Trudy Phillips, New Girl - the first Trudy Phillips book

This series is the first "malt shop" series that I've read (even though I have quite a few of them in my collection).  For those unfamiliar with the term, "malt shop books" refers to books from the mid-20th Century with female protagonists that addressed teen problems in a very clean, wholesome way.  Many were romances and/or career girl stories, but some (like this one) feature a certain element of mystery.  Popular authors from this genre were Janet Lambert, Rosamond du Jardin (my mother's favorite author when she was a teenager), among others.  Whitman Publishing actually published several series in this genre:  Donna Parker, Ginny Gordon, Polly French, and our very own Trudy Phillips.  Trudy only had two books, while Polly had three, Ginny had five and Donna beat them all with seven books in her series.  Since poor Trudy only had two, I figured I would start with hers.

 

Trudy Phillips, New Girl was written by Barbara (S.) Bates (1919 - 2002).  According to the Pennsylvania Center for the Book, Bates was a prolific author, penning quite a few books before her death in 2002, both in the realms of fiction and non-fiction.  In addition, Bates also authored articles about books for literary journals. (Author - Barbara S. Bates) Surprisingly, her books for young readers were published under her own name, rather than a house pseudonym.  The two Trudy Phillips books appear to be the only two she wrote for Whitman Publishing.

 

This first book of the two-book series introduces readers to  14-year old Trudy Phillips, whose family has recently moved to Tylertown where her father has been transferred by his job.  Trudy is very unhappy, as she is having to start a new school.  She bemoans the fact that at her previous school, she was very popular and was a shoe-in as class president for the year.  Now, as a "new girl," she would not know anyone and would have to catch upon several weeks of school work she missed due to the move.  The story's focus is on Trudy's status as the "new girl" at school, the problems she faces, the difficulties she overcomes, the friendships (and enemies!) she makes, and the successes she enjoys as she navigates this new school and its students.  While the book does feature a minor mystery involving various thefts of money, that is more of a sub-plat than the main story.

 

Bates provides Trudy with quite a large supporting cast - besides her parents (Mr. and Mrs. Phillips), there is her younger brother Johnny, a precocious red-headed prankster; there is "Spooky" Ruddle (a/k/a Gwen Ruddle), a young tom-boyish girl in her class who quickly becomes her best friend; there is Mike, the foreign boy who is also new to the school and shares Trudy's concerns about people liking him; there is Stephen, the class nerd who is everyone's go-to if they need help with classes; there is Doug, the editor of the school newspaper; then there are Susan, Ginger, Debby, Dick, Bob, Cynthia, and plenty of other classmates, including Gloria Holden -  the most beautiful, most talented, and most popular girl in the class, who always knows how to make an entrance and who is always the center of attention.  Trudy decides right away she would like to get to know Gloria and hopefully become friends with her.  And this is how the story begins...

 

The book finds Trudy facing any number of teenage problems - from being the only one not invited to Gloria Holden's big party (to be held on Halloween, the same day Spooky holds her annual birthday party!) to inadvertently beating Gloria during a class debate, making an immediate enemy of the girl.  She also must figure out a way to save up $20 in order to purchase this puppy from the town's pet store, while at the same time working on the class play, worrying about whether anyone will ask her to the Thanksgiving dance, and deciding whether she should run for class secretary, as all her friends want her to do.  In addition to all of these, Trudy is also determined to make friends with Gloria, even going so far as to invite her to a party she throws, over all of her friends' objections (which causes a brief rift between Spooky and her).

 

The mystery asserts itself in various places throughout the book.  Money from the ticket sales for the play goes missing.  Stephen's envelope filled with his savings to buy a new bike disappears from his locker.  Debby loses her silver dollar at the school dance.  Money from the school store's cash box is taken.  The more incidents that occur, the more it becomes obvious that one of the students is stealing money.  Stephen and Trudy work with one of the teachers to try and set a trap for the thief, but that goes awry, and the money used as bait disappears, but the thief is nowhere to be seen.  The mystery is not really that difficult (from the very first theft, it was obvious who was doing it and why), but it does add a unique element to the story (and since I'm more of a mystery reader than a romance reader, it definitely made reading this book more enjoyable!).

 

Something I thought was interesting was Bates gave Trudy a "collection of foreign dolls" in her room (p. 32).  It's not too often you come across a series book character who is a collector, and particularly, as in this instance, someone who collects foreign dolls.  It immediately brought to mind the Nancy Drew book, The Clue in the Old Album, as well as the Meg book, Mystery in Williamsburg, both of which featured mysteries that centered around doll collections.  Only, in this book, the dolls are mentioned in passing and never become a part of the story.  Leaves one to wonder why Bates even mentions them at all, unless it is to give Trudy a stronger feminine side to her character (since collecting dolls could be seen as more of a female hobby).

 

The book is illustrated by Dorothy Grider (1915 - 2012), who happens to be a Kentucky native (my home state!).  She got her BA at Western Kentucky State College and went on to study art in Paris.  Grider illustrated a large number of children's books, including the Trudy Phillips books for Whitman.  Her two-page endpapers depicts a scene that coincides with the cover art (also provided by Grider, based on what I was able to discern online) - both scenes reflect Trudy's arrival of her first day at Tylertown Junior High School (finally! endpapers that do not spoil any of the story, as so many of Whitman's books seem to do!).  The endpapers show her hurrying towards the front doors, with groups of students standing around (and it's amazing how easily one can pick out the various characters in their scene, as Grider definitely utilized the character descriptions for her art - with Dick talking to Gloria on the bottom right, while Steven is chatting with Ginny (or Debby) on the bottom left side, while Mike and Spooky are hurrying through the gate).  The brightly colored cover shows the same scene moments later, as Trudy climbs those front steps, with Steven and Spooky seated on the steps and Mike leaning against the wall.  Trudy is even wearing the red sweater and plaid skirt (p. 11) described in the book.  The cover wraps around to the back, where we find Gloria talking with one boy, while another is watching them from the window.  

 

While I've seen mixed reviews about the book online, I rather enjoyed the story.  The mix of theater and mystery, swirled around with all of the other teen antics, made for a rather fun drama.  And I actually found myself identifying with characteristics from several of the characters, which endeared me to pretty much all of them (except Gloria - the typical mean girl!).  Overall, I think this was a great introduction to the Malt Shop Book genre, and I am looking forward to reading the second book in this series.

RATING:  8 yards of glimmering brocade in the palest shade out of 10 for terrific tale of teen angst, romance, mystery, parties, theater, elections, and everything else that would make for an enjoyable read!