Sorority Girls

"Sorority Girls" was a 12-book series for girls written by Anne Hunter Lowell, and various ghostwriters, and focused on the lives of members of a fictional high school sorority. It was published by Fawcett Publications, in the mid 1980's under its Girls Only banner.

Characters and setting

The focus of the stories were on the members of the "Pearl" sorority at William Howard Taft High school, which was located in Kenilworth, Michigan, a fictitious suburb of Detroit.

Many of the members were from mainly well-to-do, if not outright, wealthy families; much like the rest of the students at the private high school, which, at one time had been known as the Ashley estate, which was one of the largest homes in Kenilworth.

After the original owners, the Ashley family, headed by Charles Frederick Ashley, died, the estate was sold to the city of Kenilworth to become a high school. The main house served as the main building of the school and was called Bates Hall. However, in spite of that, much of the estate was left largely unchanged, but eventually, other buildings had been built on the grounds to accommodate the students and teachers needs. The old Carriage House had been remodeled into an airy loft that was now the Art studios; the stables were still used for riding classes; the new buildings included Roberts Music Hall; the Stern Gymnasium; and a newer classroom building across the way from the gymnasium.

Pearl's sorority pin was a golden circle surrounding three perfect pearls; even the presidential gavel had a pearl at the tip; and in the Pearl pledge, each of the five letters that spelled Pearl stood for something. "P" for Pride; "E" for Elegance; "A" for As one; "R" for Respect; and "L" for Loyalty. All of the members strived to live up to this pledge.

The stories focused on six main members of Pearl, at the time, all juniors at the high school.

*Susie Madden. In the first six books, she was Pearl's president. She was a member of one of the most prominent families in Kenilworth, and was always expected to carry on the "Madden Tradition". She has two older sisters, Emily, an aspiring lawyer who attended school in Chicago, and made visits to home; and Margaret, who was a medical student at Vassar, who had both been Pearl members, as well as their mother, Louise, who had come to Kenilworth from Louisiana; and a younger sister, Nancy, who was the maverick and artistic member of the family. At first it was thought that Nancy would be the next Madden in Pearl, (membership in Pearl being a family tradition) but Susie didn't think she would fit into the elegant life of a Pearl. Then, she suspected her arch-rival, Paula Parker, and her two best friends blackballed her; and it was revealed that they indeed had done the deed, but Susie would have done so herself, if they hadn't, as she later admitted to Paula, and even Nancy herself admitted to Susie that she wouldn't have felt at home in the sorority. Although she had a fine run as president (she had served two term; being elected her sophomore year), she realized that personal complications came up and she couldn't be assured of another term. In fact, she wasn't even nominated. To that end, the sorority nominated her best friend, Liz, in her place. This allowed the Pearls another strong president. Her father, Richard Madden, a senior vice president for one of Kenilworth's major banks, the First Michigan Bank; calls her "Susie Bear", to her embarrassment. She dated Mike Mitchell steadily, but eventually broke up with him; and she started casually dating a boy named Kevin Conway. In fact, it was Kevin who was helping tutor Susie with her Algebra grade, whicn had been very low, which was unusual for Susie. Kevin had a fraternal twin sister named Janet, who was president of Rose, one of Pearl's rival sororities, who disliked Susie, due to her thinking that she had blackballed her from Pearl (which had never been proven). After a vicious attempt to smear her reputation, (Janet accused both Susie and Kevin of cheating on an Algebra exam, and spread rumors around the school, which cost both Pearl and Rose the annual Taft Teachers Cup) Kevin and Susie remained friends, and Janet was discredited.

