her love of language, would have delighted in the rhyming of Muckley and Buckley.

Another character in the Naughtiest Girl series is John Terry, a boy who is keen on gardening. It's likely that Whyteleafe was inspired partly by Enid Blyton's own "experimental school" which she ran at Southernhay in Hook, Surrey, in the 1920s. One of Enid's pupils at that school was called John Terry!

Even Elizabeth Allen's name might have been partly inspired by someone Enid knew. Enid Blyton wrote regularly for Teachers World from 1922 to 1945 and the editor at that time was an E. Allen, though he was male so probably not an Elizabeth! In her Biography (1974), Barbara Stoney tells us that Blyton "decided to wind up her column on the retirement of Mr. E. H. Allen, who had taken her first contribution to the magazine and had continued to follow her career with friendly interest throughout his editorship. Enid disliked changes not of her own making, and did not feel inclined to fall in with any fresh ideas that a new editor might bring."
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Re: The Naughtiest Girl Series

Post by mynameisdumbnuts »

Courtenay wrote:Well, I stayed up late last night finishing The Naughtiest Girl is a Monitor, but I'm sorry to say I found it unexpectedly disappointing. :(

(SPOILER ALERT for anyone who hasn't read it)

It was fairly obvious from the start that Elizabeth's all-too-proud attitude towards her new role as a monitor, thinking she was going to be so wise and good, was going to lead to trouble pretty quickly. But actually, we see very little of her being a monitor. As soon as she runs into a serious situation — things being stolen from students — she takes it into her own hands and things all go belly-up from there. Of course she is told very firmly later that she should have referred the matter higher up instead of laying traps and thinking she could resolve it herself, but not before it's all dragged on far too long in an increasingly tiresome manner and caused great upsets for a number of people, not just herself. I just feel it would have made for a much more satisfying story if things had been wound up quicker, with Elizabeth learning from her mistakes properly and finally growing into her responsibilities and earning the admiration and trust of others, instead of acting arguably even more foolishly for most of this book than she did in the previous two.

Arabella looked from the start like she was going to be a brilliant example of a character we love to hate, but after helping to turn most of Elizabeth's friends against her and excluding her from the midnight feast, she fizzled out almost completely. There was some indication she was learning to be less vain, but she never really got her comeuppances as most Enid Blyton anti-heroes do, and we didn't see her undergoing any genuine transformation for the better. Felt like a complete waste of a character.

Julian... what do I say? I'm afraid I could not warm to him at all. His "don't-care" attitude comes across as downright obnoxious, at least to me. When he plays those tricks on Elizabeth — not for any good reason (this is before she makes that terrible accusation against him!), but just because he can — that shows an incredible amount of selfishness and partly leads to Elizabeth's demotion from being a monitor. What a twerp!! :evil: And yet, after that awful blow, she suddenly just cracks up laughing and forgives him because, well, he's Julian. :roll: Totally unconvincing. Of course, we do then see him meeting with terrible news that changes his attitude towards life, but I felt Enid also handled that episode clumsily and not very credibly, especially with such a sensitive issue as a parent in danger of dying. Which is something some of Enid's readers might actually have experienced in real life, quite possibly without the happy outcome Julian had.

The quite sudden revelation of Martin's wrongdoing also didn't seem to fit in well. We've hardly seen this bloke all through the book and now we find he's to blame for so much? This whole story was really quite a complex one, but it just seemed badly paced and awkward all the way through — unusually for Enid.

And the happy ending... Elizabeth saving the child from drowning comes in one chapter before the end, unrelated to anything else in the story before it, like a sort of deus ex machina plot device. I was certainly hoping she'd get to be a monitor again by the end of the book, but where's the logic in what happens next? She hasn't yet shown in any way that she can handle the responsibilities of that role — she's only proved throughout the whole book that she can't, and that she wasn't really ready to be a monitor when she was elected the first time — and yet she's almost spontaneously re-elected as a special reward for rescuing the child, not because she's shown any of the growth in character that she truly needed and that Whyteleafe is supposed to foster. There's not even a vacancy for a monitor at the time, but well, let's change the rules just this once for her because she's Our Elizabeth. :shock: Doesn't seem consistent with the Whyteleafe ethos — which has been promoted so heavily throughout these books — at all!!

