THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS SERIES/THE MARY LEE SERIES

By various.

Information

Titles


"All these stories are written for live, healthy girls; not the namby pamby kind, but girls that like fun and action. Girls just like you are yourself, that don't want to live in a glass cage and have everything done for them, but who want to do things for themselves and for others." -- Whitman advertisement

The "Mary Lee" books are one of the better Whitman series. In the Pollyanna-ish first book, Mary Lee, a 13-year-old orphan, is sent to board with the poor Quinn family as a mother's helper. Her sunny attitude and timely rescue of a drowning boy in a wheelchair eventually secure Mary Lee a number of well-off families who are interested in her welfare. With the second book and the entry of the U.S. in to WWI, the series' focus changes and it really becomes a very interesting reflection of home life during the war. 

I have not read any of the "Campfire Girls" series, but they seem to be a re-vamping of the Mary Lee books, so I list them here. Books in the two series have a number of putative authors. The series order for the Campfire Girls series is taken from a Whitman advertisement; series order for the first three Mary Lee books are taken from the books themselves; I'm not sure of the order or publication dates for the last three Mary Lee's -- any help is appreciated :-)

 

THE MARY LEE SERIES:

  1. Mary Lee, the Campfire Girl -- By Harriet Rietz. Illustrated by Alice Carsey. 1917. Whitman.
  2. Mary Lee, the Red Cross Girl -- By "Helen Hart" (Samuel E. Lowe.) 1917. Whitman. 
  3. Mary Lee at Washington -- By Samuel E. Lowe. Illustrated by Violet Moore Higgins. 1918. Whitman.
  4. Mary Lee and the Mystery of the Indian Beads -- by Alice Anderson. Date? Whitman.
  5. Mary Lee's Friend -- by Anna Darby Merrill. Illustrated by Wuanita Smith. Date? Whitman.
  6. Mary Lee's College Days: Mary Lee and Her College Chums Grow Up -- by Anna Darby Merrill. Date?. Whitman.

 

THE CAMPFIRE GIRLS SERIES:

  1. THE CAMPFIRE GIRLS AND AUNT MADGE -- By Harriet Rietz. Illustrated by Alice Carsey. 1920. Whitman
  2. THE CAMPFIRE GIRLS' WEEK END PARTY-- By Harriet Reitz. Illustrated by Alice Carsey. 1917. Whitman
  3. THE CAMPFIRE GIRLS' SUCCESS-- By Samuel Lowe. Illustrated by Alice Carsey. Whitman
  4. THE CAMPFIRE GIRLS IN HIGH SCHOOL-- By Samuel E. Lowe. Illustrated by Alice Carsey. 1920. Whitman. This book is virtually identical to Mary Lee, the Red Cross Girl
  5. THE CAMPFIRE GIRLS' DUTY CALL-- By Samuel E. Lowe. Illustrated by Violet Moore Higgins. 1918/1916?. Whitman
  6. THE CAMPFIRE GIRLS AT WORK-- By Samuel E. Lowe. Illustrated by Violet Moore Higgins. 1920. Whitman

Source:

  • Advertisement in Ted Marsh on an Important Mission  

  • WorldCat Holdings

Mary Crosson's "Plain Jane" Series Listings Main Page