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Cherry Ames #17
Cherry Ames Boarding School Nurse
The adventures of a young & dedicated career nurse.
212 pages, Hardcover
First published November 30, 1954
6 people are currently reading
153 people want to read
About the author
Helen Wells
112 books75 followersOriginal name: Helen Weinstock. Social worker turned full-time young adult writer, born in Illinois but moved with family to New York City when she was seven. In 1934 Wells graduated from New York University [where she'd been the first female editor of the literary quarterly], with a major in philosophy and a minor in sociology and psychology.
During World War II, she served as a volunteer with the State Department's Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs, escorting Latin American visitors in the United States.
Author of Cherry Ames, Nurse books, a series for young teens.
She was also the author of the Vicki Barr books, about a young mystery-solving flight attendant. And, as Francine Lewis, she penned the short-lived Polly French series (1950s), aimed at a younger readership.
After writing the first eight books of the Cherry Ames series and the first three Vicki Barr books, Wells decided to abandon both series to write for television and radio, and Julie Tatham took over (however, both the ninth Cherry Ames book and the fourth Vicki Barr book were published under Wells's name). Tatham later returned the Vicki Barr books to Wells in 1953 and the Cherry Ames books in 1955.
During World War II, she served as a volunteer with the State Department's Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs, escorting Latin American visitors in the United States.
Author of Cherry Ames, Nurse books, a series for young teens.
She was also the author of the Vicki Barr books, about a young mystery-solving flight attendant. And, as Francine Lewis, she penned the short-lived Polly French series (1950s), aimed at a younger readership.
After writing the first eight books of the Cherry Ames series and the first three Vicki Barr books, Wells decided to abandon both series to write for television and radio, and Julie Tatham took over (however, both the ninth Cherry Ames book and the fourth Vicki Barr book were published under Wells's name). Tatham later returned the Vicki Barr books to Wells in 1953 and the Cherry Ames books in 1955.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
August 26, 2020
I really enjoyed this quick, light mystery. It’s geared to the teen crowd and was first published in 1955. I would quite probably have rated this four stars when I was in that age range.
Cherry has to help a girl unravel an old mystery that is literally within the walls of an old house that holds the girls’ school at which Cherry is hired to be the nurse. There are several health challenges for her to conquer as well.
Recommended for ages 10-16
Cherry has to help a girl unravel an old mystery that is literally within the walls of an old house that holds the girls’ school at which Cherry is hired to be the nurse. There are several health challenges for her to conquer as well.
Recommended for ages 10-16
May 31, 2013
I enjoyed the mystery of the flowers and the perfume. However, I was very disappointed with how the author treated Cherry in making her sound so unsure of her nursing skills. She sounded like she was fresh out of school and not someone who had nursed in the war and as a flight nurse.
October 13, 2019
I'm still not reading as much as I would like but I couldn't resist this when I spotted it sitting on my night stand. I read this series when I was a kid and fell in love with them. In fact, they're my bucket list book series. I only own three of them so far, but I'm always looking in thrift stores and at garage sales for more. That said, this is the one that always stuck with me...
The Good -
This is a light, quick read akin to Nancy Drew. Cherry is a regular girl who struggles with a bit of insecurity, but who is always there for her patients and who has a quick mind.
The Bad -
These were written during a time period when nurses were often seen to be below doctors and not as important. Certain things like this are apparent within the book.
The Summary -
This is one of my favorite books of all time. I suspect that now that I own it, I will read it over and over again. If you're able to keep in mind the time period that it was written versus getting offended, this is a great series no matter the age of the reader.
The Good -
This is a light, quick read akin to Nancy Drew. Cherry is a regular girl who struggles with a bit of insecurity, but who is always there for her patients and who has a quick mind.
The Bad -
These were written during a time period when nurses were often seen to be below doctors and not as important. Certain things like this are apparent within the book.
The Summary -
This is one of my favorite books of all time. I suspect that now that I own it, I will read it over and over again. If you're able to keep in mind the time period that it was written versus getting offended, this is a great series no matter the age of the reader.
