Roommates

The Girls of Canby Hall #1

by Emily Chase

"Dana Morrison - spirited, independent city girl. Faith Thompson- determined, talented, and practical. Shelley Hyde- naive small town girl. Dana, Faith, and Shelley , all new to Canby Hall in their sophomore year, end up as roommates- and get off to the worst possible start. They're so different they practically hate each other. But slowly they grow to understand and care about one another and to help each other- through Dana's disastrous first love, Faith's trouble with the headmistress, and shelley's desperate homesickness." This is from the back cover of the book.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Teen, Middle Grade, Childrens, Boarding School, Juvenile

220 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

"Emily Chase" was the pen-name used by a number of authors who contributed to Scholastic's Girls of Canby Hall series, about a group of girls living at a New England boarding school. Amongst these contributors was romance novelist Julie Garwood.

Reviews

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

BEWARE SPOILERS. Recap of the entire book under the cut and at The Girls of Canby Hall

In this first book in the series, we meet the three Girls of Canby Hall that will be the main characters. Dana is from New York City, a tall, thin brunette with divorced parents and a younger sister named Maggie. (When this group of girls graduates, three new girls take their place to continue the series. I had hoped Maggie would be one of them. Alas, she was not.) Dana's mother is a fashion buyer for a department store, so naturally that gives her the best fashion sense of the girls. That and being from New York City. Think an older Stacey McGill from the Babysitters Club.

Faith is a black girl from Washington, DC. Her father, a policeman, was killed in the line of duty two years earlier, leaving behind Faith, her older sister Sarah, younger brother Richard, and their social worker mother. Faith is a photographer.

Shelley is from Iowa. She never wanted to go to Canby Hall in the first place, but she's sent there by her parents because they're concerned that she's getting too close to her boyfriend. She's confident that the separation won't hurt their relationship. Long distance romance always works out, right?

On their (separate) ways to Canby Hall, each of the girls has nerves and worries about being the only new sophomore in a class full of returning girls. While Dana is out exploring the campus, Faith takes a nap. Shelley arrives a little later and immediately sticks her foot in her mouth with Faith.

"I was just surprised that you're black," Shelley finally said nervously.

"Is it such a big deal?" Faith asked, defensively.

"Oh, no. I don't know many black people, but" -- Shelley thought for a second about how to finish the sentence -- "but I'm sure they can be as nice as anyone else."

Oops.

That is CLEARLY not the right thing to say to your new roommate -- or anyone -- even in the less politically-correct 1980s. Even Shelley knows that, but what's said is said. No taking it back. Faith, of course, takes offense and storms out. It's war in Baker 407, and it only gets worse when Dana and Faith don't like Shelley's decorating ideas ("country cottage," complete with pillow shams, eyelet lace curtains, and Chintz dust ruffles).

About a week later, their housemother Alison finally stops by to introduce herself and realizes there's a problem when she sees that they have divided the room with tape ("Shelly's final decorating idea"). My question is, just where has she been this whole time? I met my college RA the first day, and these girls are just in high school. Other than going missing for so long and NOT DOING HER JOB, Alison is basically the coolest housemother ever. I wanted to be Alison when I grew up.

Dana fell in love at first sight with Alison's apartment. It was exactly the kind of place she imagined living in when she was grown-up and an independent career woman.

Dana and every single pre-teen reader of this series.

Posters from art exhibits filled one wall of the living room. The only thing on the facing wall was a neon sign from an old beauty shop. It was a crossed scissors and comb with letters underneath spelling out, KATIE'S KLIP 'N' KURL.

There were plumbing pipes and heating ducts running along the ceiling, but instead of trying to hide or ignore them, Alison had made them part of the decor by painting them in bright, primary, high-gloss colors -- red, blue, yellow, green.

Okay, yes, it sounds a bit tacky now, but try telling that to a ten-year-old me. I dreamed of that Klip 'n' Kurl sign. I don't know if they ever said, I but I always imagined it as pink.

So Alison works her magic and the girls agree to get along. Classes roll right along, Faith gets a spot on the school newspaper photography staff, and Shelley spends a lot of time thinking about and writing letters to Paul. While Dana attends Canby Hall's first mixer with the boys' school down the road, Faith heads into Greenleaf for ice cream with her new friend from the dorm Casey, and Shelley stays behind to plan her phone call to Paul. Too bad for her that Paul went camping with his friends that night. Out of sight, out of mind.

Dana meets a boy named Bret at the mixer and goes on a date with him the next night. A few days later, Alison warns her that Bret is a known player. Dana's wary but continues to see him.

As Bret leaned in to kiss her, Dana dropped her toast, and neither of them noticed when a squirrel scurried up and ran off with it.

Is that not the most romantic thing you've ever read? No?

When Faith confesses to Casey that she's never had alcohol, not even a beer, save a sip of spiked punch at a cousin's wedding, Casey comes up with a plan to change that. I TOTALLY REMEMBER THIS SCENE. It was that amazing. Casey puts on heavy makeup, finishing off with Perfect Peach lipstick that I coveted even though I wasn't allowed to wear makeup, and goes into a store with a hastily written grocery list.

When Faith went in, Casey was already at the checkout counter. She was buying a package of bologna, a loaf of bread, a can of pork and beans, and a carton of milk. She was looking at the scribbled list as the young checkout boy totaled up her purchases on the register. As he was pushing through the last item, the bologna, Casey looked at her list again and said, "Oh, I forgot. My husband said to pick up some beer for him. He's home watching the football game."

"Then he's in for a depressing afternoon," the boy said. "The Patriots are sure to lose today."

"You think so?" Casey said.

"For sure. Say, I'll get you those beers, lady. What's your husband's brand?"

"Oh, no," Casey said. "I can't remember."

Faith's heart jumped into the pit of her stomach. Sometimes Casey was beyond belief. Here she had this guy actually running to get the beer for her and what did she do? -- pushed it for the last little buzz of excitement.

"Wait a minute," she finally said. "Budweiser. Is that the one that comes in the red and white cans?"

"Yup," the clerk said. "How many?"

"Oh, I think two'll do."

So there you have it. All that time you spent borrowing an older friend's ID or standing outside the liquor store waiting for someone to come along who would go in and buy beer for you was a waste of time. All you had to do is dress up like a young wife who feeds her husband garbage and act like you knew what you were doing.

Dana auditions for and makes the school choir, and it's at choir practice that she learns that Bret has asked another girl to the Harvest Holiday dance. She can't say she wasn't warned. With a little prodding from Alison, and the help of her roommates and Casey, Dana comes up with a revenge idea: Plan Booga-Booga. The four of then don gorilla costumes from the drama department and when Bret and his date are walking to the dance they...

leapt out of the bushes at them, bouncing up and down, scratching their armpits and grunting, "Booga-booga."

...and keep it up the entire way to the dance, thoroughly embarrassing the couple. Before she and the girls run off into the night, Dana tips Bret off that she's behind the stunt. He meets her after choir the next day and asks for a second chance. She turns him down and spends the next few weeks mopey and depressed. 

One night Faith gets an after-hours phone call from Casey, who's decided to run away. Casey asks Faith to meet her at a diner. It's already an hour past curfew, so Faith has to sneak out. Casey's upset because her parents, who pay so little attention to her that one year they forgot which boarding school she was attending and sent her birthday present to the last one, are spending the summer in Europe and sending Casey to wilderness camp AND because she's been put on social probation at Canby for racking up enough demerit points for three girls.

Faith tries to talk some sense into Casey -- pointing out she is a bit of a troublemaker and should probably just face the consequences for it -- and invites her to spend the summer with Faith's family, driving a Popsicle bike for her uncle's ice cream company. THAT KIND OF SOUNDS LIKE FUN, if you don't think about how hot it probably gets.

Casey decides not to run away but sneaking back onto campus, they are spotted. By the headmistress. Who calls the police. The Greenleaf cops arrive just after Casey's scrambled in a window at the dorm, leaving Faith to be the only one to take the blame. Faith covers for Casey and says she was on a date and lost track of time.

Faith has to face the headmistress the next day but Casey refuses to confess. She's been in trouble too many times and has too much to lose. Faith gets sentenced to dorm restriction, the incident will go on her record, and the school is going to notify her mother. That last one is the only one that bothers her. Two nights later, Faith is summoned to the headmistress's house, where Casey has finally confessed. With some intervention from Alison ("[they] have suffered enough already"), Miss Allardyce agrees to forget the entire thing, as long as they stay out of trouble and Casey goes to counseling. Much to Faith's relief, she hasn't even told Faith's mother yet.

