White Boots

Harriet’s leg and calf muscles are weak after a protracted illness, the Doctor prescribes skating lessons at the local rink to strengthen the muscles, problem is that although Harriet’s parents once come from affluent families, the riches have disappeared and George, Harriet’s Father now runs an extremely unsuccessful grocery store.
Ineffective because George is forced to sell discards from his brother’s farm, so obviously there isn’t any money to rent skating shoes, this is when Alec, Harriet’s older brother steps in, decides to do a paper round to pay for the rent of the skating shoes. Harriet’s family is a pleasant family, working very hard with their limited resources to have a decent life.
At the rink, Harriet meets Lalla, the daughter of an extremely famous skater.
Aunt Claudia, Lalla’s aunt has decided that Lalla should step into her dead Father’s shoes and be a famous skater just as he was. As they become friends, Aunt Claudia a go-getter-no-nonsense woman decides that Harriet should be a companion to Lalla to spur her on to greater heights as well as to be her admiring audience, because Lalla needs watchers to showcase her moves.
It is a chance of a lifetime for Harriet to get everything she really could not afford in her own home, skating lessons, school work, ballet lessons, fencing lessons. As expected Harriet is grateful, extremely grateful, all she has to do is admire Lalla, nurture her, urge her to greater heights and be forever grateful.
Here the author Noel Streatfield paints an amazing picture of what it is to be middle class, seen better days, be talented and not be able to do well for lack of money and to be grateful and grateful. Although not a word is spoken about gratitude, there is this hint as when the Nanny dresses Harriet in Lalla’s pink coat now too tight for Lalla always fearing Aunt Claudia might recognise the coat and Olivia, Harriet’s Mother says not a word, because all that Harriet has in the way of a ‘good dress’ is an old, velvet, brown dress.
Or when nothing much is expected from Harriet in the way of skating, or lessons, or ballet, or fencing, because she is there to admire, nurture Lalla. Or when at the end Mr. King pays for rooms for the Johnsons at a beach.
We get a taste of what happens when Harriet shines and gets her picture in the newspapers, Lalla flares in anger and tells her angrily that she would tell her Aunt Claudia that she Harriet was not required and that she would train on her own. Charity always needs humongous amounts of gratitude.
The end I felt was contrived, I cannot imagine Aunt Claudia paying for a long and sustained training for Harriet, considering that Lalla is now in a certain way, out of the game, but it is a children’s book.

Like many children of the 1990s, I suspect, I was introduced to the "Shoes" books after my mom saw "You've Got Mail" and bought several of the books at the suggestion of Meg Ryan's character. It took some time, but I eventually fell in love with "Ballet Shoes" and then "Dancing Shoes"; I also came to enjoy "Theatre Shoes" and "Movie Shoes," though they didn't hold the same special place in my heart.

For me, "Skating Shoes" was more like the latter two books. Maybe it was because I took so long to be read it or because I don't have the same personal attachment to figure skating as I do to the stage, but the book didn't quite satisfy my expectations. While the worlds of "Ballet Shoes" and "Dancing Shoes" come to life for me, "Skating Shoes" seemed not quite as fleshed out and the characters not so well-rounded, with the exception of Lalla. I suppose it didn't help, either, that the system of ranking and testing skaters has changed so much since the book was written; while I'm glad that the publisher didn't take the liberty of updating terms, it was slightly challenging at times to understand what each examination would test. I also felt that we didn't quite get inside Harriet's head enough to see her fall in love with skating--it all seemed to happen very suddenly.

I would still reread and recommend the book, especially to young readers, but it isn't the finest example of Streatfeild's work to me.

The story of spider-like Harriet, recovering from illness, learning how to skate and becoming friends with Lalla Moore, who is destined to be a figure skating star, is one of my favorites. I probably read it for the first time in third grade and at least a dozen times since, including an unplanned reread today.

This is a great read on Boxing Day! Here is a link to my review:

http://perfectretort.blogspot.com/201...

Nostalgia read. I loved this series as a little girl and somehow missed this one.

For my full review: https://girlwithherheadinabook.co.uk/...

It has long been my belief that you never read the same book twice and so it was when I sat down to reread White Boots. The last time I picked it up would have been during the late 1990s but in the depths of lockdown, Noel Streatfeild seemed to be the perfect choice for comfort reading. Various publishers have been unearthing Streatfeild's back catalogue recently and last year I was underwhelmed by both Noel Streatfeild's Christmas Stories and The Bell Family. Here though, I felt like I was on secure ground. This was not just any Streatfeild book, it was one of the original 'classics' - sometimes known as Skating Shoes, it is one of her best known novels. And yet, it packed quite a sting in its tail.

The premise is roughly thus; young Harriet has been unwell and cannot go to school. From a large and impoverished family, the worry is that she is not recovering as she should. The family doctor advises that she takes up skating to strengthen her legs. Her elder brother takes up a paper round to pay for the hire of her skates and the doctor has a word at the rink to make sure she gets in for free. During her very first session, Harriet and her mother meet Lalla Moore. The two girls are the same age but their situations are quite different. While Harriet is a skating novice, Lalla is the daughter of a world champion and is expected to become one herself. And while Harriet is from a loving family, Lalla is an orphan who lives with her aunt and uncle. You see the picture - one girl is literally rich but the other is rich in everything else. They're drawn together. Over time, the two girls start having lessons together and even share Lalla's skating instructor. The tension arises however as Harriet begins to show a talent for skating and over time, shows signs of matching her skill. It's almost like a pre-adolescent All About Eve with Lalla becoming increasingly angry that her one-time protegée may in fact surpass her. Fasten your seatbelts, we're in for a bumpy night.