February 2, 2017
Cherry Ames Boarding Nurse is a very cute book that embodies the 1950's era and values completely. This is not my kind of book, but I the bit of mystery keeps you intrigued enough to see it through. I really liked how the author displays the relationship between Cherry and the young Doctor Alan Wilcox, with the old fashion style of courtship. I would recommend this book to students any where from middle to high school. This book is appropriate for all ages.
I would use this book in a history class while studying the 50's era. I think it would be interesting to compare this book to what is happening in the world at that time. I would use it as a read- around book and discuss it in class with my students. I would also say that this book is appropriate for young children, I think that young girls might get a kick out of it.
Warnings
Drugs-No
Sex-No
R/R-Hilarious dialogue and flirting
Language-No
Violence-No
I would use this book in a history class while studying the 50's era. I think it would be interesting to compare this book to what is happening in the world at that time. I would use it as a read- around book and discuss it in class with my students. I would also say that this book is appropriate for young children, I think that young girls might get a kick out of it.
Warnings
Drugs-No
Sex-No
R/R-Hilarious dialogue and flirting
Language-No
Violence-No
January 30, 2017
Cherry Ames was a very adorable book. It was a fun view into the past through a very sweet character. I read it because I thought it would be interesting to see what being a nurse back then was like. Though honestly, for me, it was a slow read and it took a lot for me to get into the drama because it was young person drama AND old timey drama. For a younger reader though, it could be a very good mystery for them to try and solve.
I would use this book as young as middle school, because it is such an easy read and talks about morals like not stealing or sneaking out. It also has a very mild and flirtatious romance that a younger person might enjoy. It would be for readers who also liked reading the Anne of Green Gables series.
Drugs: no
Sex: no
R&R: no, unless you think a mild car accident and injury is exciting
Language: no.. example: "Darn" and "Oh my!"
Violence: no
I would use this book as young as middle school, because it is such an easy read and talks about morals like not stealing or sneaking out. It also has a very mild and flirtatious romance that a younger person might enjoy. It would be for readers who also liked reading the Anne of Green Gables series.
Drugs: no
Sex: no
R&R: no, unless you think a mild car accident and injury is exciting
Language: no.. example: "Darn" and "Oh my!"
Violence: no
January 17, 2016
This is another book in the Cherry Ames series. In this case she's gotten a job at a girl's boarding school which is basically down on its luck. There aren't many students, and most of Cherry's nursing problems are fairly minor. There is a mystery involving one of the girls, though, where she wants to find a formula for a perfume made by an ancestor of hers.
The mystery occupies more of the book than the nursing aspects. It's an interesting one, but the book has more of a resemblance to a Nancy Drew-type mystery than the early Cherry Ames books. I'm also wondering if anywhere there's an explanation for why she changed jobs so many times. She always seemed to do good wherever she worked, but she never seemed to last very long in any one place.
The mystery occupies more of the book than the nursing aspects. It's an interesting one, but the book has more of a resemblance to a Nancy Drew-type mystery than the early Cherry Ames books. I'm also wondering if anywhere there's an explanation for why she changed jobs so many times. She always seemed to do good wherever she worked, but she never seemed to last very long in any one place.
July 10, 2012
This book was a killer for me to read. I know it is set in a time period for me to read, but I think that it was intense for me. I had to force myself to read it. It took me a while, so be prepared for setting a timer to finish this book.
Language: a tiny bit from what I can remember but nothing too fancy or bad
Violence: it's cherry ames. No intense violence here
Drugs: you're dealing with nurses, so of course there will be mention of drugs, but nothing like taking drugs.
Sex: no sex things that I can recall, unless I misread something.
Language: a tiny bit from what I can remember but nothing too fancy or bad
Violence: it's cherry ames. No intense violence here
Drugs: you're dealing with nurses, so of course there will be mention of drugs, but nothing like taking drugs.
Sex: no sex things that I can recall, unless I misread something.
