About

What is it called when blogs spawn baby blogs? Bloffspring? Blinfants? Whatever the case, this is a spin-off blog (bloddler?) created to house my self-indulgent side project, recapping the 1980s Young Adult series The Girls of Canby Hall in all its good, bad and ugly glory. For more about me, check out my home blog, Much More Where That Came From. Thanks for visiting!

23 responses »

Jenny on July 20, 2014 at 9:22 pm said:

I absolutely loved these books growing up! I even bought some off of eBay to reread. But I have one serious question…did we ever find out the meaning of the tea bag over Toby’s bed??

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- muchmorewherethatcamefrom on July 20, 2014 at 10:02 pm said:
  
  Hi Jenny! No, sadly, we never did. I like to think that if the series had gone to its natural end and seen Jane, Andy and Toby on to graduation, the tea bag mystery would have been revealed on the last page. Some theories on the meaning of Toby’s Tricky Tea Bag have been posited in the comments on other entries of this blog, such as that it had something to do with her mom. Do you have any hypotheses to share? Thanks for reading!
  
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  - Jenny on July 21, 2014 at 3:28 pm said:
    
    No good hypotheses unfortunetly! I do think it had something to do with her mom too. One of my friends way back said it probably contained her mother’s ashes but that is way to morbid! We need to find “Emily Chase” and ask her!! 🙂
Annmarie on October 25, 2014 at 11:39 pm said:

Thank you. I’ve been looking for the name of this series for awhile and I finally got the google search with the correct word plus meager teenage memory info combination. I read a few paragraphs and giggled incessantly of your rundown of the books.

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- muchmorewherethatcamefrom on October 28, 2014 at 8:57 am said:
  
  Thanks Annmarie! Isn’t The Google amazing? Without it, all of us might have had to live without the Girls of Canby Hall coming back into our lives … and can you imagine how much we would have collectively accomplished? 🙂
  
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greenmelinda on January 24, 2015 at 10:55 pm said:

I randomly Google this series every so often, as I’m the only person I’ve ever known who has read it. THANK YOU. I’ve just read one recap but it’s all come back to me and I’m both shocked and giddy at how weirdly influential/memorable it was even after what, 25 years? Love it.

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- muchmorewherethatcamefrom on January 26, 2015 at 7:01 pm said:
  
  Thanks Melinda! I agree, this stuff is like Velcro for the brain – it really sticks. Sometimes I wish things that were actually important had as much staying power as the girls of 407!
  
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Jenny on January 26, 2015 at 8:00 pm said:

I have to confess that I am currently re-reading the series. Slowly buying them on eBay so I can escape to my youth.

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- muchmorewherethatcamefrom on January 26, 2015 at 8:32 pm said:
  
  It is such a harmless, nostalgic walk down memory lane! Even though these books are from the 1980s and not, say, the 1880s, they still seem like vestiges of a much more innocent time to me.
  
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Shanahan Harding on October 16, 2015 at 6:18 pm said:

I never really heard of this series. I just found 17 volumes of them today at a library sale. Then I found this blog! Cool blog=)

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- muchmorewherethatcamefrom on October 19, 2015 at 9:25 pm said:
  
  Thanks Shanahan! It never got the fame that other series of its time like the Baby-Sitters’ Club and Sweet Valley High got, but I think it was better writing. Enjoy reading them for the first time!
  
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cicada on October 7, 2016 at 10:07 am said:

I read some of these books when I was in middle school and didn’t have many friends so I thought going to Canby Hall sounded like the best thing ever. Now, I am so glad I didn’t have all of these judgmental nosy people all up in my face all of the time. And has anyone ever tallied up the ‘annual traditions’ that never happened again?

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- muchmorewherethatcamefrom on October 9, 2016 at 11:20 am said:
  
  I KNOW, RIGHT?! Their self-righteousness is kind of hilarious. As for annual traditions, I think of that weird Spring Concert in #13 where they dressed up as forest creatures, the Almost-Summer Carnival, and of course the hysteria-inducing Arch Day in #17 (although to be fair, we never saw the New Girls graduate so maybe that would have gotten a repeat mention if the series had made it that far? Who am I kidding.) Oh, Canby!
  
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  - cicada on October 10, 2016 at 9:04 am said:
    
    I’m sad the new girls didn’t get a chance to graduate. The last book of the series is horrendous, which is saying something.
  - muchmorewherethatcamefrom on October 10, 2016 at 2:31 pm said:
    
    It really, really is. Whenever I recap that book (at this rate, around 2080) I’ll need a strong sedative first.
Jenny on October 18, 2016 at 7:14 pm said:

Which one was the last book? Was it the one where they had to watch Allison’s kid?

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- muchmorewherethatcamefrom on October 20, 2016 at 8:28 am said:
  
  Yes, when all six of them went to Alison’s to help with her newborn twins. And then proceeded to behave like psychopaths. As one does.
  
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Roshaunda on May 24, 2017 at 2:38 pm said:

I loved this series! The best day of the school year was the one when we got the scholastic catalogue and could order books. I always got a Girls of Canby Hall book. Always.

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- muchmorewherethatcamefrom on May 24, 2017 at 10:18 pm said:
  
  I loved this series too! My parents had a Scholastic limit — but whenever I could convince them it was time for another Canby Hall, I was in seventh heaven. My school was actually across the street from our region’s Scholastic office, so it seemed particularly cruel that we had to wait six weeks for our orders just like everyone else 🙂
  
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  - Roshaunda on May 24, 2017 at 11:08 pm said:
    
    That is cruel.
Sandi Markle on May 21, 2018 at 9:14 am said:

I have not read these and kind of stumbled into your blog but if you really want to know about the tea bag to go Julie Garwood’s web site. Julie Garwood is Emily Chase and writes the most wonderful books.

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- muchmorewherethatcamefrom on May 21, 2018 at 1:32 pm said:
  
  Julie Garwood actually only wrote one of the Canby Hall books (#14) but any and all tea bag theories are welcome! Perhaps the infamous tea bag is the character that most deserves a spinoff series …
  
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