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Candy Stripers
Bonnie Schuyler let herself be talked into joining the Candy Stripers. As a junior aide at the Medical Center, she lightened the heavy work load each regular nurse had.
But she sometimes wondered why she was there—she didn't plan to be a nurse; it was hard work; she didn't especially like helping other people.
One day she met David, a technician who was interested in a hospital career. Somehow he made her feel rather special and very grown-up.
But she sometimes wondered why she was there—she didn't plan to be a nurse; it was hard work; she didn't especially like helping other people.
One day she met David, a technician who was interested in a hospital career. Somehow he made her feel rather special and very grown-up.
191 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1958
About the author
Lee Wyndham
33 books8 followersJane Andrews Lee Hyndman (December 16, 1912-March 18, 1978) was born in Russia and came to the United States in 1923 where she became a U.S. Citizen. She was the daughter of Andrew and Alexandra Levchenko. In 1933 she married Robert Hyndman (pseudonym Robert Wyndham) and they had two children. Lee Hyndman was educated in both the United States and in Turkey where she studied singing and painting. She was a member of the Author’s Guild of the Author’s League of America and Women’s National Book Association (New York).
During her career Hyndman worked as a children’s book editor for the Morristown Daily Record in Morristown, New Jersey from 1949-1958 and at the Philadelphia Inquirer from 1950-1963. Beginning in 1958 Hyndman began lecturing on writing for teens and children at New York University. She also held several other jobs such as author of a syndicated children’s book column in five New Jersey newspapers beginning in 1963, lecturer, book critic, free-lance editor and project consultant. She also conducted several writing seminars and conferences. She was also a professional fashion model in New York.
During her career Hyndman worked as a children’s book editor for the Morristown Daily Record in Morristown, New Jersey from 1949-1958 and at the Philadelphia Inquirer from 1950-1963. Beginning in 1958 Hyndman began lecturing on writing for teens and children at New York University. She also held several other jobs such as author of a syndicated children’s book column in five New Jersey newspapers beginning in 1963, lecturer, book critic, free-lance editor and project consultant. She also conducted several writing seminars and conferences. She was also a professional fashion model in New York.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
June 2, 2019
OMG Remember Scholastic Books? This was a title I bought when I was in fourth or fifth grade. I read it over and over again because – 3 channels, no internet, I loved to read.
I found a print copy of this on the donations rack and I had to re-read it yet again. Written in 1958 and released by Scholastic Books in 1970, this is a definite time capsule - but also a good story.
Bonnie is 15. Summer is looming without her best friend, her boyfriend, or any trips to their New Jersey shore house. Her neighbor, an older girl from a large family, suggests she become a candy striper at the new hospital in town.
Bonnie reluctantly signs up, missing her bff and feeling ambivalent about the militant enthusiasm of her fellow volunteers and doubtful she’ll be very good at it.
By the end of the story, Bonnie has made a new best friend. She has increased her confidence in herself, has empathy where she had once been so self-absorbed, and she now appreciates her parents and her little sister.
How did this happen? She loved and lost (the David from the blurb). She was unfairly dismissed and then was reinstated. She saw patients suffer, patients healed, and even one patient die. There is some grit behind the fluff and I think that’s why I was so drawn to it as a child.
The romantic elements are all there as well. Including stereotypical characters that weren’t stereotypes to me in fifth grade
3 boys:
Rock - the pretty but stupid football player who wants to go steady with Bonnie. He’s packed off to summer camp so out of sight out of mind.
Cliff – the new neighbor who is super smart, a talented musician and very judgey toward frivolous Bonnie until he sees her in action at the hospital.
David – college student who works at the hospital. Bonnie misinterprets his kindness, but he lets her down easy
The girls:
Ginny – the fat, funny girl with a heart of gold
Pixie – Bonnie’s wisecracking acquaintance who sobers up to be a true friend
Mavis- an OW in the making. She is 15 and wants to date the hot doctor. (LOL)
Laura – Bonnie’s little sister who saves pamphlets and fortuitously has one with a map of the hospital so Bonnie can study the floor plan.
The authority figures
Mean nurse
Hot, kind nurse
Wise older woman head of the volunteers
Gruff doctor
Hot doctor who marries hot nurse in the hospital chapel
The kindly society matron who invites the volunteers for picnic swim at her estate
Anxious mother
Interested father
Etc . .