July 18, 2012
This book was so difficult to read. I basically only read it because it fulfilled my time period requirement. And it was very girly in the idea behind needing perfume to help save the school. I would prefer to never read another one of these novels.
Violence- no real violence
Sex- no real sex
Language- no real language
Violence- no real violence
Sex- no real sex
Language- no real language
March 27, 2013
Charming as always, though definitely not up to the standard of the earlier novels in the range. The "mystery" with the perfume was not great, but it is fun to see Cherry investigating, and there was a good amount of nursing and school drama as well. Love that she got an almost-actual marriage proposal too, but the Current Cute Doctor is never mentioned again after this book!
August 19, 2014
My sister read these books as a kid so when I saw one in the local thrift store I had to give it a try. It was fun - in that Nancy Drew level sort of way. I'm not sure anyone would actually enjoy it in this day and age other than someone looking for some nostalgia but for that it was interesting enough. The social mores are pretty fascinating if nothing else.
December 17, 2021
I love this one, and I come back to it, even after all these years because I love the story of the perfume. This is a completely nostalgic read, similar to re-reading the Nancy Drew books. Things were so much simpler in children's lit during the 1950s.
September 18, 2007
This is the first Cherry Ames book I read, and I loved it, though you learn far more about making perfume than about either boarding school or nursing.
March 28, 2013
A fun little romp featuring Cherry's "spanking clean" uniform that is made even more fun
when read with 21st century innuendo.
when read with 21st century innuendo.
August 27, 2013
This and Dude Ranch Nurse were my favorites as a child. I learned a lot about perfume making.
June 29, 2014
To go along with the perfume theme... This book stinks!
July 1, 2024
Just a warning. There are some minor spoilers here. If you plan to read this book, you may want to experience these minor Aha moments on your own.
One of the interesting things about reading a Cherry Ames book is how tied it is to the time period it was written. Since the stories are more toward what everyday life was for women than a Nancy Drew book, some of the viewpoints more indicative of the time come out. For example, when Cherry and Lisette want to investigate where Lisette's grandfather's cupboard might be, they are always concerned with what others might think. If Cherry was caught knocking on the walls to find a hollow sound, people might think she's crazy. It's to the point where the investigation is put off for days, maybe weeks. Nancy Drew would have been knocking on walls without even a thought. But here we're reminded of what was going on in 1955. Women were often prescribed sedatives, if they were acting in what might be considered an odd way. Sometimes they were even sent an asylum.
Cherry helps the doctor on her off time and seems to be expected to work for free. She has to hint at the possibility of working a la carte in the future, and yet, that's exactly what she's already been asked to do and is doing. But this is probably to show young girls not to be taken advantage of when they become nurse themselves.
I found it interesting how little detail is given to delivering a baby and how much detail is given to treating two men who had a car accident, one having experienced a cardiac incident.
There was also a lot of detail in the perfume making end of this story, even down to the recipe and how perfume is made. vn with hat, there was still attention given to the other aspects of the mystery. I enjoyed reading this one.
One of the interesting things about reading a Cherry Ames book is how tied it is to the time period it was written. Since the stories are more toward what everyday life was for women than a Nancy Drew book, some of the viewpoints more indicative of the time come out. For example, when Cherry and Lisette want to investigate where Lisette's grandfather's cupboard might be, they are always concerned with what others might think. If Cherry was caught knocking on the walls to find a hollow sound, people might think she's crazy. It's to the point where the investigation is put off for days, maybe weeks. Nancy Drew would have been knocking on walls without even a thought. But here we're reminded of what was going on in 1955. Women were often prescribed sedatives, if they were acting in what might be considered an odd way. Sometimes they were even sent an asylum.
Cherry helps the doctor on her off time and seems to be expected to work for free. She has to hint at the possibility of working a la carte in the future, and yet, that's exactly what she's already been asked to do and is doing. But this is probably to show young girls not to be taken advantage of when they become nurse themselves.
