Beverly Gray on a World Cruise review

This is the 7th book in the series and had a wonderful lead into this in Beverly Gray at the world's fair.
The story begins by describing the Susabella with her white sides and green decks. With wicker chairs and a divan on deck who wouldn't want to be a part of the cruise.
Beverly doesn't seem as wrapped up in being a reporter as one would imagine for a rookie. She tells Jim that when she finds a market for her novels she will resign.

Beverly asks Charlie Blaine for a holiday so she can go on a cruise with her friends. Mind you Beverly has only just gotten back not too long ago from a months absence in Chicago. Yes she went to the Worlds Fair for work but stayed longer with her friends then would of been needed.
Charlie makes no promises but says that of she sends in stories he will pay for them if the choose to publish them.
Those to go on the cruise were Jim Stanton, Paul Benson, Roger Garrett, Lenora Whitehill, Beverly Gray and Shirley Parker. Rogers aunt Miss Ernwood is also on the cruise as chaperon. Crew on the yacht consisted of a captain, chef, steward and two sailors.

Connie and Kathleen stay at home in the apartment. The gangs first plan is to cruise to England to pick up Roger's friend Sir Terry Cartwright.
On board the yacht there are the usual mishaps you can expect from a Beverly Grsy story. Roger, Lenora and Beverly decide to go swimming in the ocean. Beverly decides to continue swimming after the others have stopped and whilst a distance from the yacht a shark appears. Jim Stanton cones to the rescue. That night Jim and Beverly snuggle up on the divan and kiss but Beverly tells him she might feel differently tonorrow. A few days later Jim falls overboard during a storm and isn't found. The Susabella after failing to find Him continues on to England. Beverly is distraught and Shirley tells Lenora "I believe she has been in love with Jim all the time - and didn't know it." ( p70)
everyone is trying to decide if they should go home or not after Jim's accident. As they get to shore in England Jim is waiting for them dressed in old sailor clothes.
Terry Cartwright takes "an immediate liking to Lenora" ( p74)
This story has Beverly do a complete turn around from the previous few books where Lenora egged Beverly on into adventure. From the moment Beverly's novel returned again rejected and she played hookey from work before resigning to travel the world. When following the boys to an unsafe part of town where Jim has to go to meet up with Slim who has the other half of a treasure map Beverly is passionate for adventure. Slim is murdered and Jim is warned of Black Barney who is looking for the map. The turn around Beverly said was a new desire to live life for today after the disappointment of working hard and researching for no reward.
Her behavior change did not go unnoticed. Jim seemed concerned but it came across like he probably liked her leaving her job as to him he thought she might settle down with him.
Shirley was concerned.
"A month ago Beverly would never have thought of that," Shirley said to Jim, watching her friend dive below the surface. " Now it seems the more dangerous a thing is the more she loves it." ( p48)
Beverly Beverly's treatment of her friends and of Jim are quiet poor at times whilst Beverly is struggling to come to terms with her newly acquired attitude to life. Poor Jim, Beverly had originally used the excuse she had no idea how Jim felt about her, qustionable considering everyone else seemed to know including her parents but it can happen. In this story though Beverly spends one evening on the boat kissing Him in the moonlight on board the yacht and then a few days later she says no to going to High Tea with him and the rest of the gang at The Ambassador whilst in England but then turns up there with a stranger (the Count) having tea and dancing with him infront of Jim.
Beverly's naivety continues in this story, I suppose it works as a devise to add more scenes to the drama but for a girl that is suppose to be a reporter it makes her look quiet silly.
Can you say the name Stalker? It seems that Beverly cannot. She bumps into Count Alexis de Frachiny in a bookstore in England and feels she has seen him before but can't remember where. She runs into him in Paris when she and Lenora are lost and can't remember the name of their hotel. He not only runs into them on the street but also happens to know the name of their hotel because he saw them there when checking in because he was staying there too. Okay so perhaps this could be the world's biggest coincidence but when Beverly goes to visit the gypsy
Anselo her rescuer from "Beverly Gray, Junior" and Anselo plays for violin for Beverly in his apartment. When Beverly and Anselo sit down for a cup of tea Anselo and then Beverly notice The Count longing in a doorway across the road watching Anaelo's apartment. When she questioned herself as to if he was following her, what were her thought? Creepy stalker? No!
She rebuked herself.
"The Count had not followed her! Why should he? Certainly there was no reason for him to spy on her!" (p139)
From Paris the group traveled to Berne where they saw famous fountains, the Bear, the " man who eats children" , and the sharpshooter; the old bear gardens; the five hundred year old cathedral before catching a train to Grindelwald to go to the three mile bob sleigh run.
Beverly goes skating on her own and runs literally into guess who? Does she say "Hey quit stalking me," does she run from the creepy man? No Beverly spends the morning with him not giving a thought to the fact that he has now turned up in a small village in Switzerland after running into her in Paris and England. No wonder this girl has a knack of being
kidnapped, locked up, and captured, poor Beverly is clueless!!!
Beverly starts to run low of funds and decides she has to return home. As her friends leave she receives a telegram addressed to Lois that says Beverly has sold her book. After a dangerous encounter with the count finally Beverly wakes up to what we knew all along that the count is a bad guy. Yeah!!!
Beverly now has to travel to Cairo, Egypt to try to catch up with her friends and I'm a tarting yo think I need to do that European trip like Beverly did.
In Egypt Beverly stays at The Shepeards hotel.
I don't remember Egypt at all from my first reading of this book a few years ago. In fact a don't remember a lot od this book so I am looking forward to whatelae I discover in future rereadings of the series.
Lenora did state early in the book rhat Jim had it all wrong and should just go grab Beverly.
Towards the end of the book when Lenora complains that Beverly gets all the adventure Terry grabs her to take her out looking for adventure. Lenora responds to the girls as
"Terry is becoming a caveman and I love it." (p 237)
Lenora soon gets her excitement when she gets Terry to buy her a scarab. To which after a near accident they read the curse on the back of it. "Destruction to those who take from Egypt the thunks which are Egypt's. (p 241)
Beverly is also on another writing frenzy
" I have to let my ideas out or my head would burst."(p 244)
Shirley senses that Beverly is unsatisfied with her life and tries to quiz her over Jim or Roger but Beverly says she is content but Shirley believes that Beverly is not satisfied with her life despite the book selling and her world travels.
Christmas eve is spent in Jerusalem visiting the small church where once the manager had stood.
The book ends on Christmas eve singing Christmas carols in Bethlehem and we are reminded of the next book in the orient and wonders if the Count will return or the scarab will bring destruction and that Jim still holds the treasure map.