I should mention a couple of jarring notes. The casual racism of the Chinese man who runs the laundry and the black mammy who heals children by her magical crooning.
If you enjoy vintage stories and YA books, I highly recommend this one. It’s at Open Library along with a bunch of other books by this author.
Full confession. I was a candy striper for one year when I was 14. My bff and I signed up together. Our uniforms were just like this book, but they were light blue stripes. We worked every Sunday afternoon/evening. I think our shift was six hours. I did not undergo such a dramatic change as Bonnie, but I did learn that nursing was not for me.
I found a print copy of this on the donations rack and I had to re-read it yet again. Written in 1958 and released by Scholastic Books in 1970, this is a definite time capsule - but also a good story.
Bonnie is 15. Summer is looming without her best friend, her boyfriend, or any trips to their New Jersey shore house. Her neighbor, an older girl from a large family, suggests she become a candy striper at the new hospital in town.
Bonnie reluctantly signs up, missing her bff and feeling ambivalent about the militant enthusiasm of her fellow volunteers and doubtful she’ll be very good at it.
By the end of the story, Bonnie has made a new best friend. She has increased her confidence in herself, has empathy where she had once been so self-absorbed, and she now appreciates her parents and her little sister.
How did this happen? She loved and lost (the David from the blurb). She was unfairly dismissed and then was reinstated. She saw patients suffer, patients healed, and even one patient die. There is some grit behind the fluff and I think that’s why I was so drawn to it as a child.
The romantic elements are all there as well. Including stereotypical characters that weren’t stereotypes to me in fifth grade
3 boys:
Rock - the pretty but stupid football player who wants to go steady with Bonnie. He’s packed off to summer camp so out of sight out of mind.
Cliff – the new neighbor who is super smart, a talented musician and very judgey toward frivolous Bonnie until he sees her in action at the hospital.
David – college student who works at the hospital. Bonnie misinterprets his kindness, but he lets her down easy
The girls:
Ginny – the fat, funny girl with a heart of gold
Pixie – Bonnie’s wisecracking acquaintance who sobers up to be a true friend
Mavis- an OW in the making. She is 15 and wants to date the hot doctor. (LOL)
Laura – Bonnie’s little sister who saves pamphlets and fortuitously has one with a map of the hospital so Bonnie can study the floor plan.
The authority figures
Mean nurse
Hot, kind nurse
Wise older woman head of the volunteers
Gruff doctor
Hot doctor who marries hot nurse in the hospital chapel
The kindly society matron who invites the volunteers for picnic swim at her estate
Anxious mother
Interested father
Etc . .
I should mention a couple of jarring notes. The casual racism of the Chinese man who runs the laundry and the black mammy who heals children by her magical crooning.
If you enjoy vintage stories and YA books, I highly recommend this one. It’s at Open Library along with a bunch of other books by this author.
Full confession. I was a candy striper for one year when I was 14. My bff and I signed up together. Our uniforms were just like this book, but they were light blue stripes. We worked every Sunday afternoon/evening. I think our shift was six hours. I did not undergo such a dramatic change as Bonnie, but I did learn that nursing was not for me.
August 20, 2008
Leaving a doctor's appointment recently, I was quite startled to see a notice indicating that my local hospital has candy stripers! Had I known that when I was a teen, who knows but I might have signed up and my whole life might be different. Of course, it is quite a trend now to go to nursing school as a second career, and I have several friends either doing that now or about to start. I think I have enough career changes and degrees at this point . . .
December 31, 2019
I hardly have words for this adorable vintage perfection. Sweet, innocent, uplifting, it was just a breath of fresh air after a steady grind of modern YA. I was completely absorbed in her little summer world. I just wish there were sequels!
August 28, 2011
Such a cute story! I was a Candy Striper when I was a teenager. I didn't find romance, but I enjoyed my time spent at the hospital.
June 3, 2014
I read this book in sixth grade. Girls read this one. Boys read a book that I believe was called Hot Rod. Sigh.
I really did like Candy Striper. It was one of the books that I looked back on fondly. My father was a doctor so it was great to see into hospital life.
Sure, it wasn't accurate but it was thoroughly enjoyable.
I really did like Candy Striper. It was one of the books that I looked back on fondly. My father was a doctor so it was great to see into hospital life.
Sure, it wasn't accurate but it was thoroughly enjoyable.