I found it interesting how little detail is given to delivering a baby and how much detail is given to treating two men who had a car accident, one having experienced a cardiac incident.
There was also a lot of detail in the perfume making end of this story, even down to the recipe and how perfume is made. vn with hat, there was still attention given to the other aspects of the mystery. I enjoyed reading this one.
April 9, 2020
This is probbably my favourite Cherry Ames book. Maybe cos I love a good boarding school story. This one also has one of the more compelling mysteries and the chemistry set up they improvise in the infirmary is actually really interesting. Cherry meets another nice young Dr who seems determined to marry her and to be honest I kinda ship it. The romance angle on these stories is usually it's weakest aspect but I actually really liked Dr Alan - the Dr who was so willing to give up his time and do all that extra work for someone else's project, the guy who was willing to tear down a wall for her, who she bonded with over work and who lives so close to her home town! I know she meets a nice Doctor on every job but Dr Alan is probably my favourite.
However - Cherry herself is a bit of a problem with this story. She's frequently referred to as being nearly the same age as the pupils - but we're 17 books in - so surely she's at least mid 20's by now? She's insecure, constantly on edge looking for approval from others - from the Drs, from the headmistress, from the pupils. Cherry is so scared to be a telltale that she doesn't inform anyone in authority that one of the girls is sneaking out and having secret dates - even when that results in the girl having quite a serious injury. This is hugely irresponsible of Cherry and probably would have been a firing offence if anyone had found out. She's also happy to enable another pupil to break school rules for the sake of the mystery they're solving and doesn't inform the headmistress what's happening on her watch cos she doesn't want to be told not to do these things!
She's just so immature. She is more like the teenage pupils than like an adult nurse who has experienced war. Which is very frustrating. Cherry Ames needs to grow up a bit. The books are for a young audience but Cherry is not a child. She should not be behaving like one.
However - Cherry herself is a bit of a problem with this story. She's frequently referred to as being nearly the same age as the pupils - but we're 17 books in - so surely she's at least mid 20's by now? She's insecure, constantly on edge looking for approval from others - from the Drs, from the headmistress, from the pupils. Cherry is so scared to be a telltale that she doesn't inform anyone in authority that one of the girls is sneaking out and having secret dates - even when that results in the girl having quite a serious injury. This is hugely irresponsible of Cherry and probably would have been a firing offence if anyone had found out. She's also happy to enable another pupil to break school rules for the sake of the mystery they're solving and doesn't inform the headmistress what's happening on her watch cos she doesn't want to be told not to do these things!
She's just so immature. She is more like the teenage pupils than like an adult nurse who has experienced war. Which is very frustrating. Cherry Ames needs to grow up a bit. The books are for a young audience but Cherry is not a child. She should not be behaving like one.
November 2, 2022
In case you didn’t guess from the title, Cherry is a nurse and each book in the series sees her taking on a different type of nursing job. The jacket of this one says it’s book six in the series, but it’s clear from reading it that it’s actually book 17, although the author situation is complicated (two different authors, across three periods and 25 years) so maybe we’ll let it off. I picked this up from the bargain box because I like boarding school books and I thought it might be a good way in to Cherry Ames, considering I never got into Sue Barton – who was her British nursing novel equivalent.
So our plot here is that Cherry has taken on a job as the resident nurse at a girls boarding school in Illinois. On her way to the school, she meets one of the other pupils, a new scholarship girl called Lisette who has a book she doesn’t want anyone to see the title of and a strange obsession with flowers and the school’s garden. Soon Cherry is trying to keep peace among the girls and ends up investigating a mystery with the strangely aloof Lisette. I don’t think any of you are going to read this, and the good reads summary gives it away any way so: Lisette is actually the headteacher’s niece, the school is in the former family mansion and Lisette has a diary written by their common relative which suggests that there is a valuable secret hidden somewhere in the school. The secret turns out to be the formula for a perfume, which Cherry, her new beau the local doctor and Lisette try to make to try and save the school which is struggling financially.
