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First Love, True Love
A high school junior, conscious of the importance of dating many fellows, finally falls for a senior and they begin to plan their life.
- GenresYoung Adult
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 28, 1956
2 people are currently reading
34 people want to read
About the author
Anne Emery
82 books34 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Anne Emery was born Anne Eleanor McGuigan, in Fargo, North Dakota, and moved to Evanston, Illinois, when she was nine years old. Miss McGuigan attended Evanston Township High School and Northwestern University. Following her graduation from college, her father, a university professor, took the family of five children abroad for a year, where they visited his birthplace in Northern Ireland, as well as the British Isles, France, Switzerland, and Italy. Miss McGuigan spent nine months studying at the University of Grenoble in France. She taught seventh and eighth grades for four years in the Evanston Schools, and fourth and fifth grades for six more years after her marriage to John Emery. She retired from teaching to care for her husband and five children, Mary, Kate, Joan, Robert, and Martha.
Anne Emery wrote books and short stories for teen girls throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Her understanding of the lives of teenaged girls creates believable stories and characters that are readable and re-readable!
Anne Emery was born Anne Eleanor McGuigan, in Fargo, North Dakota, and moved to Evanston, Illinois, when she was nine years old. Miss McGuigan attended Evanston Township High School and Northwestern University. Following her graduation from college, her father, a university professor, took the family of five children abroad for a year, where they visited his birthplace in Northern Ireland, as well as the British Isles, France, Switzerland, and Italy. Miss McGuigan spent nine months studying at the University of Grenoble in France. She taught seventh and eighth grades for four years in the Evanston Schools, and fourth and fifth grades for six more years after her marriage to John Emery. She retired from teaching to care for her husband and five children, Mary, Kate, Joan, Robert, and Martha.
Anne Emery wrote books and short stories for teen girls throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Her understanding of the lives of teenaged girls creates believable stories and characters that are readable and re-readable!
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 22, 2025
First Love, True Love by Anne Emery was first published in 1956, which was three years before I was born. Mrs. Emery has been one of my favorite "malt shop" writers since I was in junior high.
Yes, in some ways the story is dated: no cell phones; the main teen characters had two parents living in their home who were strict and firm about the rules and standards of the home; the parents backed up the school, and the school backed up the parents.
One of the big no-no issues was that going steady was not allowed. Yes, the teenage angst ran high throughout the book. Another major issue was that rather than advance or increase the allowance amount, part time jobs were encouraged and learning to budget emphasized. At one point, one of the senior boys lost driving privileges for a month because he broke the training curfew set by the coach for the night before a major game.
First Love, True Love, like the majority of "malt shop" romances contains no premarital sex discussion or events. Although some of the mothers worked or had worked before marriage, and all parents were insistent that their daughters as well as sons would receive post high school education and work before marriage, they understood the desire of the girls to be stay at home moms when the time came.
For those readers for whom diversity of characters is a major requirement, this story might be too dated for you. Written and published before bussing was the norm and law, the characters were all seemingly white Anglo Saxon Protestants, although some families were better off financially than others. I say this only because no mention or description of minority students was made.
Yes, in some ways the story is dated: no cell phones; the main teen characters had two parents living in their home who were strict and firm about the rules and standards of the home; the parents backed up the school, and the school backed up the parents.
One of the big no-no issues was that going steady was not allowed. Yes, the teenage angst ran high throughout the book. Another major issue was that rather than advance or increase the allowance amount, part time jobs were encouraged and learning to budget emphasized. At one point, one of the senior boys lost driving privileges for a month because he broke the training curfew set by the coach for the night before a major game.
First Love, True Love, like the majority of "malt shop" romances contains no premarital sex discussion or events. Although some of the mothers worked or had worked before marriage, and all parents were insistent that their daughters as well as sons would receive post high school education and work before marriage, they understood the desire of the girls to be stay at home moms when the time came.
For those readers for whom diversity of characters is a major requirement, this story might be too dated for you. Written and published before bussing was the norm and law, the characters were all seemingly white Anglo Saxon Protestants, although some families were better off financially than others. I say this only because no mention or description of minority students was made.
March 28, 2024
Anne Emery is one of my favorites of the "Malt Shop" teenage novels. While the heroines are concerned with boys, clothes & the prom they also do homework and do actually give some thought as to what they will do with their lives once they finish high school.
August 9, 2016
Re-read September 2002.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews