Mask of Apollo and "Restricted Books"

[elizahonig.livejournal.com]

I think I've asked this before and nobody came up with any suggestions, but I'm doing another edit and thought I'd try again.

Nicola gets in trouble at some point because she takes this Mary Renault novel to school with her and not only is it an extra book, and (I think) from the local library, but in the Kingscote library it's Restricted or Limited or whatever the term is.  We've talked before about her take on why it should have been Restricted; and I am sad to think that it would probably still be the equivalent of Restricted in many American school libraries today.

My question was:  what other books would have been restricted in an English girls' school?  Books that would have been deemed suitable for the Seniors but not for the Juniors?  I need something written before 1938, something that might have appealed to an adventurous 12-year-old.  I need this for my own children's book, and it's the kind of thing that's impossible for a 20-year-old American RA to figure out!  I thought that somebody here might have an idea, though.

Comments

[ankaret.livejournal.com]

I've only read Dimsie once, years ago (and about twenty years after I first read Jenny And The Syndicate, so I totally failed to pick up on that at the time, but I can see you're quite right. Fascinating.

One thing that I think is completely Martyn's own, and good in its own right, is the creation of Mary and Sylvia and their friends - she manages to make them authentically fifteen or so without ending up falling over herself trying for 'relevance', and I don't think I've ever seen a clearer example of charisma in action than Sylvia Westminster.

[lizarfau.livejournal.com]

Oh, agreed! Sylvia is fantastic and just takes over the books. In fact, you wonder why the books are called "Jenny and ... " because it's Sylvia who is by far the strongest character.

I think Miss Hamilton is a fantastic creation too - my favourite headmistress in the school-story genre. I also rather like the alcoholic housemistress, and the way the episode where she's tipsy allows us to see a different side of Sylvia.