That’s a lot of bonkers isn’t it? And that’s before you mix in all the nursing that Cherry does, which includes but is not limited to: a broken arm, a preemie birth, a car crash and a student who makes herself ill to get out of doing exams. All in under 200 pages. It’s fast paced and kinda hilarious – it’s like Nancy Drew crossed with a nursing manual. And as a connoisseur of school stories, I can confirm that Cherry would not have lasted long at the Chalet School because she’s far too close to the students and not maintaining A Proper Distance! I had a hoot reading it, and it was worth every penny I paid for it. Which wasn’t many, because: bargain box, but you know what I mean.
So our plot here is that Cherry has taken on a job as the resident nurse at a girls boarding school in Illinois. On her way to the school, she meets one of the other pupils, a new scholarship girl called Lisette who has a book she doesn’t want anyone to see the title of and a strange obsession with flowers and the school’s garden. Soon Cherry is trying to keep peace among the girls and ends up investigating a mystery with the strangely aloof Lisette. I don’t think any of you are going to read this, and the good reads summary gives it away any way so: Lisette is actually the headteacher’s niece, the school is in the former family mansion and Lisette has a diary written by their common relative which suggests that there is a valuable secret hidden somewhere in the school. The secret turns out to be the formula for a perfume, which Cherry, her new beau the local doctor and Lisette try to make to try and save the school which is struggling financially.
That’s a lot of bonkers isn’t it? And that’s before you mix in all the nursing that Cherry does, which includes but is not limited to: a broken arm, a preemie birth, a car crash and a student who makes herself ill to get out of doing exams. All in under 200 pages. It’s fast paced and kinda hilarious – it’s like Nancy Drew crossed with a nursing manual. And as a connoisseur of school stories, I can confirm that Cherry would not have lasted long at the Chalet School because she’s far too close to the students and not maintaining A Proper Distance! I had a hoot reading it, and it was worth every penny I paid for it. Which wasn’t many, because: bargain box, but you know what I mean.
August 2, 2023
Book #10 has our heroine now working at an all-girls school. The story had some predictable moments complete with the nasty rich girl. But the nasty girl provided a few light-hearted moments when she donned her first pair of heels. By book's end, Cherry has collected another marriage proposal. Ten books / three marriage proposals - that's quite the track record. (I'm still rooting for Wade to win her heart.) I'm always amazed at the different mysteries young adult authors devise to keep their stories fresh and interesting. Perfume would never occur to me as a basis for a mystery - and that's probably why I'm not an author. What new, different and exciting adventure awaits Miss Cherry in Book #11?
March 13, 2024
The first genuinely disappointment stop on my journey through all of the novels that delighted me so much as a young girl. Almost as though Helen Wells had a story she wanted to tell about two schoolgirls exploring an old house and just made one of those two girls Cherry and the other one of her patients.
February 16, 2021
Perhaps 3.5 stars. Cherry's new position as a school nurse naturally comes with a mystery, but at least this book actually describes her nursing in more details than some of the previous volumes. Quite enjoyable.
December 18, 2021
This is by far my favorite book of the series so far, and I've read up through book 12. I love the prosaic environment and all of the calming descriptions and happy experiences. I'm re-reading it now slowly because it's so good.
July 4, 2017
Enjoyed these books as a kid and am enjoying them again as an adult. Like the adventures that Cherry has. Looking forward to rest of the series.
May 18, 2018
A nice light read.
April 21, 2021
Pure and simple a mystery tale, not a nursing one.
September 28, 2024
This was darling! I hadn't realized that the Cherry Ames books were mysteries or I would have tried one out sooner.
June 6, 2025
Reading this book was like reading a Nancy Drew novel that was a little less exciting. It was nostalgic!
December 17, 2021
This is by far my favorite book of the series so far, and I've read up through book 12. I love the prosaic environment and all of the calming descriptions and happy experiences. I'm re-reading it now slowly because it's so good.
November 13, 2023
Enjoyed!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews