So this Hobbit was browsing her library and then stumbled across a book that is perfect for this month's issue. So I pulled the book from the bookshelf, got a fire going and curled up in my comfy chair, and began to read. I hadn't read the book in a while so, of course, a refresher was needed. The book, if you're wondering, is the first book in the Secrets at St. Jude's by Carmen Reid, New Girl.
The blurb on the book says "Ohmigod! Gina's mum has finally flipped and is sending her to Scotland to some crusty old boarding school called St Jude's - just because Gina spent all her money on clothes and got a few bad grades! It's so unfair!" That instantly makes me laugh as it does sound so American. Now you may be wondering what this book has to do with new beginnings... well what better way to have a new beginning than being bundled onto a plane and sent to a boarding school in England.
Gina Peterson is a typical teenage girl who likes to walk that fine line every parent hates and I can see why. It does sound rather thrilling and exciting to be able to do that and risk the wrath of your parents, but, at the same time, I can understand the frustrations of Lorelei as she only wants the best for her daughter.
So Lorelei, being a St. Jude's alumni, calls the Headmistress and, before she has any chance to convince her mother to change her mind, Gina is on her way to Scotland. I can imagine she was feeling scared and angry... scared because she was being sent to a new country on her own and angry she was sent away in the fashion that she was.
In fact, Gina's so against it that she's unable to see the opportunity that she's been given. It's a fresh start for her in a way, away from everyone she knows but, at the same time, she just wants to get home. I think that I'd feel the same way as she does if I was suddenly put on a plane to attend a school in another country. I think I'd also just be focused on what I needed to do to get back home, not the lessons that I'd be learning, both in the classroom and outside the classroom.
Gina does struggle at first and I wish I could give her a hug as she has no friends, compared to the others that have been at the school for years and even have the whole year due to it being the summer term when she arrives at the school. I can't begin to imagine how she'd feel in a dorm with girls that have spent time together and know each other well, whose names are Luella... or rather Niffy, Amy, and Asimina, or Min for short. She must have felt such an outsider at first, possibly even a bit awkward. I know that I would as well because I feel awkward after the littlest things so sharing a room with people who know each other well would really be awkward.
As the book progresses Gina does indeed begin to fit in, make friends with the girls in her dorm, and pulls her grades up. She didn't want to be there at first but she does begin to settle down, even learning a few things about her mother that help her to make the most of the new beginning she has been gifted. She slowly loses some of her... spoilt... ways and looks more like a St. Jude's girl and like she'd been there her whole life. I can kind of relate there as I've been the new girl... Hobbit... at school before and it wasn't easy. I spent most of my school days being the odd one out and I never truly had my new beginnings until I went into what is called Year 12 here. It was hard but I got there. Gina was 15 when she was sent to St. Jude's.
At the end of the book, I was delighted to read that Gina had decided to continue at St. Jude's to support her new friends Nifty (although she has to leave for a little while), Amy, and Min. It really feels like Gina's mindset changed and being away from everything that she took for granted gave her a chance to start over and that's amazing. New beginnings are often what is needed sometimes and, in Gina's case, it proved one of the best things to happen to her.
Now I'm heading back to the library to choose another book.
See you next month,
Cissarose the Hobbit