August 5, 2010
So delightfully dated! And I believe that I got this from Melody through Paperback Swap, which makes it that much more fun.
This is a great peek at what it might have been like to be a Candy Striper in the 1950s. It sounds like it was fun and rewarding. And those pinafores were very cute.
This is a great peek at what it might have been like to be a Candy Striper in the 1950s. It sounds like it was fun and rewarding. And those pinafores were very cute.
June 2, 2007
YA fiction from another era when brightly painted fingernails were the sign of a bad girl and making a bed without hospital corners was an act of rebellion.
January 30, 2012
This was cute. Bonnie was a realistic teenager.
Read
May 31, 2023Explosion, candy striper has to help
"And later, when an explosion rocks the town, Bonnie discovers the value of her striper service."
"And later, when an explosion rocks the town, Bonnie discovers the value of her striper service."
January 7, 2017
So in my efforts to rid my place of clutter, I am rereading some of my old fave paperbacks from my childhood that are still with me after over 40 years. I read this book at age 11 and loved it, since I was planning to go into nursing. I actually was a Candy Striper for two summers in the early 70's and wore the white blouse with the pink striped jumper, along with white pantyhose and NurseMate shoes. Remember those?
The original edition was authored in the late 50's and is a reflection of those times, so you must take the awkward anachronisms in stride, i.e. the kindly "colored" practical nurse, or the "Chinese" working in the hospital laundry, as well as the references to how "going steady" means wearing a guy's ring around your neck. Today's young readers will probably require explanations by an older adult. :)
All in all, it was a nice couple of hours spent down memory lane. Looking forward to getting through the rest of my collection. These short books really shouldn't even count toward the challenge total, ha, but books are books!
The original edition was authored in the late 50's and is a reflection of those times, so you must take the awkward anachronisms in stride, i.e. the kindly "colored" practical nurse, or the "Chinese" working in the hospital laundry, as well as the references to how "going steady" means wearing a guy's ring around your neck. Today's young readers will probably require explanations by an older adult. :)
All in all, it was a nice couple of hours spent down memory lane. Looking forward to getting through the rest of my collection. These short books really shouldn't even count toward the challenge total, ha, but books are books!
Read
December 7, 2016I was 10 years old at the time when I read this book and knew that I wanted to work in the medical profession. I had seen older kids work as candystripers (female) or cherry reds (male) at Kennedy Hospital in Philadelphia. My mother suggested that when I get a little older *you had to be at least 14 years of age* to become one. And I did summer of 1973. It was the time of my life. I had a ball. I knew that I wanted to work in the medical profession. I never did become a nurse but I have worked on the business end of medical offices and hospitals for at least 30 years. I really love this book and I read it over and over, referred to it when I was a candystriper and told other candystripers about it. Great book!
September 14, 2007
It's always, always irritated me that the flap copy as quoted above says "she'd never be a nurse"--Bonnie never thinks or says any such thing, except at the beginning when she tells her mother she just wants to be a Candy Striper. Later, she thinks about being a nurse or a technician or a doctor. Pooh to you, flap copy writer!
March 29, 2018
This is a great book for kids in grades 6-10, or so! It is a good introduction to the responsibilities inherent in volunteer work. It introduces hospital work. It has a realistic story of a crush on an older boy. Especially good for kids interested in possible medical work in the future!
February 27, 2008
This book is really exciting. Now when I grow up I want to be a candy striper also.
September 17, 2021
"malt shop" book meets "student nursing book" for a very pleasant read
June 14, 2023
Originally published in 1958, Candy Stripers tells the tale of Bonnie Schuyler, who decides on something of a whim to volunteer at the hospital one summer. She's too young for paid work—but not too young to put forty hours in every week, and to be judged harshly (on pain of dismissal) for any small errors. But there's a cute boy—and my oh my, if she can stick it out for two years (Bonnie thinks she'll barely last the summer), she'll be eligible for a paid assistantship!
In many ways this is an adorable look back at the 50s. Volunteers are still at work in many hospitals (though they're generally no longer called candy stripers), and it's something that I think I would have enjoyed thoroughly as a teen, had I known such opportunities existed. The attitude towards relationships in the book is for the most part healthy—Bonnie has three possible suitors throughout the book, and she isn't tooooo hung up on any one of them to forget that she's a teenager in no rush to make up her mind.
