Aunt Claire Presents (Book One): The Automobile Girls at Newport

There is a reason why, when I go to a bookstore, I will stroll up and down the aisles of the various genres - mystery, science fiction, graphic novels, young adult, and children's.  Sometimes, as I stroll down the aisles and let my eyes wander across each of the shelves, I will (a) see a cover of a book or a title that catches my eye; (b) see something new that I was not even aware was going to be published; and (c) see a book that really gets me excited about reading.

All three of those reasons are why I picked up Aunt Claire Presents... The Automobile Girls at Newport.  Now, to be completely fair, this was not the first book I noticed.  The first one I noticed was actually Aunt Claire Presents...Grace Harlowe's Freshman Year at High School.  My eye caught the name "Grace Harlowe" in the part of the title on the spine on the bottom shelf at the store, and I immediately knelt down and pulled the book out.  I am fully aware that Grace Harlowe was a series of vintage children's books written nearly 100 years ago, so my first thought was that they were doing an updated version, or that possibly it was a pure coincidence that the name was the same.  Those ideas were quickly dispelled as soon as I saw the cover and read the back of the dust jacket.

"These are the series books that American girls read for fun a century ago.  They are not only fast-paced tales of friendship and adventure, but also pieces of history that reveal many interesting things - good and bad - about the time in which they were written.  Look under the book jacket to see the original front cover from 1910!"

Reprints!  These were surprising reprints of series books from the early 20th century, books that I never imagined in a million years they would actually reprint.  And just as the back of the dust jacket said - under the dust jacket, the cover to the book is a reproduction of the actual cover of the 1910 edition of this book (although it is not cloth, it gives the appearance of cloth and age, even with what appears to be shadowed stains here and there, which any collector will tell you appears on pretty much any of those old series books).  There is a frontispiece, and there are illustrations throughout the book - although not glossy, they are indicated to be copies of the original illustrations from the 1910 version of these books.

Needless to say, I quickly picked up both the Grace Harlowe and the Automobile Girls books (and a quick look at Amazon.com reveals a second Grace Harlowe book is set to come out, along with a reprint of the first Girl Aviators book).  I couldn't wait to tear into these (not literally tear - I would NEVER do that to a book!!!!), so I started with what is indicated to be the first one "Aunt Claire" reprinting, The Automobile Girls at Newport.

This book begins the adventures of Barbara Thurston; her younger sister, Mollie; their friend, Grace Carter; Grace's friend, Ruth Stuart; and Ruth's aunt, Aunt Sallie Stuart (who acts as a chaperone for the girls on their trip).  Pages 7 to 18 provide an introduction (aptly titled "A Note from Aunt Claire"), which gives young readers an introduction to the book and provides information on the time period, the characters, the ideals of the day and age in which it was written, the style of clothes, etc. It also gives a snapshot of the various titles in the 6 book series. It even provides illustrations of magazines, advertisements, and photographs from the era to help enhance the reading and understanding of the book.

The story itself was very enjoyable to read.  Barbara and Mollie are lower middle-class girls who help their mother in their modest cottage.  Their father died, and although he was partnered with his wife's brother in a lucrative business, their uncle, upon their father's death, claimed there was little money left on their father's part, as he lost a great deal on speculations (although, frankly, there are subtle hints that this is not the case, and I hope that later books in series revealed the girls were not as poor as they thought...).  As with any good series book, something unexpected happens in the first chapter that gets the mystery and adventures started, and in this case, it is sixteen-year old Barbara stopping a runaway carriage.  The inhabitants of the carriage happen to be none other than their friend, Grace, and her friend, Ruth - as well as the Thurston's rather uppity cousin, Gladys Le Baron, and her companion, Harry Townsend.  As a reward for her help, Ruth invites Barbara and Mollie (much to Gladys's dismay) to the hotel in town for a special luncheon the next day - where she invites the two girls to join her and Grace on a great adventure:  travelling by automobile to Newport!

Now, this is where one has to remember the time period in which this book was written.  First, automobiles were not something everyone had.  And those who did have them did not allow women to drive them.  Of course, Ruth, much in the vein of Nancy Drew, lost her mother at a young age, has an indulgent father, and is a determined young woman who accomplishes whatever she sets out to do.  And just so the automobile journey is approved by her father, Ruth's Aunt Sallie has agreed to accompany the girls.  It is only natural the girls are able to join them for the ride, and Mrs. Thurston even provides the girls with a little extra money that she has been saving up for them so that they can buy the proper clothing for riding in an automobile (remember, most roads were not paved back then, if any where, so driving along stirred up quite a bit of dust and dirt!).  The mystery, though, begins when two 20-dollar gold pieces that Barbara and Mollie had earned are discovered to be missing after Grace, Ruth, Gladys, and Harry leave.

The author, Laura Dent Crane (pseudonym or real?  good question...), writes a fun and engaging story of friendship, jealousy, accusations, mystery and mishaps, and adventures that girls back in 1910 would find exciting and perhaps a bit tense.  In today's day and age, a flat tire on the side of the road is nothing; however, in 1910 - without cell phones, without easy equipment to jack and replace the tire - a flat tire for five young women could be a near catastrophe, particularly when it starts raining, and Barbara gets caught "borrowing" a horse for a nearby farm house to race to town to get help!  But I do give Crane credit for keeping the mystery subtle at first, but slowly building it throughout the story as there appear to be thefts at every stop along the way, with big-ticket thefts occurring at the parties the girls attend in Newport!  And while I new who the culprit was pretty much from the get-go, it was fun to watch how Crane weaved the story and had the characters slowly figure it out.  Plus, the fact that Barbara did figure it out and make an accusation that caused her to basically be ostracized from the group - only to be vindicated later when the truth came out - made for some great tension among the characters.

All who know me know that I love the vintage children's series, and this is one that I have taken a great liking to - I hope "Aunt Claire" presents some more titles from this series - would be a manageable (and affordable!) way to collect the series and read them!

RATING:  9 diamond butterfly pendants out of 10 for bringing back a classic tale and introducing it to a whole new generation of readers!