Beverly Gray Artwork

i wish there were Beverly Gray items you could purchase, and a better collection of artwork of her. I decided today to buy some art paper to have a go at an artwork on Beverly for my wall. I am going to look at all the artwork created on her for some inspiration.

Alpha Delta Stats from world's fair

The picture has to be of Beverly wiith either Lenora, Virginia or Connie.

The girls buy cans from the American can company that are really banks with buildings at the world's fair on them. (Beverly, Virginia, Lenora and Connie)
Beverly: August 5th is Beverly's birthday. Star sign Leo. Beverly is told by a palm reader she loves Jim but she is very changeable in her heart and a little hard to please. Beverly was asked to get married by Jim numerous times.
Lenora: is told by a palm reader she will marry twice.
Virginia: has a young niece called Judy, is living with her Aunt and uncle in Chicago whilst studying medicine.

Other facts: Jim Stanton knew Roger Garrett at college. Jim plays the piano.

Beverly Gray, book 4 Senior review

I got the impression before I started this book that perhaps author Clair Blank had not decided on a definite mystery for book 4 whilst reading the end of book 3, it talked about adventures to come but not mysteries. To those who are new to the series the first book Freshman was written by Clair when she was fresh out of school and the publishers asked her to write 3 more to be released as a series about college life. As it was the series was so popular we got to see a lot more of Beverly than just at college in the end but book 2 to 4 must have been written on a very tight schedule.

The start of this series mentions some things that the previous books didn't mention. All of a sudden we have rivals in Vernon in the form of a group of Juniors that are gaining in popularity and like the Alpha Deltas there are six of them. In fact though the Alpha Deltas had no encounters with them in previous books our first introduction to the goes like ...
"Is there a mystery in the air?"
"No"Lois answered " but Connie Elwood and her gang are back in full bloom."
The six new girls that are introduced as juniors are: Kathleen Ryan, Ada Collins, Evelyn Delong, Virginia Harris, Phyllis Tanner and Connie.
Connie goes on to state in one of the opening chapters in a conversation with Shirley..
"I know there is no cause for friendship between us. Goodness knows, my crowd and The Alpha have been at odds for a long time...."
This is a funny statement as Connie, her friends, or any incidences between them and the alphas have never been mentioned before this book and you would imagine a great rivalry between groups would have made an appearance before now,

The book also starts by building the story of Forsythe Film Company coming to campus from Hollywood to make a movie, this story was introduced in the last book, Junior. The idea of having a competition for the students at the school to write a scenario for the movie that will be filmed is a bit ridiculous though. I mean how do you add such a thing to the overall film, especially when they get to make up their own characters rather than use the characters in the film. Instantly it sounds like just the thing for Beverly to display her great writing talents. And Shirley a great actress which the film producer has seen her act as Hamlet at last years college production is silently waiting in the wings.
What with a stuffy stuck up starlet that has a bad attitude and who Lenora set up at the worst hotel in town to teach her a lesson thinking she may quit the film. Leaving a space open for our Shirley to shine. Are we getting predictable Miss Blank? I'm not even up to that stage in the story and already I'm predicting outcomes. Is this because I read the book several years ago and may still remember a bit? Is it because I know and love Beverly and her friends so well? Is it because Clair Blank might of been saying to herself, one more to go then I gave given the publishers the four books they asked for? It would of been interesting to know how ling it took Clair Blank to write each book. Was Senior easier because it was the final year and Clair still had previously mentioned things to draw on that had never been fleshed out before like Anne and Beverly being great tennis players.

A day later and I'm there, yes the predictable happened. One thing I didn't remember from the first time around was the extreme emphasis on Clair Blanks part on being popular:
"Imagine! Valedictorian and president in our society!"
"Her club will never be as popular next term as we are this term."
"He remembered the girls as the ones the Dean had introduced to him as the most popular group on campus."
"They knew that defeat at the hands of Connie and her pals would not be easy. For one thing their popularity would be depleted,..."
"The girl who won would certainly be popular and envied."
Funny how in more recent times being in the popular group in a story probably make you be a mean girl, or a bully or have some other negative attributes. Where during the 1930's when this book was written popular meant you were admired for your achievements for sports, excelling in college subjects or having a talent and winning."

At the Senior ball everyone goes as their favorite fictional character:
Peter Rabbit - Beverly.
Sherlock Holmes - Lenora
Peter Pan - Lois
Joan of Arc - Rosalie
Robinson Crusoe- Anne.

Jim proposes marriage to Beverly and she tells him she never saw him as anything but a friend.
The book / time period seems to be marriage OR career not that you can have both.

Beverly states " isn't one always sorry to find out she is grown up at last? I shall miss the girls a lot."

When Lenora and Beverly pull a stranger out of a window he was trying to break into Lenora has to talk Beverly into following him. (where is Beverly's reporter instincts? Lenora seems more after a story than she.
Beverly states:" he is probably an innocent visitor to the town. I guess he tried to get into the private car just for curiosity." ( p119)
This is absurd - since when was break and enter an innocent thing to do. This shows up Beverly's naivety and makes you wonder if she could be a reporter.

When Beverly becomes part of a kidnap caper she complains about not liking it.
" Where is your sense of adventure?" sneered Lenora. " This is exciting."
Beverly does kick into Reporter mode which we expect of our heroine.
When Beverly enters a house as a part of her investigation, author Clair Blank does a great job of building tension.

In the tennis cup tournament Alpha Deltas Anne and Kathleen Ryan are partners and Beverly teams with Connie Elwood.

Clair Blank does not reveal the year they graduate. At the senior dinner it states " nothing is too good for the class of 19--" (the year is not filled in)

Although Beverly suspects something is going on between Anne and Tommy from glances they exchange she does not question Anne. She does vow however to try and be closer to Anne again as she spends most her time with Lenora and Connie.

The six girls agree to meet up again at the next years graduation to see the 6 new Alpha Deltas graduate.

Beverly's speech at the Senior dinner at Wellar's is inspiring.
" When we leave Vernon we shall go on to different positions and live different lives. Many of you go out in the world to earn your living, and you will meet shadows. The way will prove thorny and rough to some, and yet the future, whether for honor or dishonor rests in our own hands. With a high aim, firm purpose and unselfish ambition we can make our lives what we will."

It is not until the last few pages we learn that Lois is a talented artist that wants to sketch.
Lenora declares it is her sole intention to do nothing but enjoy herself. Rosalie would like to go to the conservatory for music.
Shirley states that two girls in their group (she is referring to Anne and Rosalie) "they are the kind who should devote themselves to society - they are so gracious and contented." I interpreted this as they will marry not work which ends up being what they do.

In the last chapter Anne announces her engagement to Tommy and their wedding takes place with the Alpha Deltas present. Beverly and Jim are the only bridal party. Maid and best man. Anne and Tommy marry and leave immediately as Tommy has a new job out of town.