Wrapping things up, Faith convinces Dana to stop being miserable and give Bret another chance. They talk Shelley into a makeover, bringing her style more up to date (unbelievably, the new clothes include "baggy, pleated jeans") just before Shelley breaks the news that her parents are letting her stay home after Christmas break. They're sad to be losing their friend, but just they want her to be happy.

Back at Canby after break, Dana and Faith are ready to meet their new roommate and...it's Shelley! I don't know about you, but I didn't see that one coming. Nope, not at all. She and Paul have agreed to take their relationship a little less seriously for now and she's going to get involved in the opportunities Canby has to offer.

[Chloé · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. loved a couple books from this series when i was younger. hoping to finish the rest of it sometime this year.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Roxane Gay who, in her book Hungry , reminded me of the Girls of Canby Hall series. I read these as a teenager but had forgotten about them. Fortunately, I found a reasonable deal on books 1-30 online. :-)

This first book is not as exciting as I remember--when I first read them, they made me want to move to a boarding school--but it was a good way to pass the time. I was surprised at how they brought up social issues but, since it was written in 1983, it still has the tired trope of girls trying to be skinny.

[Nadine Keels · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I was searching for a different series from back in the day, I came across this YA novel from the '80s, the first in The Girls of Canby Hall series. I liked the cover art in general, but what particularly got my attention was the smiling girl rockin' her Afro.

I rock an Afro these days too. I decided to give the novel a try.

Now, given that the series was written by different authors all under the pseudonym "Emily Chase," I figure the books' styles probably differ somewhat. With that said, I'd say the series gets off to a good start with Book One.

It isn't the super-corny, thoroughly predictable kind of story with one-dimensional characters I wouldn't have been surprised to find. Rather, the style here has got some noteworthy originality, especially in terms of the humor. (Which managed to make me literally laugh out loud more than once. A rarity!)

The main characters and their backstories are nicely developed. While one of the girls cries a lot and she's quick to jump to melodramatic thinking, melodrama isn't this novel's style in general.

Now, because Faith is the only Black girl at the boarding school, the issue of race comes up. I found the writing on the issue to be a tad awkward here and there, in ways I won't get into. Even so, the story effectively reflects how prejudging or making presumptions can go both ways—and the need for understanding and a willingness to listen in relationships isn't one-sided.

On a different note, the proclaimed "home vs. school" mindset change that one of the main characters comes to in the end could have used better fleshing out on the way there, to make it convincing. Like, don't just tell us in the last chapter, "Now she's changed!" so that she fits the ending with the other girls. Show her attitude actually changing as the story goes along.

Nonetheless, I quite enjoyed this series opening. I'll probably skip Book Two, which looks/sounds like it takes a pretty sharp, pretty dark turn compared to the first book—as if maybe the series suddenly reaches for Nancy Drew danger vibes or something. Book Three looks more in line with where the series has started, so I think that'll be my next Canby Hall stop.

Note:
• a scene of underage drinking, accompanied by a character's feelings of guilt but no displays of drunkenness
• a brief mention of a significant violent crime in the past but no further violence

[Amy Webster-Bo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this series in high school took me 10 years to get all the books in the series, but I have them now,

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been a long time since I read these books! For some reason, I've always loved books about boarding schools. This series actually made me look into New England boarding schools. It was fun on the re-read to see references to long phone lines and pre-established phone call times. I wonder what this series would be like set in modern days!

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a really funny book about three different girls named Dana, Shelly, and Faith. They are all completely different people, and they all have to learn to accept each other for their differences. But, they all run into lots of problems.

[Jill Kronick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of my favorite series as a teen. I had forgotten what it was called and was searching around in Goodreads and finally came upon this!! Yay!

[Lisa McCoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nostalgic re-reading of a series I loved as a tween. :)

[Madame Jane · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cringe-worthy casual racism and hokey, unrealistic dialogue.

[Amanda Stanzel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved these books when I was younger and recently found them. I am re-reading them and still find them nice reads.

[James Crawford · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another of the somewhat older young adult series of books that I like. The main characters are going to a boarding school. Dana, who is white, is a city girl. Faith, who is black, is a girl who is 15 and is a talented photographer. Shelley is from a small town type of place.

