A Book Review of Cherry Ames, Student Nurse

If you like vintage Nancy Drew, it's a good bet you'll enjoy Cherry Ames, Student Nurse.  I had never heard of this series until a brief mention in a blog post caught my interest.  Sure enough, our local library system carries the first two books that have recently been republished.  The 27 books in this series of mystery novels in a hospital setting were originally written in the early '40s to the late '60s.  They began as a way to encourage girls to become nurses during World War II.  Cherry Ames was republished in 2005 by a woman who read the series as a girl and became a career nurse through the encouragement of the books.  She wanted to continue Cherry's adventures so that a new generation of readers might be motivated to discover the joys and challenges of nursing others as well.

One of the reasons I especially enjoyed Cherry Ames, Student Nurse was because it echoed the tales my mom has often shared about attending nursing school in the '60s.  Earning her cap, the fun she had with her fellow students, the busy and exciting world of a city hospital were all things that Mom relished during her school years, just as Cherry did.  And, of course, with the series set in the '40s through '60s, comes all the fun and fascinating vintage details of fashion and food and decor, intermingled with events like the Fall Term Dance and Christmas Candlewalk.  What's not to love?!