Books I Have Read More Than Once (7)

Cherry Ames Nursing series by Helen Wells and Julie Tatham

I remember going to the Goodwill store that used to be in an old warehouse on the corner of Blake Street and Park Avenue in lower downtown Denver with my mother to shop. One day I found a book with the title, Cherry Ames Senior Nurse. On the title page were the words:

This book, while produced under wartime conditions, in full compliance with government regulations for the conservation of paper and other essential materials, is COMPLETE AND UNABRIDGED

The pages were yellow and the book had the musty, dirty smell that only very old books get but I decided I wanted to read it and asked my mother if she would buy it for me. Since it was only a quarter she said yes.

When I finished reading the book I knew I wanted to read the other books in the series. I was interested in medicine and the archaic world that Cherry lived in fascinated me. I read most of the Cherry Ames books; some were good, some were just so-so. It wasn't until later that I found out that the ones I found to be so-so were written by Julie Tatham.

I used the cover from Cherry Ames Department Store Nurse here because it is a good example of what I mean about the archaic world Cherry lives in. What department store has a nurse on duty these days? What nurse would be caught dead in that uniform today? You just know she is wearing white stockings and shoes with it.