Marjorie Dean, High School Freshman

1917, undated probably 1920s A. L. Burt edition
Pauline Lester
Marjorie Dean, High School Freshman
Bought used (of course) for $1.00
Hardcover with stains, broken spine, and loose pages
B-

I bought this a few years out of high school and used to half-joke that I was looking for Marjorie Dean, High School Sophomore.  The end papers show that there are some equally prosaically named college books about Marjorie, which I now know from the Internet came out in 1922.  Compared to Ann's Sterling Heart and Princess Polly's Playmates (not to be confused with the later Princess Polly at Play), these books by Lester are very plainly named, but then they are about a girl who is true to herself, her friends, her family, and her country.  In fact, Marjorie likes to pretend that she's a soldier, not because she likes to fight (she rarely does), but because it helps her perform her duty.

Marjorie seems rather old for a freshman, being 16 at the start, but her peers are the same age.  It's so strange compared to, for instance, Anne Shirley, who would've gone to college at 16 if she could've afforded it then, but instead became a teacher.  Outside of manga, I can't think of anything else I've read where secondary school starts at such a late age.

Among the characters we meet in this first book is Mignon La Salle, the rich, snobbish, spoiled, scheming, French girl who will be a thorn in Marjorie's side during the high school years.  (Apparently, Marjorie gets a new enemy in college.)  Without Mignon, this first book would mostly just be parties and friendship.  Yet, Mignon isn't the most interesting character.  Nor is Marjorie.

Jerry Macy, the "stout" (both fat and stalwart), blunt girl who's one of the first to defect from Mignon to Marjorie, steals these books.  She's totally comfortable with her weight, even basing a costume on it for the fairytale masquerade.  She's creative, coming up with costumes for her friends, and the idea for the masquerade itself.  She brings Marjorie and another friend back together after Mignon manipulates a misunderstanding.

That friend is named Constance Stevens, although Marjorie sometimes calls her Connie.  Like her namesake, the '50s and '60s star, she's petite with blue eyes and fluffy blonde hair.  As with Miss Tonks in Maurice, whom I forgot to mention, it's funny to read these old books when names have different associations now.  Connie's love interest, by the way, is named Lawrence Armitage, and he's nicknamed Laurie, showing that the name was still considered masculine five decades after Little Women.

Marjorie's love interest is Jerry's brother Hal, who must be a twin, since they always seem to be in the same grade (although he goes to the boys' high school).  There's no actual romance in these books, despite being recommended for girls 12 to 16.  Instead, there's just foreshadowing of romance, along with a lot of other foreshadowing.  So Lester will say something like "That would cause a great deal of trouble until late in their junior year."  Translation:  "Go buy Marjorie Dean, High School Junior."