*Elizabeth Lucinda "Liz" Moore. In the last six books of the series, she was the president of Pearl. Like Susie, she was a uniter and only became president, since Susie had some personal complications that made it almost a certainty that she would not win. Her election was the closest in Pearl history; she had won by only four votes. She and Susie were best friends, although she was fairly insecure when she was first introduced, because she felt that her popularity was mainly hinged by her mother's tendency to be social climbing. However, as president, Liz grew into the role, made it her own, and won the respect of all the Pearl members. She was president when she presided over one of Pearl's most cherished traditions, The Morning in the Meadow. In the first six books, she was treasurer, who had taken over from Monica Malone, which almost caused her to lose her job, when she discovered that $112.50 was missing. To make matters worse, Paula Parker spread rumors around that Liz herself had taken the money. It was later discovered that Monica had taken the money out to pay an overdue florist bill and had not told Liz about it. Her boyfriend was Taft scholarship student, Walt Kowalski, who was planning on studying Veterinary medicine at Cornell University. It was Walt, who worked at a veterinarian's office, who gave Liz her pet bulldog, Chubbs. Mrs. Moore didn't like Chubbs at first, because she felt it was not an elegant choice of dog, but she grew to love her. She and Susie remained best friends throughout the series; and also became closer to Paula, whom she taught to play tennis. (Of all the Pearls, Liz was most athletic, as she was a member of the School's Tennis and Field Hockey teams) Much like Susie had to contend with a rival sorority's president to get what she wanted, so Liz had to contend with Cecile Miller, the president of Gold Key; Taft's service sorority, who wanted to be paired up in tennis, with Alain Perrault, Liz's mixed doubles partner. With her new friend, Paula's supportive help, Liz remained Alain's partner, to Cecile's dismay.

*Jacqueline "Jacqui" Hodgkins. A somewhat wealthy girl, who, due to financial reverses suffered by her father; was driven to shoplifting. However, to pay back all that she stole, she began to work at Maxi's department store, a job which she kept, even after she paid her debt off, because she loved the job. She is Pearl's most fashionable member, and is an expert on anything having to do with fashion; clothing and style. She and Ellie Winston are long-time best friends. At first, her name was spelled Jackie, but in sixth grade, she changed the spelling of her name to fit in with the glamorous role she was going to pursue, in becoming a model. She was also the Pearl's most flirtatious member; until she fell in love with Jeff, a guy she met at the Teen Hot-Line she volunteered at. Due to her working at Maxi's, she became friends with freshman sister, Maureen Flanagan, since her father owned Maxi's.

*Laura Clark. A sorority member whom the other members often come to for support and advice, because of her sweet and sympathetic nature. She has an older brother, Jason, who eventually dates her sorority sister, Ellie. A dedicated volunteer at Kenilworth Memorial Hospital, (whom she often tried and sometimes was successful to get her sorority sisters to offer their time) she worked there to further her aims to become a doctor. At first, she didn't date at all, because she mourned her late boyfriend, Michael, a basketball player who died of leukemia, (which fueled her ambition to become a physician); but later on, found happiness with Brad Johnson. Although, she nearly imperiled her relationship with Brad by being with Ryan Christopherson, the grandson of Taft High's benefactor, Cecile Christopherson; (which was out of character for her) they still remained together. Laura's freshman friend was Molly Gold, who she took a special fondness to, while she was a pledge under the auspices of Paula. Her best friends were Deborah Madura and Ellen McCormick.

*Paula Parker. The daughter of a divorced family, Paula was, at least for the first six books, mean and manipulative. Much of her attitude and conniving came from dealing with the divorce, which had made Paula angry and hurt. It was revealed that Paula, along with two of her best friends, Julie Windham and Monica Malone, was discovered to have blackballed Susie's sister, Nancy. Paula attempted to run against Susie for president, but she wound up losing to Susie's best friend, Liz, by four votes, in one of Pearl's closest ever elections. At first, her soft looks hid a steel ambition and a nasty heart, but in the last six books, she patched things up with both Susie and Liz. In fact, she becomes closer to both, and is especially loyal, helpful and very supportive to Liz, who helps her learn to play tennis. Her boyfriend was Alain Perrault, who was Liz's mixed doubles tennis partner. Interestingly, some setbacks occur, including an injured ankle and a flu bug; which allowed Paula to grow into her own and become a much needed support and a friend for Liz. (During that time, Paula comes up with the idea of giving Liz a makeover, which everyone enthusiastically joins in on, which allows Liz to retain her athletic look, but also to become much more feminine than she ever had been.) Paula eventually edges both Monica and Julie out of her life, though she still is friends with them, as she becomes closer to Liz and Susie. Julie and Monica also become more friendly to Liz, as she is their president. By the end of the series, she is firmly considered a part of the six main characters, along with Laura; Ellie; Liz; Susie and Jacqui.