Sorry to tear this book apart when I know others here have really enjoyed it, but I just felt hugely let down after all the enjoyment I got out of the first two. If we had star ratings for books here, the previous two would get at least 4.5 out of 5 from me, but this one I'd give a 2 out of 5. Very, very disappointed. :( :( :(
Interesting analysis. It made me think of Darrell Rivers who loses her position of head girl in the Upper Fourth. She regains it only after she demonstrates she can behave capably as a head girl. You're right -- Elizabeth doesn't have to do the same.

I like to think, though, that Elizabeth absorbed lessons even if they aren't explicitly stated. Her demotion showed her there are limits to a monitor's scope and power; her laughter when she realises Julian was behind all those tricks shows she doesn't take herself too seriously. Those were her problems at the start of the book -- she thought monitors could do more than they should and she stood on her monitor's dignity too much. We know Elizabeth is a clever child who learns some self-reflection in her first terms at Whyteleafe; I like to think she resumed her position as monitor a wiser and more humble person, and that the school on some level knew she would.

I don't like the third book as much as the first two. In the first two books, we really got inside the heads of problematic characters such as Joan, Kathleen and Robert and understood their points of view. I miss that in the third book. Arabella isn't so complex -- a spoiled girl who needs to learn to get along with others, a paler shade of Elizabeth herself. I like the character of Julian, but his turnaround is very sudden. Martin and Rosemary hardly get a look in.

I wish Enid had continued this series all the way to Elizabeth becoming head girl (and possibly Julian as head boy?). I read Anne Digby's continuation books and didn't care for them, so I'd like to see someone do it properly (well, my version of properly!).
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Re: The Naughtiest Girl Series

Post by Julie2owlsdene »

Being a moderator over on the EB.Net, I've just accepted a message about the pocket money rules of Whyteleafe School, and I'd forgotten those rules. I remember thinking as a child when I read about the pocket money distribution, that I wasn't sure if I agreed with it or not. Some children in the real world would get pocket money and some wouldn't, it all depended on the wealth of the family I guess, and it teaches the young that they can't always get what they want, it depends on what one can afford. :)

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Re: The Naughtiest Girl Series

Post by Anjalli »

When i had first read those books, i don't think i quite like the idea of children judging children, (in my head the teachers were supposed to do that), but as the series went on i actually liked the way it was done. I liked Elizabeth when she helped everyone and was cherry about it although she could not actually take part in any activities, i think that was her character making right there. Now i will have to go back and read the series. :)
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Re: The Naughtiest Girl Series

Post by Moonraker »

Julie2owlsdene wrote: 24 Dec 2021, 10:26 Being a moderator over on the EB.Net, I've just accepted a message about the pocket money rules of Whyteleafe School
I am pleased you spelled Whyteleafe correctly, which the original poster neglected to do. As you didn't correct it, I have done so. Can't have a mis-spelt topic title!

Like you, I am not 100% sure if it is a good thing, I think on balance I don't think it is. Children have to learn that we can't all be equal. I wouldn't have thought there would be many children from poor families at Whyteleafe as there must be fees to pay.
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Re: The Naughtiest Girl Series

Post by Julie2owlsdene »

I stand corrected, Nigel. Must say I hadn't noticed :lol: :lol:

Makes one wonder if that is what happened at some boarding schools? I was always brought up that if you couldn't afford it, then we saved up until we could afford it. The fact that others may have had more pocket money didn't really bother me, I was happy with the money I got and managed to save until I could buy a hard backed F.F. book. :D

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"See that? It's the black Bentley again. KMF 102!"

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Re: The Naughtiest Girl Series

Post by Nair Snehalatha »

I too liked Julian --in the Naughtiest girl is a monitor--- He is a carefree chap and its only when his mother falls dangerously ill that he turns over a new leaf.It shows his real live for his mother.I have liked all the three naughtiest girl series-- especially people like John.Terry who had a green thumb
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The Naughtiest Girl Series

Post by Susan Webster »

Just on book 3 of the naughtiest girl series and loved reading them again.
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