A CAP FOR MARY ELLIS

by Hope Newell ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 14, 1953

Two Negro girls, Mary Ellis and her friend Julie, are central characters in a story of nursing and a nursing school's first year of admitting Negro students. Aside from a disappointingly hackneyed plot peopled with girls and families who seem to speak more like parrots than humans it is an honest picture of a struggle to succeed in winning a place in the outside world. At Woodycrest, a school in the country outside New York City, Mary Ellis bucks the inevitable one or two students who are prejudiced against Negroes, is unjustly accused of untidiness and almost decides to ""throw in the towel"" when she goes home to Harlem for a long weekend. Her mother and brother, who is well into a career as a dancer, are intelligent and understanding and of course Mary Ellis goes back to win her first year cap and the esteem of her fellow students. Deft handling of some ticklish nursing problems as well add merit, where a general tendency to oversimplify the other solutions should be watched.

Pub Date: Oct. 14, 1953

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harper

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1953

Categories: FICTION