Susan Pulls the Strings

Susan #1

by Jane Shaw

188 pages, Susan's father is building a bridge so she is sent to visit her cousins Bill, Midge and Charlotte Carmichael. But Susan has an incurable habit of of helping people she thinks needs it. But her cousins would prefer she didn't. Until she proves she was right in interfering. A sense of humor and the Plum and Chang the cat make this an engaging tale for teens.

Genres: Childrens

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1952

About the author

Jane Shaw (1910-2000), born Jean Bell Shaw Patrick, was a children's book author. She was the daughter of Dr. John Patrick, and his wife, Margaret (née Shaw). Educated first by a governess, and then at the Park School in Glasgow, she went on to Glasgow University, where she graduated with Honors in English Literature and Language, in 1932. After taking a teacher training course in London, Shaw returned to Glasgow, where she worked for the publisher Collins, and where one of the editors encouraged her to write her own stories. Breton Holiday, published in 1939, was the result.

Shaw married accountant John Evans in 1939, settling with him in Dulwich, London, where they lived with their children - daughter Jane, son Ian - until they were bombed out during World War II. A job in Johannesburg took the family to South Africa, where they lived from 1952 to 1978, after which they returned to Scotland. Shaw, who is best remembered as the creator of the eleven-book Susan series, died in 2000.

Reviews

[Tina]

A cute, charming tale (written in 1952) of young Scottish teenager Susan, who goes to spend her Christmas holidays with her lively London cousins while her parents travel to Africa for her father's work. Susan has a very active imagination and a tendency to want to solve problems, whether or not they need solving. Adventures, including skating, shopping, sightseeing, puppeteering, and crime-solving, ensue. Good fun!

[Imogen Wooder]

I loved these books. I do identify with outspoken independent Susan, nuisance though she is. If a wrong needs righting she cannot let it rest! The books are also very drily funny and the characters of the different members of the family well portrayed.

[Daisy May Johnson]

A quick. light read from the fifties with some fun detail about London at Christmas. Fairly fleeting though.