The Swallow's Song

Allison Standis #1

by Norma Johnston

During the summer of 1920, sixteen-year-old Allison Standis meets the wealthy, glamorous Farraday family who bring excitement into her life and a new appreciation of her own family.

Genres: Fiction, Young Adult

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Norma Johnston was born in Ridgewood, New Jersey, USA, the only child of Marjorie (Pierce), a teacher and Charles Eugene Chambers Johnston, an engineer. She read voraciously--especially mysteries, to which her family was addicted. She was ducated at Ramsey public schools and Montclair State College, later studied acting at the American Theatre Wing and elsewhere, and received a teaching certificate from Montclair College. She was actress, director, designer, stylist, retailer, teacher, counselor, entrepreneur, preacher, editor, ... and in between all her other careers she was the author of more than 70 novels, mainly gothic romances for teens. She become a a full-time writer in 1973.

Johnston also wrote under the pseudonyms of Nicole St. John, Pamela Dryden, Lavinia Harris, Kate Chambers, Catherine E. Chambers, Elizabeth Bolton, and Adrian Robert.

Reviews

[LuAnn]

This is such a good Bildungsroman, a story with real families both dysfunctional and functional in different ways. The protagonist reluctantly grows to recognize not only this but her own conflicted self and tries to figure out if there is anything she can do about any of it.
Too bad my copy has fallen to pieces. What a great book!