*Ellie Winston. A girl who was sensible and kind. However, she was humiliated by her first boyfriend, Sam Taylor and then she began to date Jason Clark; who was Laura's brother. She and Jacqui are best friends and confidantes, and have been since they were in sixth grade. In the final book, Ellie becomes nervous when she discovers that all her friends have plans for the summer, and she doesn't have any. However, for Ellie, it all ends happily.

Much of the action stemmed from the usual romance or breakups thereof, in addition to their various school and sorority activities. Besides Pearl, considered the school's top sorority; there was also Rose and the service sorority, Gold Key, both were highly respected, but not as prominent or steeped in tradition as Pearl. The main boy's club at Taft High was the Taft Club, considered to be the boy's equivalent to Pearl.

The stories also dealt with their interactions with their families and their teachers. The Pearl advisor (and sorority rush advisor of the school at large) is Mrs. O'Neill, who had been a member of Pearl herself, and their benefactor was wealthy Cecile Christopherson, who was also a former Pearl alumna. Mrs. Chrstopherson (née Cecile Ashley) was the one who helped pave the way for her family's estate become Taft High School. The school's principal was Mr. Tate.

One of the most prominent teachers, aside from Mrs. O'Neill, was a woman named Miss McVinnis, who was derisively called "Miss McVinegar" by Paula.

Miss McVinnis, a very precise chemistry teacher and the oldest active teacher at Taft High, who had been teaching there, when many of the current students parents were in school, was prominent because of a pledge prank that Paula, who, at that time, was still spiteful due to the divorce, had thought up.

The pledges, advised by Paula, who was their pledge advisor, decided to kidnap the single Miss McVinnis' elderly dog, Scooter; (this was due to the animosity that existed between Paula and Miss McVinnis. Miss McVinnis had failed Paula out of Chemistry after she had been caught cheating on an exam, and had been humiliated in front of everyone) and the prank almost got the pledge class and the sorority itself suspended and kicked off campus.

Should that have happened, it would have meant that the Pearl Sorority would not have been recognized as a school-sponsored group; would not have participated in the next fall rush, or be able to display symbols on the campus grounds; in short, it would have spelled the end of the sorority, after almost 80 years of leadership at Taft High.

However, thanks to kind-hearted Laura, who had talked with Miss McVinnis beforehand, had stopped the highly vicious prank despite Paula's protests, and pleaded for them on their behalf, the sorority managed to receive a lighter punishment, by cleaning the graffiti off the gym bleachers, and were not suspended, and the sorority was safe.

The series end (Book #12 "Holding On") was a retrospect of all that had gone on during the often turbulent year, and everyone had received awards for a fine year. Most touching of all was the President, Liz, who received a special award for being a great sorority member, a valued member of the community and also proudly representing her school as a member of the school's athletic teams.

Book Titles and some plot summaries

* 1 "Getting In" Susie's youngest sister, Nancy, is spitefully kept out of Pearl.
* 2 "Nowhere to Run" Jacqui is caught shoplifting at a clothing store and begins to work there.
* 3 "Starting Over" Nasty Paula advises her pledges to steal Miss McVinnis' dog.
* 4 "Dangerous Secrets" Liz worries about losing her job as treasurer but is saved by the former treasurer Monica.
* 5 "Settling the Score" Ellie gets even with her snobbish ex-boyfriend, Sam.
* 6 "Winner Take All" Paula and Liz vie for the Pearl Presidency, and Liz wins by four votes.
* 7 "A Change of Heart" The Pearls go on a ski trip, and Susie and Paula finally become friends.
* 8 "Mistaken Identity" Jacqui works at a teen help line and gets a new boyfriend in the bargain.
* 9 "Risking it All" Laura almost imperils her relationship with her boyfriend Brad.
* 10 "Rumors" Susie falls for the twin brother of a rival sorority's scheming president.
* 11 "Tie Breaker" Liz and Paula bond over tennis and a makeover and become closer friends.
* 12 "Holding On" The Morning in the Meadow which Liz presides over and the end of year celebration.