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‘Excitements for the Chalet School’ is 38th in the original series. I last read it nearly ten years ago. I have a hardback version which my mother acquired from a charity shop some decades ago, but it's not that different from the Armada paperback, which had just minor cuts. Bizarrely, while the outside of my book says 'Excitements for...', on the inside it's titled 'Excitements at the Chalet School', and that's the name used in both the abridged Armada paperbacks and the Girls Gone By full editions.
This book is mainly about the form ‘Inter V’ - a kind of intermediate class, youngest of the seniors, which is in its second term. Miss Ferrars, the ‘new mistress’ is more confident, and they mostly like her.
The first chapter sees the prefects chatting about the girls in Inter V, after one of them has arranged an afternoon of PE for them, with somewhat amusing results. The second chapter sees Inter V themselves, having a meeting to protest the interference of a girl from Va who told them to be quiet. But nothing much transpires.
Several of them are happy because the snow has stopped (this is the winter term), and they’re going to be able to go skiing and sledging. This happens… once.
Joey Maynard calls some of the staff to a meeting, to let them know that it’s almost 21 years since the Chalet School started. She suggests having some big celebrations, and the staff decide to ask for ideas from the girls.
Then there’s a comment about one of the girls using the adjective ‘marvellous’ all the time; the Head asks her to find alternatives. So her sister and friends use a thesaurus to find other words, some of them quite unusual, and they start to use them. At least, they do in one chapter, but nothing really comes of it.
Oh, and someone from the distant past appears near the Chalet School. She comes to visit the school heads, and asks if she can have a part-time teaching job. She is offered it, although several of the staff (and Joey) predict disaster. And… nothing comes of it.
There’s the inevitable chapter about a half-term visit - somewhat interesting but obviously educational - and there’s a chapter about the St Mildred’s pantomime. There’s a potential disaster at the end of it, and one of the girls is hailed as a heroine, but that rather peters out too.
Somehow, it’s all a bit disjointed. Each chapter is more-or-less complete in itself, with hints of more to come. But the only subplot which runs through the entire book is that of the coming-of-age celebrations. Some of the girls have excellent ideas, including group photos, and the plan is to get in touch with all past pupils, to invite them for a long weekend.
It’s still very readable, in my opinion. I found it easy to pick up for a chapter or two, and also easy to put down when I had to do other things. I like the continuity of the characters (some of them, anyway) and I don’t mind reading a book like this which doesn’t have much plot. I was mildly amused at the end when there’s a discussion about whether or not the term was exciting; evidently the author thought it was, given the title. But it seemed to me a rather un-exciting term, filling the gap between ‘New Mistress’ and the ‘Coming of Age’ book which follows it.
Recommended, on the whole, if you love the series and like to read the books in order. But it’s not one to dip into at random, and definitely not one to introduce someone to the series. The link above is to an Armada paperback version in Amazon's marketplace; hardbacks or full GGBP second-hand editions are often very expensive, and with so few changes, there's little point paying a huge amount for them.
Intended originally for teenagers, this is more likely to appeal to adults like me who loved these books as a child, or perhaps older children who like school stories and are looking for more.
Intended originally for teenagers, this is more likely to appeal to adults like me who loved these books as a child, or perhaps older children who like school stories and are looking for more.
Review copyright 2025 Sue's Book Reviews