Guest Author - Terrie Lynn Bittner

The Cherry Ames Page is
perhaps one of the most extensive pages on the Web featuring a treasured childrenīs series.
Eleanor Mikucki, who writes extensively on childrenīs literature across the Web, has compiled a
remarkably complete and fascinating site. It was one of the first sites to detail a juvenile series.

Cherry Ames is a spunky nursing student and then a nurse in the popular series that ran between
1943 and 1948. She solved mysteries, broke rules, dated the best-looking men and got
promotions despite all her rule-breaking. She had a remarkably varied career, with most books
featuring a different type of nursing, from World War II combat nursing to department stores,
dude ranch and rural nursing.

Mikuckiīs page is extremely complete and contains information you are unlikely to find elsewhere.
Not only can you find out the basics of Cherryīs home, town and family, but you can also find out
how the series was altered for girls in countries outside the United States.

The articles are the most fascinating part of the page, however, and are what make this a
particularly remarkable Web site. There is an extensive evaluation of Cherry Ames in the books
covering World War II (the first six in the series.) Nursing was considered an important way for
women to serve their country, and these books were written during the war. As a result, Cherry
completed her nursing school training and immediately, with her entire class, enlisted. The
storylines of the novels are interwoven with information on the realities of the nursing shortage,
including the fact that Roosevelt was nearly able to pass a bill to draft nurses. This is a fascinating
examination of the role of nurses in the war, as well as demonstrating the value of the series in
recruiting efforts.

Just for fun, you can also explore who really inspired Cherry to become a nurse, check out her
appearances in other series books, (and some appearances that may be odd coincidences) and
remember holiday celebrations throughout the series.

The article is written by Terrie Lynn Bittner.