Problems start right off when Faith thinks Shelley doesn't like black people (where she comes from there were almost no black people at all.) It gets worse when Shelley wants to decorate the room a certain way and the other two girls don't like her idea. Matters get so bad they divide their room into three parts using masking tape and basically a war of silence goes on among the three.

The situation is known by others and they all get called in to their resident assistant and they discuss what is going on. Later Faith becomes friends with a girl who is basically a troublemaker and Shelly is absolutely set on leaving the place during Christmas break and never returning.

I liked the book and I think it's a good opening to the series.

[Susann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, probably more than any other, made me eager for dorm life and taught me how to decorate a dorm room. It also taught me how to pursue my interests and how to not let boys get away with ratty behavior.

Alison is the ultimate in aspirational dorm motherhood. I'm still looking for that Katie's Klip 'N' Kurl neon sign and am ready and willing to paint my plumbing pipes and heating ducts in bright, primary colors.

And how about Dana's fashion sense? I still envy the scene where, "...[she:] put on her best pair of designer jeans and a tuxedo shirt, threw a green cotton sweater over her shoulders, sprayed herself with L'Air du Temps, and ran out of the dorm before she could lose her courage."

I think the series rapidly worsened after the first few, but the first one is still a terrific read. My recent discussion with Lizz inspired me to re-read this. We each ordered our copies from Scholastic or Weekly Reader, back in the elementary school day.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read these in late elementary-middle school, and I remember devouring the series. It's about a group of girls from different backgrounds who go to an elite boarding school. I think, if I remember correctly, that there are some mysteries that happen, but there wasn't one in this one, so who knows.

Anyway, I wasn't one of the cool kids reading Sweet Valley High (and I never have, thank you very much) but this one suited me really well. The descriptions of clothing and hair styles are extremely dated, but the content is great. I think I might try and get myself the series from an auction site or something.

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this was another looking for something to read around the house and for some reason we had this one. It was OK. The only thing I remember about it is one of the girls knocking on the RA's door. The RA asks "Friend or Foe?" The girl said her name. And the RA said "Definitely Friend." That's how I learned what a foe was. I know I enjoyed the book at the time, but so much that I wanted to read others in the series. Probably dated now, but I'm sure some 12-14 year old girls would enjoy it still.

[Brodiesmom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seriously, NO OTHER BOOKS on earth have stayed with me the ways The Girls of Canby Hall series have. I WAS OBSESSED with these books and I still reread them as an adult when I need some good nostalgia! Every single book in this series is amazing, but none are as good as "With Friends Like These...." and "Our roommate is missing" I have to go dig them out again because I need a Shelley, Dana & Faith hit! LOVE!

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read these books from the book mobile from probably 4th grade through high school. I even named my dog after one of the characters. I LOVED these books!

Re-reading this now as an adult I still enjoyed it, and they tackle some big issues head-on. Also, things set in the 80s are great because they use actual phones and no internet.

[Denise Kettering · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read these books as a tween/teen and really enjoyed the characters and the series as a whole. As the first book in the series, Roommates introduced the characters of the three main characters. While these books are clearly dated, they still have some good stories about learning to get along despite apparent differences.

[Noora · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ikivanha suosikkisarja, jossa on edelleen hohtoa jäljellä. Tai sitten ensimmäisten lukukertojen hyvät kokemukset palaavat mieleen. Sitäpaitsi, muistot palasivat muutenkin mieleen, mikä on aina positiivista.

[DJ Dirly · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite series every when I was a kid. Quick and easy to read, even when I was 10 years old. The series is the story of 3 girls in an all girl boarding school and how they become friends and get through life and all of the bumps along the way.

[Leilah Bernstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

My FAVORITE series as a teen (well, this and Nancy Drew). I still have them.

[Gregori Rosas]

yup

[♥ Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was probably my favorite tween/teen series. I have the cover memorized, with great emotion attached.. they were like friends.

[Astra Cohen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great series!

[Kristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

These were my favorite teen book series, even more so than sweet valley high. They were "old" even then, but I found them so believable!

[Cyndi]

I loved this whole series, read them when I was I'd middle school.

[Amber Sussman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved all of these when I was young!

[Sara Morcom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved this series as a Tween and begged my parents to send me to private school. Unfortunately, that was a negative.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this series as a young preteen/teen