Catherine Collins’ grandmother forbids her to pursue ballet because she blames ballet for the death of Catherine’s mother – despite the fact that gran herself is running a ballet academy! Catherine turns to practising ballet in secret at the academy.
Angie Parsons, a non-assertive girl, is tired of being taken for granted and being pushed around. She thinks the answer is to take lessons from Lindy Marchant, a selfish girl who always gets her own way, and copy Lindy’s behaviour. This means being pushy, playing dirty tricks, taking advantage of people and manipulating them, and always being selfish. Although Angie inwardly questions Lindy’s underhanded methods at times, they always seem to work out for her in the end, and she thinks Lindy is a real friend.
Then Angie’s father becomes seriously ill because of her bad behaviour in copying Lindy. This shocks Angie into realising her mistake, and she finds true confidence when she gives Lindy a piece of her mind, and also discovers that the selfish Lindy is no friend of hers. From then on, she learns to act assertively and confidently, but with respect to others.
Lynn Walsh is bitter that everyone in the class has a friend except her because the only two she had have moved away. So she turns to breaking up as many friendships in the class as she can out of spite. She has a lot of fun and success in doing so, but then two of her victims compare notes and realise there is a troublemaker in class breaking up friendships. After investigation they find evidence that points to Lynn, and they set a trap – bait her into framing one of them for vandalism in order to split them up – to see if she is the troublemaker.
The trap is so successful that Lynn is sent to a new school. Lynn intends to start over with a new friend she has found and stop breaking up friendships. But an ex-friend is determined to break them up, so Lynn could get a taste of her own medicine.
Cassie Miller wants to follow in her father’s footsteps and be a pop star. But he is completely against the idea because he knows how tough the pop world can be. However, Mum approves and is helping Cassie to become a pop star in secret.
Katie Brown finds nine abandoned kittens in a shed on her father’s new farm. She keeps them a secret while finding homes for them as she fears they will be put down.
Susie Jones’ new best friend Julie fancies her older brother Steve. But Steve currently has a date and Susie is trying to keep this secret from Julie as she is scared they will fall out over it.
Blossom, an alien from a flower-based race, adopts human form to take work at the Seaview Hotel.
New girl Josie Goulden looks so sweet and angelic, but Maria Campbell soon finds out that Josie is a nasty schemer who is trying to push her out of her position as class captain with a series of tricks and frame-ups to discredit her. Josie’s tricks have all but Maria’s best friend Beth Parker turning against her, and Maria is finding that Josie is too clever to be caught out.
In time, Maria learns that Josie’s over-indulgent father promises her expensive gifts and vast sums of money if she achieves any particular thing at school, which he sets. As a result, Josie cheats her way to achieve them and receive the rewards her father promises. The reason why Josie pushed Maria out of the class captain job was that her father had promised her a new stereo if she became class captain.
When Josie’s tricks get Maria suspended, Maria and Beth join together for a last-ditch plan to expose her, which succeeds. Josie is expelled and Maria is reinstated to both school and her former position as class captain. Maria forgives her apologetic friends, but doesn’t forget how Josie showed her who her real friends are.
A couple of girls pick on Joanne for being brilliant at schoolwork and call her “swot rag”. To stop the bullying, Joanne starts deliberately underachieving. Once she starts doing this the bullying does ease up – but then Joanne’s mother gets the inevitable letter from school about her deteriorating school work. Joanne has to admit what is going on, and her mother says to get some backbone and get back in there with her schoolwork. Joanne is afraid to do so because of what the bullies might do – until she finds out the real reason why the bullying started in the first place.
Notes:
Photo story
Danger Girl, codenamed “Z” , is the prettiest and toughest agent in Britain’s Secret Service.
Other Appearances:
Annual Appearances