Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Skating Shoes (1951)

Skating Shoes. Noel Streatfeild. 1951. 224 pages.

I really loved reading Noel Streatfeild's Skating Shoes. Harriet Johnson is recovering from an illness. Part of her recovery involves daily exercise. At first, this involved tedious, dreary walks. But after visiting her doctor again (well, the doctor visits her), he prescribes something much different. Wouldn't it be wonderful if she could skate daily?! He's happy to make arrangements with the owner of the rink, but her family will have to cover the cost of renting ice skates six days a week. One of her older brothers volunteers to get a paper route which will provide just enough money to pay for the skates. (It will also allow two shillings a week to go into his savings account.) A bit timid, Harriet takes her mother with her that first day at the rink. But she happens to meet a girl her own age, Lalla Moore, and Nana. The two girls become very friendly, and though it takes some plotting on the part of Nana, it soon becomes routine for the two girls to go everywhere together. Lalla envies Harriet her large family at times. And Harriet envies Lalla's natural abilities on the ice. After a few months, these two are soon inseparable. Lalla even spends Christmas day with the Johnson family while her own aunt and uncle choose to holiday on their own. This includes having lessons together on and off the ice. (Harriet still not being allowed back in school just yet.)

Skating Shoes is a lovely book. I loved getting to know Harriet and her family. I did like Lalla. Yes, she could be obnoxious at times, showing how spoiled she was, but I felt sorry for her too. 


Read Skating Shoes
  • If you have an interest in ice skating (figure skating)
  • If you enjoy coming-of-age stories with strong friendship and family themes
  • If you enjoy Noel Streatfeild's children's books
  • If you enjoy books set in Britain 
© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

2 comments:

amanda @ simplerpastimes said...

This sounds delightful! I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed it after your disappointment in Party Shoes.

QNPoohBear said...

I remember this one being one of my favorites in the series.