The Girls of Canby Hall Series by Emily Chase, published by Scholastic (1984–1989), is a collection of young adult novels, based around the lives of a group of students at a New England boarding school.
Emily Chase, the "official author" is not really one writer, but many authors who have alternated themselves to write books (one of the most famous is the romantic author Julie Garwood).
Parts of the series have been translated into Dutch and Finnish.
Plot summary
The story began with three teen-age girls coming to Canby Hall, a prestigious boarding school in Greenleaf, Massachusetts. Canby Hall was named after Julia Canby, the daughter of a Boston businessman who had died of scarlet fever while abroad in Europe. The three girls were: Shelley Hyde, from Iowa; Faith Thompson from Washington, D.C. and Dana Morrison from New York City. They were assigned to 407 Baker Hall. (The other two dorm halls were Addison and Charles houses) At first the three girls clashed due to their differences, (Dana and Faith, both being from the East Coast, bonded immediately and Shelley had a harder time adapting due to her being from the Midwest) but their young and hip housemother, Alison Cavanaugh, helped them sort through their differences and they bonded and became best friends. Their friendship was even more solidified when, during a trip to see Shelley's family and friends in Iowa, Faith had a terrible medical emergency, which scared everyone involved.
After Shelley, Dana and Faith graduated, three new girls (Andrea "Andy" Cord; Jane Barrett and October "Toby" Houston) moved into 407, and on occasion, the six girls would get together, mainly for their former housemother's wedding and her pregnancy. Jane's family (the Barretts) had helped give the money to build the school's science hall named Barrett Hall. After Alison's marriage and her move to Boston, a new housemother named Meredith Pembroke comes along, and at first, handed out demerits with reckless abandon because she was overreacting to her own wild adolescence. Andrea, Jane and Toby talked her through the rough time, and Meredith (nicknamed, Merrie) subsequently became as nice and friendly as Alison had been.
The other main adult, aside from the housemothers, was the school's austere headmistress, Patrice Allardyce, who was known as P.A. behind her back. Despite her austerity and her enforcement of the rules, Ms. Allardyce was also discovered to be a fair, compassionate and personable human being too.
The Girls of Canby Hall Series List of books Roommates, 1984 Our Roommate is Missing, 1984 You're No Friend of Mine, 1984 Keeping Secrets, 1984 Summer Blues, 1984 Best Friends Forever, 1984 Four Is a Crowd, 1984 The Big Crush, 1984 Boy Trouble, 1984 Make Me a Star, 1985 With Friends Like That, 1985 Who's the New Girl?, 1985 Here Come the Boys, 1985 What's a Girl To Do?, 1985 (by Julie Garwood) To Tell the Truth, 1985 Three of a Kind, 1985 Graduation Day, 1986 Making Friends, 1986 One Boy Too Many, 1986 Friends Times Three, 1987 Party Time!, 1987 Troublemaker, 1987 But She's So Cute, 1987 Princess Who?, 1987 The Ghost of Canby Hall, 1987 Help Wanted!, 1988 The Roommate and the Cowboy, 1988 Happy Birthday, Jane, 1988 A Roommate Returns, 1988 Surprise!, 1988 Here Comes the Bridesmaid, 1988 Who's Got a Crush on Andy?, 1989 Six Roommates and a Baby, 1989
Super Editions (Related titles) Something Old, Something New, 1986 The Almost Summer Carnival, 1987
References and resources Scholastic Website
Specific
External links Girls of Canby Hall Series by Emily Chase 1984 to 1989 in eBay Emily Chase in FictionDB