When asked if she will marry Lenora said she was working on the navy principles "my motto is a boy in every town"

Even before I was 3/4 the way through Senior I was missing the idea of not having more books on their college years and wished there had been 8 books with the mid year Christmas holiday as the end point for the first and the end of t
Year for the second July to June the terms run in the books. Or even 12 books one for before holiday break, one on the break one on return making 12 books in 4 years. Yes I am already missing Beverly's college years at Vernon and wish I could read more.

Beverly Gray Book 3 junior book review

This book jumped straight into excitement and mystery as the girls return to Vernon College and decide to go to a gypsy camp to get their fortunes read. Lenora is told she will meet a blonde male and must listen, and Beverly is told she will have three men fighting over her and she will be in danger. It was great that Beverly went missing soon after. What didn't ring true was for her friends at Vernon College not to bother to even go out to search for her and look for clues in the direction of the post office where she had been going. Even though the girls first day back at college meant no classes and at lunchtime Beverly's disappearance was all the talk, still no one bothered to go off campus to look for her. Surely this can't be a sign of the times? Is it just the author not bothering to be sidetracked from her plot? Found some of Sophomore the same. I mean Beverly finds a crate of white powder and her first thought before getting the police is that it's nearly dinner time at Vernon College and she mustn't be late otherwise she will get in trouble. Of course the crate was gone when she returned.

I was thinking before I started this book trying to remember back to my first reading of it that I didn't enjoy the gypsy stories so much. I really enjoyed this second read through though. Don't get me wrong there isn't a Beverly Gray book that I don't love, it's just which ones I prefer. But this I thoroughly enjoyed, and liked the gypsy story a lot more than I remember.

I also think I'll think more about Larry this time around and if I think he and Beverly did ever get married in the end. The first time I read these stories I thought not because he always seemed to take off for one reason or another and having been in the secret service and all I wondered if he could stay around long enough before needing to take off on adventure.

The main mystery finished half way through the book, before the college Christmas holiday break.
This time it was Christmas at Beverly's house for Beverly and Shirley. It made for a great comparison between Shirley's home life and Beverly's as it wasn't that long ago that the Alpha Deltas went to Shirley's house for the holidays. Shirley's lived in busy New York but didn't have friends to introduce the girls too. Shirley's family were not involved in their daughters life and it seemed that everyone in her house
lived separate lives. Outings involved the movies and shopping, things you could imagine that Shirley could also do on her own. Life seemed pretty lonely in a big city where people didn't get to know each other. Home at Beverly's was in contrast, close family involvement, lots of
friends filling the days with group outings and social occasions.
Towards the end of the book I did feel Beverly was a bit too idealistic in her not wanting to accuse the obvious culprit. Lenora even came across as more the sleuth of the pair on this occasion as she was always suspicious and immediately figured things out.
Shirley's character was developed well in this story as she learnt to have a conscious towards how things affect others. I'm glad this series doesn't spend every moment concentrating solely on Beverly as Clair Blank developed some great sidekicks. Both Beverly Gray and Shirley Parker are only children so it's interesting the differences between the two friends in this story including the differences in their parents participation in their lives.

Beverly Gray Sophomore book 2 review

The start to book 2 was a lot different from book 1. There was an assumption that you knew the characters from book 1 and if not the main characters were quickly introduced in a chapter and the book continued straight into the start of a mystery for Beverly to solve. The mystery itself however unravels slowly as it is broken up by college events such as a dance.

The Holidays in this book were well handled as the Alfa Deltas got to spend their holidays together in New York and Beverly got to solve a quick mini mystery. This was a great way to keep us engaged with the main characters rather than separate them for the break. It's interesting that author Clair Blank didn't attempt to skip over the holiday breaks at school but instead incorporated them into the story.

I'm realizing that even though Rosalie is one of the main friends in those book I don't know anything about her, Lois was the same until the last few chapters of this book.
.Lenora they also haven't spent a lot of time with her details either but she does have a distinct personality that shines through. She says things directly, acts fearlessly, quick witted, loves food, loves sodas, including choc sodas. Weller's the local soda store is mentioned a bit as the girls hang out there. Lois also before the last few chapters of this book seemed to lack a distinct personality but it seemed to develop rapidly once she engaged in a friendly war of words with Lenora.