While other Streatfeild novels focus on the glamour and adventure of a childhood spent performing, White Boots has a harder edge. Lalla's Aunt Claudia is determined to see her niece become a world figure skating champion just like her late father. She made this decision directly after the child was orphaned, even hanging the skates in which her father died above the child's bed. Streatfeild states explicitly that Aunt Claudia's motivation is because she wants the glory and attention, having no such talents herself. While the silly and vain aunt is a stock figure in Streatfeild's fiction, Claudia is the vilest of them all by quite a streak. I remember disliking her when I first read the book but this time I was horror-struck. Seeing her pile the pressure on a child of ten was appalling. Still worse was how she scolded Lalla for developing some 'naughty curves' and put the little girl on a diet. It was something of a mystery why her lovely husband had not shopped her to the authorities and sought a divorce. I think he and Lalla would have been much happier.

Even beyond the Cruella De Vil guardian, there are some tough concepts to wrestle with. The adults around Lalla fret over the pressure the child is being put under but are unsure how best to intervene. Claudia pays the wages for several of them. Others feel that it is not their place. But yet poor Lalla was clearly acting out and struggling to cope. Reading the book as a child, I found it hard to sympathise with Lalla who seemed to have so much and yet who was being so mean to poor Harriet. Yet as an adult, her inner turmoil is obvious. It's rare to see child mental health being raised as a topic in a book of this era (originally published in 1951) but that is what is going on.

I was caught though by how Lalla's life would have been easier if the book was written today. She is specifically struggling with skating figures, an area of the sport which has changed drastically since the 1950s. With skating increasingly geared towards spectators rather than judges, those 'ghastly' figures that she cannot master would be less important. Lalla is more suited to the free-skating displays of professional skating, much more popular with the judges today. Of course, this is all part of the usual Streatfeild homily about hard work and perseverance. Harriet is able to doggedly practice and sort out her figures. Lalla just doesn't have the concentration. But in contrast to other stories, it is not that Lalla is not trying. Seeing her getting shoved towards the edge is heartbreaking.

So much adventure fiction, particularly novels aimed at children, rests on the idea that if you do your best, you will get to where you need to go. White Boots is quite revolutionary in suggesting quietly that no, sometimes that does not work. Sometimes you can't do it. And I loved how Streatfeild showed Lalla's real and true courage in finally admitting that. I was brought up to keep going and to persevere and while this is an admirable goal in most areas, it has been a tough road for me to learn when to cut my losses and give up. It took until my late twenties for me to ever accept it as a possible outcome and even now occasionally I realise that I've fallen down another 'don't give up' rabbit-hole. So I really value the moral here - recognise when you've given something as much as you can and then there's no shame in finding a new path.

With so many other Streatfeild novels focusing on sibling groups, I like how White Boots also celebrates friendship. The dynamic between Harriet and Lalla is tempestuous but then adolescent female friendship often is pretty intense. I loved how the novel ended, with both girls excited for their futures and still loyal to each other. Of all Streatfeild's novels, this is among my favourites and Lalla is one of the author's liveliest and most charming heroines, often reminding me of Pullman's Lyra. I like to imagine a septuagenarian Lalla out there somewhere, still skating and still fabulous. I hope she found her dream.

One of my favorite books as a kid! The story of two girls who become friends as they train together in figure skating, the one because she is the daughter of a famous skater, the other as a way to recuperate from a long illness. I loved everything about this book, the descriptions of the moves they were learning, their clothes, the dialogue . . . and what little girl hasn't dreamed of being an ice skater?! An utterly charming book!

The Shoe books are precious, happy books, and they do not have to be read in order.

However, this Yearling paperback is poorly, poorly, poorly edited. There are simply too many silly, basic errors. “She even admired the glass case with the skates in it, and the silver cups arid trophies on the shelf” (61). Characters’ names are misspelled: “Edard” instead of Edward (70), “Lindbllom” instead of Lindblom. There is just no reason for this except for sloppiness.

Harriet is a sickly little girl whose doctor has suggested she ice skate for exercise. The family is poor, and Harriet’s brother takes on a paper route so he can pay to rent her ice skates. “He felt as though it were he who was making her well, for after all it was his two shillings which paid for the skates, and so when it was wet and cold while he was on his paper round he did not mind as much as he might have done” (49). Streatfield created beautiful characters in all of her stories.

Why did Uncle David stay with Aunt Claudia? Surely he could have done better.

Update: One of my favorites of the 'Shoes' books. With this re-read, I was amazed by the number of adults that conspired to help both Lalla and Harriet. This is also one of the few Streatfeild books that focuses more on friendship than on family relationships. It certainly contains one of my favorite Streatfeild Nanas: "She did not hold with ice, nasty, damp stuff, but she defied any ice to give a chill to a child who wore wool knitted by herself next to the skin."

As a child, I was completely focused on the figure skating and on the Lalla & Harriet relationship, especially when Lalla loses control towards the end. Thus, now, it's so much fun to dwell on the details that went over my 8-year-old head: the passing references to the recently-ended WWII, the ins and outs of the Covent Garden market, the gradual slipping away of Johnson family wealth and, yes, the wonderment about Aunt Claudia's marriage to Uncle David.