First Term at Malory Towers

Twelve year old Darrell Rivers is travelling by train to her new boarding school - Malory Towers - for her first year. She quickly befriends several of the girls in her dormitory, including lively Alicia and artistic but scatter-brained Irene, though she has trouble getting along with the spoilt Gwendoline Mary Lacey and the withdrawn and unfriendly Sally Hope.

Gwendoline, in particular, tests Darrell's temper. When Gwen takes advantage of shy Mary-Lou's fear of swimming by holding her down in the water, Darrell rushes in to rescue Mary-Lou and gives Gwen several slaps (or in more modern versions, a horrible shaking) for teasing her. She even flares up at the head girl Katherine for not punishing people like Gwendoline and making sure that they learned their lesson. Soon afterwards however, Darrell regrets her loss of temper and apologises to Katherine and Gwen. Mary-Lou becomes devoted to Darrell, annoying her with her efforts to become her friend. Later, Darrell attempts to boost Mary-Lou's self-confidence by pretending to have difficulties in the water and allowing herself to be saved by Mary-Lou.

During the half-term break, Darrell asks Sally if she would like spend the day with her and her parents, but is turned down. Later, when Darrell asks Sally about her baby sister, Sally denies having one. Their conversation devolves into an argument, and Darrell pushes Sally to the ground. The next morning Sally is seriously ill, and Darrell begins to worry that she caused Sally's illness by pushing her. A doctor is called to see Sally, and it happens to be Darrell's father, Dr. Rivers, who is nearby after the half term holiday. Things are sorted out when Darrell's father explains that he came to operate on Sally and says it was not Darrell who made Sally ill. Sally admits to Darrell she does have a sister, but pretended she didn't because she was jealous of sharing her mother with the baby. Darrell and Sally become friends when Darrell shares her own experiences of being a big sister.

Gwendoline becomes increasingly jealous of Darrell's growing popularity and decides to ruin her reputation. She destroys Mary-Lou's favourite pen and smears ink on Darrell's shoes to frame her. Darrell's denials are not believed by most of the other first-formers, who recall her fierce temper. Even Alicia, with whom Darrell wants to be best friends, does not believe her. Only Sally and Mary-Lou herself stand by Darrell. Determined to help Darrell, Mary-Lou collects evidence (Gwen's inky shoes) to show that Gwen broke her pen, satisfying the first-formers and proving Darrell's innocence. Term ends with Darrell turning down Alicia's friendship to be with Sally and Mary-Lou. She leaves by train with Sally, promising she'll be back at Malory Towers next term.

• Summary of First Term at Malory Towers