But some of this is rough, man. I know it was the 50s. I know attitudes were different—and in some cases the same (we'll get to that). Even so...it's rough. Let's break it down.
A little bit about boys and girls
These girls (and it's always girls) are total workhorses, held to exacting standards. The boys get different opportunities: '"Anyway, during the summer the Candy Stripers don't work in OR at all because then we have college fellows in there" (48–49), explains a senior candy striper. Translation: the teenage girls do for free what the college boys get paid to do. They're also told that there are volunteer opportunities in college! And as adults! Basically, that they needn't think of paid jobs because their free labour will always be appreciated.
How dare she
Meanwhile, the girls are shocked when the one of the 'bad girls' of the group, Mavis (she's the prototypical slutty one, FYI, though there's exactly nothing to back this up—she fails at chasing one guy, while good girl Bonnie tries to juggle three and comes out looking squeaky clean), wonders about the morgue (43), and when another dares to wear red nail polish (103)—the scandal!—and then argues that considering that she's working for free, the higher-ups shouldn't have any say in her nail polish choices. (You tell them, Paula!)
Racism
I'm trying to bear in mind the time at which this was written, truly, but I knocked off a star for the entirely unnecessary scene in which one girl recounts a run-in with 'a tiny Chinese' working in the hospital laundry (180), complete with an incredibly racist recounting of his dialogue. The book takes pains to applaud the one Black (they use a different word) nurse, who is amazing with children, so it's trying to be non-racist but...failing.
Oh my god this boy is supposed to be an unironic catch
Here's a quick look at one of the boys who has caught Bonnie's eye, when he's driving her home:
"You see, Bonnie, I hope to be a hospital administrator someday. That means four years of college, and then two years of graduate work in hospital administration, plus all kinds of hospital experience beyond that. It's an awfully important post, as you can probably imagine."
[He talks on for another paragraph]
She was spellbound and a little breathless, and suddenly glad that she was wearing a Candy Striper's uniform. David talked so differently from anyone she had ever known. (121–122)
Later, he drives her home again:
They did not stop talking all the way home. Or rather, David talked—of the importance of hospitals to communities, of his own hopes in the administration field. She listened, charmed by his voice, his words, his sincerity and ambition.
As they pulled up in front of her house David placed his hand over hers. "You're awfully nice to talk to, Star Girl."
Bonnie was so moved, she couldn't answer. (152–153)
GUYS. HE IS SUPPOSED TO BE A CATCH. He is so full of himself I can't even. The other boys aren't much better.
Things that haven't changed
One thing that is fascinating and depressing is the way fatness is addressed, and the way fatphobia comes through. Although mockery of Asian accents is now broadly (and correctly) considered to be completely fucking racist, I don't think much has changed in terms of weight stigma. In Candy Stripers, one of the girls is bigger than the others. When they're issued uniforms...
Bonnie's size twelve fitted her perfectly. Ginny Lou tried desperately to squeeze into a size sixteen, but it was hopeless.
"I'm sorry, Ginny. I'm afraid you'll have to make your own," Mrs. Brent said. "I'll give you the pattern and the cloth."
"All right." Ginny Lou's smile was unsteady, and Bonnie felt sorry for her.
"Diet!" Pixie told her callously. "Resolve right now. Why, I had an aunt who lost one hundred and eleven pounds once!" (41–42)
It is perhaps worth noting that a size 12 in 1958 would be somewhere around a size 4 today, possibly 2. (We also know from context clues—i.e., Bonnie is the heroine, and it's 1958—that Bonnie has never, even on her most bloated day, worn above a size small.) So Ginny is...what? A contemporary size 10? 12? Not that the exact size matters, but it demonstrates how little room for error there was (is) in terms of bodies and induced shame. The candy stripers' supervisors decide for Ginny that they will oversee her weight loss, including putting her on a diet and having a doctor weigh her every week. "He expects me to lose a pound and a half a week, so I'd better, even if it kills me. I got the impression he will carve it off me himself, if I don't." (113)
And the social stigma, ye gads: it's not just that Ginny decides not to go to the pool party thrown for the hospital volunteers (she's what she considers to be ten pounds away from 'looking human' (213) and is too ashamed to be seen in a swimsuit). It's that one of the other girls deliberately excludes Ginny from a party because Ginny's on a diet and the other girl doesn't want to "expose her to so much temptation" (204). And this exactly the sort of thing that's still present today—the 'well, s/he's fat and I'm not, so I obviously know better what's right' attitude.
