Don’t worry about it,” Amy urged. “Belle’s talk isn’t as bad as the measles, or some other fell disease. Come on. If we catch the concert at four we’ll hear Madame Elva; and you know she is the very best on the Stratford Electric Company’s program.” The two Roselawn girls were walking up the boulevard from town on this July afternoon. The wide highway was speckled with broken bits of sunshine, patterned through the leaves of the tall elms. Now and then an automobile purred past the girls on one of the two oiled drives, or a horseman clattered by. Roselawn was distinctly the better suburban district of New Melford...FROM THE BOOK.

The Great War is over, and change is in the air, in this novel that brings to life the exciting days of early British radio…and one woman who finds her voice while working alongside the brilliant women and men of the BBC. London, 1926. American-raised Maisie Musgrave is thrilled to land a job as a secretary at the upstart British Broadcasting Corporation, whose use of radio—still new, strange, and electrifying—is captivating the nation. But the hectic pace, smart young staff, and intimidating bosses only add to Maisie’s insecurity. Soon, she is seduced by the work—gaining confidence as she arranges broadcasts by the most famous writers, scientists, and politicians in Britain. She is also caught up in a growing conflict between her two bosses, John Reith, the formidable Director-General of the BBC, and Hilda Matheson, the extraordinary director of the hugely popular Talks programming, who each have very different visions of what radio should be. Under Hilda’s tutelage, Maisie discovers her talent, passion, and ambition. But when she unearths a shocking conspiracy, she and Hilda join forces to make their voices heard both on and off the air…and then face the dangerous consequences of telling the truth for a living. READERS GUIDE INCLUDED

Jessie Norwood, gaily excited, came bounding into her sitting room waving a slit envelope over her sunny head, her face alight. She wore a pretty silk slip-on, a sports skirt, and silk hose and oxfords that her chum, Amy Drew, pronounced "the very swellest of the swell." Beside Amy in the sitting room was Nell Stanley, busy with sewing in her lap. The two visitors looked up in some surprise at Jessie's boisterous entrance, for usually she was the demurest of creatures. "What's happened to the family now, Jess?" asked Amy, tossing back her hair. "Who has written you a billet-doux?" "Nobody has written to me," confessed Jessie. "But just think, girls! Here is another five dollars by mail for the hospital fund." Jessie had been acting as her mother's secre[Pg 2]tary of late, and Mrs. Norwood was at the head of the committee that had in charge the raising of the foundation fund for the New Melford Women's and Children's Hospital. "That radio concert panned out wonderfully," Amy said. "If I'd done it all myself it could have been no better," and she grinned elfishly...

Series fiction about wireless and radio was a popular genre of young adult literature at the turn of the 20th century and an early form of social media. Before television and the Internet, books about plucky youths braving danger and adventure with the help of wireless communication brought young people together. They gathered in basements to build crystal sets. They built transmitters and talked to each other across neighborhoods, cities and states. By 1920, there was music on the air and boys and girls tuned in on homemade radios, often inspired by their favorite stories. This book analyzes more than 50 volumes of wireless and radio themed fiction, offering a unique perspective on the world presented to young readers of the day. The values, attitudes, culture and technology of a century ago are discussed, many of them still debated today, including immigration, gun violence and guns on campus, race, bullying and economic inequality.