The Orcutt Girls; or, One Term at the Academy by Charlotte M. Vaile

All in all, when their father comes to collect them at the end of the term, they find that it has been a busy, productive, and mostly happy time.įrom the opening scene, in which Bertha and Sue labor away in a corset factory to earn money for school, through the entire sub-plot involving Sue's desire to learn Latin, and the grief (however temporary) it brings her, The Orcutt Girls, or, One Term at the Academy is a school story like no other. In between the major school incidents, are various matters of a more domestic and social nature, from Sue's disastrous first attempt at pie-making to the two sisters' experiences at their fellow pupil Alma Lynn's birthday party.

Hermon's discovery of her gift for storytelling - lead to an opportunity that could allow her to continue her schooling. In contrast, a key incident in the latter half of the book - Sue's brief stint as substitute teacher for a class of very young children, and her principle, Mr. Sue's own guilty conscience regarding her fitness for the course, and her teacher's misinterpretation of her embarrassment in class (he assumes she has been cheating), lead to a misunderstanding that bring her much distress. Much of the narrative tension of the first half of the book centers around younger sister Sue, and the trouble she gets into in her Latin class, for which she is ill-prepared. Many sacrifices are made in the home circle to give the girls this one term at secondary school, and the sisters set out to make the most of it. New England farm girls (although never specified, the proximity of Merton to Boston, which serves as a destination for a school trip in the next book about the Orcutt girls, leads me to believe that the story is set in Massachusetts), Bertha and Sue are the product of a loving and close-knit family, and come from a home where education is fiercely valued. Published in 1896 and set in 1870, this charming novel for young people follows its eponymous heroines - sisters Bertha and Sue Orcutt - through their experiences over the course of one term at the prestigious Merton Academy, a co-educational school not far from their home.

The Orcutt Girls; or, One Term at the Academy by Charlotte M. Vaile