Where that leaves us
I know this 'review' is basically just me picking apart the year 1958, and (yet again) I should be clear that I am taking it as a product of its time. It was a genuinely entertaining read (though I wish Kindles handled PDFs better—I sent a converted PDF of this to my Kindle, with hilarious and barely legible results). It just...should be taken with a very large grain of 'it was 1958'.
In many ways this is an adorable look back at the 50s. Volunteers are still at work in many hospitals (though they're generally no longer called candy stripers), and it's something that I think I would have enjoyed thoroughly as a teen, had I known such opportunities existed. The attitude towards relationships in the book is for the most part healthy—Bonnie has three possible suitors throughout the book, and she isn't tooooo hung up on any one of them to forget that she's a teenager in no rush to make up her mind.
But some of this is rough, man. I know it was the 50s. I know attitudes were different—and in some cases the same (we'll get to that). Even so...it's rough. Let's break it down.
A little bit about boys and girls
These girls (and it's always girls) are total workhorses, held to exacting standards. The boys get different opportunities: '"Anyway, during the summer the Candy Stripers don't work in OR at all because then we have college fellows in there" (48–49), explains a senior candy striper. Translation: the teenage girls do for free what the college boys get paid to do. They're also told that there are volunteer opportunities in college! And as adults! Basically, that they needn't think of paid jobs because their free labour will always be appreciated.
How dare she
Meanwhile, the girls are shocked when the one of the 'bad girls' of the group, Mavis (she's the prototypical slutty one, FYI, though there's exactly nothing to back this up—she fails at chasing one guy, while good girl Bonnie tries to juggle three and comes out looking squeaky clean), wonders about the morgue (43), and when another dares to wear red nail polish (103)—the scandal!—and then argues that considering that she's working for free, the higher-ups shouldn't have any say in her nail polish choices. (You tell them, Paula!)
Racism
I'm trying to bear in mind the time at which this was written, truly, but I knocked off a star for the entirely unnecessary scene in which one girl recounts a run-in with 'a tiny Chinese' working in the hospital laundry (180), complete with an incredibly racist recounting of his dialogue. The book takes pains to applaud the one Black (they use a different word) nurse, who is amazing with children, so it's trying to be non-racist but...failing.
Oh my god this boy is supposed to be an unironic catch
Here's a quick look at one of the boys who has caught Bonnie's eye, when he's driving her home:
"You see, Bonnie, I hope to be a hospital administrator someday. That means four years of college, and then two years of graduate work in hospital administration, plus all kinds of hospital experience beyond that. It's an awfully important post, as you can probably imagine."
[He talks on for another paragraph]
She was spellbound and a little breathless, and suddenly glad that she was wearing a Candy Striper's uniform. David talked so differently from anyone she had ever known. (121–122)
Later, he drives her home again:
They did not stop talking all the way home. Or rather, David talked—of the importance of hospitals to communities, of his own hopes in the administration field. She listened, charmed by his voice, his words, his sincerity and ambition.
As they pulled up in front of her house David placed his hand over hers. "You're awfully nice to talk to, Star Girl."
Bonnie was so moved, she couldn't answer. (152–153)
GUYS. HE IS SUPPOSED TO BE A CATCH. He is so full of himself I can't even. The other boys aren't much better.
Things that haven't changed
One thing that is fascinating and depressing is the way fatness is addressed, and the way fatphobia comes through. Although mockery of Asian accents is now broadly (and correctly) considered to be completely fucking racist, I don't think much has changed in terms of weight stigma. In Candy Stripers, one of the girls is bigger than the others. When they're issued uniforms...
Bonnie's size twelve fitted her perfectly. Ginny Lou tried desperately to squeeze into a size sixteen, but it was hopeless.
"I'm sorry, Ginny. I'm afraid you'll have to make your own," Mrs. Brent said. "I'll give you the pattern and the cloth."
"All right." Ginny Lou's smile was unsteady, and Bonnie felt sorry for her.