The part whet Beverly is trapped and decides to play solitaire instead of looking for the escape latch seemed so wrong, especially since someone there was a murderer and she had been threatened that day my a man with a knife, and I wouldn't of thought Beverly would give up looking so easily.
For the nostalgic Disney fans when the girls decide to go to a matinee movie to cheer Shirley up Lenora states: " you must come, I shan't
enjoy Mickey Mouse if you don't"
There are three mysteries in this book, the first of the haunted house, complete with dancing skeletons and the second the stolen diamond and third The stolen exam papers.

Although Shirley gave up a possible career as an actress to continue studying at Vernon she didn't get to hone her craft at all this term ( where was Hamlet that Lenora promised to put on with Shirley playing Hamlet? ) It seemed to take Shirley even most of the year to realize that she hadn't worked further on her acting.
Overall more of a mystery book than the first even if it was a very classic theme of the haunted house mystery. More character devopment and more importantly more development in how the characters intact with each other which is probably what makes Beverly Gray books so great.

Beverly Gray Stats, book 2 Sophomore

Sorority: Beverly and her friends form a sorority, Beverly is voted president of the Alpha Deltas.
Beverly joins the college paper " The Comet " as a Reporter.
Hair: Dark, curly.

Sophomore, book 2

Now up to reading book 2 again Sophomore. More stsats to come on both Beverly and other main characters.

Lois Mason Stats, Beverly Gray books 1 to 4

At Vernon college Lois is first introduced as Anne White's roommate in book 1 Freshman.
For the first few weeks Lois is mean to Anne but this is then explained away as her being homesick.
Lois becomes secretary of the Alfa Deltas in Sophomore.
During the last two chapters of Sophomore Lois starts to counter comments by Lenora and this banter continues at the start of Junior. This is what I remember between Lois and Lenora and it is really the first thing in the series that starts to define the chacter of Lois, until this point I would of labelled her with the non descript personality we are given for Rosalie Arnold.
In Senior we learn she is a good basketball player. she plays a forward.
She is an actress but not serious in pursuing it as a career like Shirley is.
She dresses. As Peter Psn at the favorite fictional character dance.
It is not until the last few pages of Senior that we learn that Lois is a talented artist that wants to sketch.
Lois has a kid sister and she is going to babysit over the holidays after college finishes.

Lenora Whitehill Stats, Beverly Gray Books 1 to 4

Lenora is not introduced until chapter 5 of Book 1 Freshman, as a freshman that suffered from the same Freshman prank that Beverly, Anne, Lois and Shirley did.
Lenora has cute little sayings, in Sophomore it's " the nuts" for when something is good.
Lenora plays the piano.
Towards the end of book 2 Sophomore at the movies Lenora starts her rapid fire witted, chatter with Lois which would often become described in stories. This is played up the most in the last chapter of Sophomore as Lois counters everything that Lenora says.
In Senior you start to see the full potential of Lenora's character as Beverly spends most her time with Lenora or Connie.
At the fictional ball Lenora goes as Sherlock Holmes. In fact for what is to become a mystery series Lenora in Senior is more the detective than Beverly (she would of made a great detective or police officer) she has to talk Beverly into following a suspect. Lenora in this book refers to herself a few times as Sherlock Holmes. She even questions Beverly as to " where is your sense of adventure?"

Beverly Gray Stats from Book One Freshman

I thought I would take the time while rereading the series to collect stats on Beverly Gray for my website down the track. So here are stats from book 1.
Beverly Gray Stats.
Age: 19 years old at the start of the story and entering college.
Her best friend at the start of the story is Anne White, who's mother had been good friends with Beverly's mum when she was young also.
Mother: Helen Chadwick, went to Vernon College and wanted Beverly to follow in her footsteps. Beverly doesn't tell other students she is Helen's daughter but Helen is referred to as a patron saint by some students.
Father: John Gray
Lives: grew up at Rest Haven, Renville. At college she lives in Chadwick Hall.
Pets: a wire- haired fox terrier there called Terry.
Beverly's first roommate at Vernon college is Shirley Parker.
Quirks: signs a letter to her parents " love and lollipops"
Sports: Beverly I'd a good tennis player and asked to try for the college team as a Freshman. Beverly plays Basketball and was the best player in High School.
Eyes: blue
Hair: brown
Build: slim
High School: Beverly was a member of a social group of friends called " The Lucky Circle" the group consisted of Beverly, Anne, Jim Stanton, Tommy Chandler (a neighbor) Barbara West, Gordon Brewster, Joan Roberts, and Boyd Marshall.
Aspirations; in High School Beverly had said she woukd never marry instead she would travel the world and have a career.
Moto: from Tennyson, " For man is man and master of his fate."