Jo Chambers' Review
After four terms in the first form, Darrell is promoted to the second form, along with most of her classmates. There are several new girls in North Tower and Darrell is eager to size them up.

The first and most promising of these is Belinda Morris, a scatterbrain with a great talent for art. Belinda instantly makes friends with Irene, the forum's other scatterbrain and musical genius, and the two are very bad for each other!

For the first time Gwendoline finds a friend in the spoiled but charming Daphne Millicent Turner. Daphne regales the girls with tales of great wealth and claims never to have been to school before. Most of the girls are bored by her snobbery but Gwendoline is delighted to have found such a grand friend.

Ellen, a scholarship girl, causes some ructions during the term with her bad temper. Unbeknown to the others she is working herself far too hard and worrying too much about her position in the form, which makes her irritable and snappy. Jean tries her hardest to coax her out a little but Ellen does not even make an effort to be nice to Jean when Jean invites her out for a half term lunch. When Ellen falls ill and misses 11 days of class through being in the san, she hatches a plan to attempt to look at the class test papers before the exams and hence come out near the top.

At the same time, the girls notice something disturbing: someone is stealing purses and jewellery in North Tower. Alicia begins to suspect Ellen, whom she has seen snooping about desks classrooms, and one night tells the other girls of her suspicions, despite Sally cautioning her not to. Ellen resolves that she will go out and find the exam papers that night but disturbs Darrell on her way out of the room, causing Darrell to follow her and catch her with the papers. A struggle follows and Darrell reiterates Alicia's accusation of stealing. Ellen becomes sick with worry and goes to Matron in the middle of the night, causing the girls to speculate that she has been expelled.

When she believes Ellen to have been expelled, Daphne acts strangely and becomes very concerned with getting a parcel sent from the post office. Mary-Lou offers to take it for her and, unbeknown to the others, goes out on the cliff road in a gale to take the parcel. When Daphne realises what she has done she goes after her and finds Mary Lou clinging to a tree root after having been swept over the edge of a cliff. Daphne saves her life by fashioning a rope and holding onto her until help arrives.

The other girls crowd round to congratulate Daphne when her heroism becomes known but she does not respond and later confesses that she was the thief and that the parcel she was sending contained the other girls' purses and possessions. Miss Grayling gives her the option of being expelled without facing the girls or confessing to them and asking their forgiveness. She chooses the latter and the girls agree that Daphne's good action has cancelled out her bad action and agree to give her a second chance. The term ends happily with everyone reconciled and Mary-Lou and Daphne firm friends.