"Diet!" Pixie told her callously. "Resolve right now. Why, I had an aunt who lost one hundred and eleven pounds once!" (41–42)
It is perhaps worth noting that a size 12 in 1958 would be somewhere around a size 4 today, possibly 2. (We also know from context clues—i.e., Bonnie is the heroine, and it's 1958—that Bonnie has never, even on her most bloated day, worn above a size small.) So Ginny is...what? A contemporary size 10? 12? Not that the exact size matters, but it demonstrates how little room for error there was (is) in terms of bodies and induced shame. The candy stripers' supervisors decide for Ginny that they will oversee her weight loss, including putting her on a diet and having a doctor weigh her every week. "He expects me to lose a pound and a half a week, so I'd better, even if it kills me. I got the impression he will carve it off me himself, if I don't." (113)
And the social stigma, ye gads: it's not just that Ginny decides not to go to the pool party thrown for the hospital volunteers (she's what she considers to be ten pounds away from 'looking human' (213) and is too ashamed to be seen in a swimsuit). It's that one of the other girls deliberately excludes Ginny from a party because Ginny's on a diet and the other girl doesn't want to "expose her to so much temptation" (204). And this exactly the sort of thing that's still present today—the 'well, s/he's fat and I'm not, so I obviously know better what's right' attitude.
Where that leaves us
I know this 'review' is basically just me picking apart the year 1958, and (yet again) I should be clear that I am taking it as a product of its time. It was a genuinely entertaining read (though I wish Kindles handled PDFs better—I sent a converted PDF of this to my Kindle, with hilarious and barely legible results). It just...should be taken with a very large grain of 'it was 1958'.
June 8, 2020
Oh, did this bring back memories. I read and re-read this book so many times as a kid. Bonnie is 15 and stuck at home during summer vacation. Yes, she comes from a fairly privileged background. They have a tennis court and also have beachfront property. This year her best friend moves away and her father has to rent out their beach house to help out the budget. What to do? Her neighbor suggests volunteering at the hospital. Bonnie decides to do it and her world view changes. Some parts of the story are decidedly dated, but it’s still a lovely story and I’m sure it made more than one girl decide to go into nursing, or at the least decide to volunteer. I enjoyed watching Bonnie mature and had fun reading about her antics and she survived them.
February 10, 2020
I read three coming of age books at one time (on my lunch break, alternating reading one a day) - I read Luckiest Girl, Candy Stripes (Lee Wyndham) and The New Lucinda (Grace Kisinger). I loved them all. Young girls, all about the same age, experiencing a "big" change in their world. If you like to read several similar books at the same time I would recommend this set :)
Candy Stripers is a really interesting book - of the three it was the one that I thought that I'd enjoy the least, but I was wrong - I loved this one just as much as the others.
Bonnie is looking at a long lonely boring summer, with her best friend, the boy she dates regularly both away, and her family not able to go to the shore. Then a chance conversation with her neighbor about being Candy Striper gives her "something to do".
It's a great look at life in the '50s and being a Candy Striper - I've never read anything about being one, certainly not about in the 50s. I'm not sure it's totally accurate but I'm sure it's close enough :)
I also appreciated the way the little love interest is handled and that it is NOT the focus of the book.
Definitely worth the read.
Candy Stripers is a really interesting book - of the three it was the one that I thought that I'd enjoy the least, but I was wrong - I loved this one just as much as the others.
Bonnie is looking at a long lonely boring summer, with her best friend, the boy she dates regularly both away, and her family not able to go to the shore. Then a chance conversation with her neighbor about being Candy Striper gives her "something to do".
It's a great look at life in the '50s and being a Candy Striper - I've never read anything about being one, certainly not about in the 50s. I'm not sure it's totally accurate but I'm sure it's close enough :)
I also appreciated the way the little love interest is handled and that it is NOT the focus of the book.
Definitely worth the read.
February 2, 2024
This title popped up on a read alike list when I was searching for old children's books. It is actually young adult and I did not consider that when I checked out a copy. Nothing is wrong with YA - in fact, older YA is quite different and far better than modern YA - but with that genre, no matter the era, naturally comes teen angst, crushes, and so forth. I wasn't really in the mood for that when I read this and found myself irritated when the teen angst got in the way of the hospital plot, which I found interesting. I never heard of Candy Stripers before, so it was good to be informed of that facet of the medical world. Since the majority of my books and movies are pre-1960, I have learned to appreciate them in the context of their time. But for modern readers who aren't adept at doing so may complain about some elements in this book.
May 1, 2020
may have started my volunteering spirit -- this was before I was in Girl Scouts briefly
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 8, 2023
so disappointing. all the hospital malt-shops are boring.
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