Fireside Stories for Girls in Their Teens

  FIRESIDE STORIES FOR GIRLS IN THEIR TEENS

  by

  MARGARET W. EGGLESTON

  Instructor in Story Telling, School of ReligiousEducation and Social Service, Boston University

  Author of "The Use of the Story in Religious Education," Etc.

  New YorkGeorge H. Doran Company

  Copyright, 1921,by George H. Doran Company

  Printed in the United States of America

  TO THE GIRLS OFKEEWAYDIN CAMP FIREOF CLEVELANDANDICACAYA CAMP FIREOF BOSTON

  FOREWORD

  "Given a Camp-fire, a group of friendly girls and a good story-teller whoknows and loves the girls, and the ideals of a whole community may belifted in a night."

  The teen age girl is a great problem and at the same time a greatopportunity. Her ideals seem low, yet there is no time in her life whenshe will more gladly follow a great ideal. She seems fickle, yet she isputting her friends to a test that is most worth while. She ismisunderstood and she can not understand herself. She is searching forsomething, yet she does not know what it is.

  Her problems are many, and most of them she must solve alone. If shefollows the crowd and goes in the way of least resistance, there is a bigchance that she will fall by the way. If she does not follow the crowd, itis because somewhere, some time, she has found a compelling ideal and isfollowing it. Sometimes that ideal comes to her in the form of a friend.Sometimes she is fortunate enough to have found that ideal in her mother.But often and often it comes to her through a little story that lives withher, and works for her, and helps her to hold to the best, in spite of themanifold temptations to do otherwise.

  Recently I met a young woman whom I had seen only once and that was twelveyears ago. She came to me after a service and said, "Will you tell VanDyke's 'Lump of Clay' to-night? Twelve years ago I heard you tell it. Iwas so discouraged at the time, for everything seemed going wrong and lifeseemed so useless. But I dropped into a church and heard you tell thestory. You have no idea what it has done for me. I am teaching in thecollege near by and I should like to have my girls hear the story. Perhapsthey need it as I did."

  Many of the workers with girls have seen this need and have wanted to meetit and yet have been unable to find the story that was needed by the girl.It is because of this very need in my own work that I am sending out thesestories, most of which I have told over and over to my girls. Many of themhave been written because of special problems that needed to bemet--problems peculiar to adolescence--problems found in every class andclub of girls the country over.

  The stories are not to amuse, for we have no time to amuse girls in thestory hour. We have little enough time, at the best, for implanting idealsand every story hour should leave a vital message. That is the thing thegirls want and why should we give them less.

  The stories are not to be read. They need the personal touch, thesympathetic voice, the freedom of eye that tells the story-teller whichgirls are finding the message of the story. Some of them will hurt--butexperience has shown me that these are the very ones that one has to tellover and over. Can you imagine the Master reading to the groups gatheredabout him the stories that you and I love to read in his word? When you gointo the heart life of a girl, let all your personality help you to carrythe message. It was the Master's way of story-telling.

  "'Twas only a little story, Yet it came like a ray of light; And it gave to the girl who heard it Real courage to do the right."