Janet D. Wheeler

Billie Bradley at Treasure Cover is book six of the Billie Bradley series. This book opens with Billie and her two best friends, Laura Jordan and Violet 'Vi' Farrington, walking in the woods around Lake Molata, where their boarding school, Three Towers Hall, is located. They are discussing a letter from Myra Bossenet (formerly Huldah), the subject of their adventure the last summer from book five, Billie Bradley at Twin Lakes. It's now the following spring. Myra is making progress in her art lessons. The girls were thinking of going back to Twin Lakes, but Vi has learned that the cottages they rented have been sold. They don't want to rent different cottages.

The explosion that ended chapter one leads to the excitement of the girls trying to escape from further explosions. They come across an old man pinned to the ground by the branches of a felled tree. They free him, but he has an injured leg. The girls are very worried that the explosions mean that Boxton Military Academy on the opposite side of the lake has been blown up. Three of the students there are Billie's brother, Chet, Laura's brother, Teddy, and their good friend, Ferd Stowing. Luckily, the academy is fine. It would be nice to know who touched off the explosions, though.

The girls find out that the elderly man, a former sailor named Ben Halcomb, was going to Three Towers Hall to see his cousin, Miss Pauline Halcomb, the new math teacher there. Ben has a treasure map and he wants his cousin to help him. The extremely practical teacher isn't interested, but the girls are.

Before the girls and the boys travel to Treasure Cove to help old Ben, there's the matter of a big tennis match between Billie and Amanda, each with a doubles partner. Amanda did something to hurt Billie's game, but old Ben fixed that. There's also a dance at Boxton combined with a baseball game against Boxton's bitter rival, Claxton Hall.

Teddy and Billie are still interested in each other, but Chet seems to have switched his interest from Vi to Laura since book two, Billie Bradley at Three Towers Hall. Luckily, Ferd, who had seemed interested in Laura in that book, has switched to Vi.… (plus d'informations)

Billie Bradley at Sun Dial Lodge is book seven of the Billie Bradley series. It takes up where book six, Billie Bradley at Treasure Cover, leaves off. The treasure found is a big subplot of this book.

The treasure is stolen from the train that Billie, her brother, her friends, and her relative, Ben Halcomb, the old sailor who asked for her help in finding the treasure. It was stolen when the train stopped because of a broken bridge. They should have guarded that treasure themselves, but the guys were watching the reconstruction of the bridge and the girls were looking for a doctor for Ben in the 'squalid settlement' near the broken bridge.

At least the search for a doctor allowed the girls to meet the old woman who will become another subplot: Sara Westlock.

NOTES:

Chapter 1:

a. Billie Bradley and her friends met Ben Halcombe under dangerous circumstances in chapter 3 of book six.

b. Ben told Billie that Pauline Halcombe thought he was crazy in chapter 9 of book six.

Chapter 2:

a. Ben Halcombe severely wrenched his ankle in chapter 19 of book six. This was after the same ankle was severely sprained when he and Billie met.

b. The house at Cherry Corners adventure was in book one, Billie Bradley and her Inheritance.

c. The girls were still attending boarding school in book six. They went to Treasure Cove during the summer break. It's still summer. They first attended the school in book two, Billie Bradley at Three Towers Hall. The lighthouse adventure was in book three, Billie Bradley on Lighthouse Island. Book four, Billie Bradley and Her Classmates, is where the girls helped the widow and her children. Billie Bradley at Twin Lakes was book five.… (plus d'informations)

Book two opens not long after book one ends, then goes into a synopsis of that book. The author adds a few details left out before. It looks as if Bille Bradley 's inheritance will enable her and her brother Chet to join their best friends in attending the schools of their dreams. The train they're carrying off the loot in has a wreck in chapter 2. A thief makes off with Billie's trunk. There's a car chase. The loot is recovered, but the thief -- dubbed 'the Codfish' for his looks -- gets away. Will he ever be brought to justice?

Three Towers Hall is as wonderful as they'd hoped it would be, aside from a few problems. One of those is that their hometown sneak & snitch, Amanda Peabody, and Amanda's faithful shadow, Eliza Dilks, are also at the school. (It's a pity that Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody and her famous parasol aren't there to teach those girls the error of their ways.)

Another problem is two of the teachers. The sisters Dill are about as warm and kind as Miss Minchin in Burnett's A Little Princess. They're the kind of teachers who enjoy humiliating their pupils. Of course Billie manages to make one Miss Dill dislike her for a trivial reason, which puts her on both the sour Dills' blacklist.

Billie has a fifth enemy at school. Rose Belser is a very pretty and popular girl who fears that Billie will outshine her. Billie instinctively dislikes her.

The Dills don't like for the students to have parties. Will our heroines succeed in having a midnight feast anyway? Will the school's secret society offer to let them join? Can they pass the initiation if they do?

The rebellion in the subtitle is needed because Headmistress Walters has to go away and foolishly leaves the Dills in charge. So long, liberty! Farewell, enough food!

If the Dills think they're dealing with meek little Victorian schoolgirls, they've got another think coming. It's 1920, the students are mad as heck, and they're not going to take it anymore!

This is a pretty decent boarding school story, especially the last few chapters.… (plus d'informations)