Flora Marie Northrop

MEETING FLORA

Flora Marie Northrop is one of the main characters of the story. Her parents died in a car crash, and she and her younger sister Ruby were sent to live with their grandmother, Min. She lives in the fourth Row House. Flora is totally opposite to her sister. Flora is a very quiet person, she fears being the center of attraction and likes quiet hobbies such as sewing, reading and doing homework. She is friends with Olivia Walter and Nikki Sherman and later Willow Hamilton in KEEPING SECRETS. Flora also used to be best friends with Annika Lindgren before she moved. Flora has a very good heart and through being shy she is kind and interesting. Despite being shy Flora has a lot of friends and they all adimre her creativty. Flora has a difficult time with change and desperatly tries not to cry and wants to go to her old house in WELCOME TO CAMDEN FALLS and wonders how she feels as she numbly accepts welcomes. Flora has a tiny bit of a low confidence level due to being shy but otherwise she is very happy once her greif and pain go away. When Flora was four she wanted to make a dress for her cat The Pampered Princess today Flora and Ruby share a cat named King Comma. In many ways as author Anne M. Martin hs stated or shown in the books Flora is the soul center of the MAIN STREET SEIRIES even being a slightly more improtant character than Olivia or Nikki. Flora can be occasionally rude to Ruby when Ruby is being nosy or acts annoyingly adult or show-offy despite that she is often sweet, polite and interested or friendly.

SEWING AND OTHER INTERRESTS

Flora loves to sew and do arts and crafts and has many boxes for card making, sewing clothes and even yarn. We first see these passions in WELCOME TO CAMDEN FALLS when she mentiones with pain that her mother taught her how to knit and Min taught her how to sew. Flora is also seen lugging in her crafts kits with Ruby and Olivia in WELCOME TO CAMDEN FALLS the day she moved to the the row houses. When Flora is upset, moody, curious or wants to be alone, she likes to ponder over these problems and think of dresses to. Flora treasures her sewing machine and was very grateful in TIS THE SEASON when she remembered her parents gave her a sewing machine for christmas a gift she thought they would say she was too old for. Flora also loves to read and had already read  ROLL OF THUNDER for the book club in THE SECRET BOOK CLUB. Flora will never act or be a public speaker in a million years but once said the Thanksgiving prayer in book 8 SPECIAL DELIVERY because of the surprise of being asked to do the blessing made her forget to feel shy. Flora also likes babysitting and volunteer work which she did a lot of in the second half of the seiries at Three Oaks and take care of little Grace Fong in the row houses. Flora and Min taught a sewing class in THE SECRET BOOK CLUB at Three Oaks as of the request of their ex-neighbor Mr. Willet. As an adult it could be likely that Flora will be a seemstress or a teacher do to her book and sewing loving. Flora could also work for Needle and Thread having taught there since book 2 NEEDLE AND THREAD with the idea of hosting a class with Gigi Olivia's grandmother to make the teddies for kids who are sad or need help after Flora and Ruby recieved teddies the night their parents died.

TYPE OF FASHION IN THE BOOKS AND FOR FLORA:

Fashion was never a big deal for the girls in Main street as it was for the girls in Ann M Martin's other seiries The Babysitters club. Flora loves sewing and pattterns but never really cared about how she looked or if she wore makeup. Flora though has good taste in diffrent types of clothes through out the year or for diiferent ages of children. For her cousin Janie she made cute baby dresses with stars and horses and was excited to make autunmn -colored dresses for Needle and Thread's clothing displays for back-to-school outfits and later wear them and even makes some of her own dresses but Flora's fashion level is down to earth unlike Tanya Rhodes and Melody Becker Olivia's nemesi in the second half of the seiries ofr Claudia Kishi and Stacey Mcgill the fashionistas of the Babysitters Club.

Family
Mother: Frannie Northrop (deceased)

Father: Mr. Northrop (deceased)

Sister: Ruby Northrop

Aunt: Allie Read

Grandmother: Mindy Read

Adopted Cousin: Janie Read

Maternal Great-Grandmother: Martha Davis

Maternal Great-Grandfather: Lyman Davis

Family History and town history
Flora's parents Mr. Northrop and Frannie nee Read present names of english ancestry but her grandmother Min's maiden name Davis  is a scottish name so Flora is of english-scottish descent supposedly but both sides of her family seem to have lived in America for a long time but otherwise little is known about where her family came from. One of Flora's interests is history and in WELCOME TO CAMDEN FALLS she spends a lot of time in Min's attic wanting to be alone she learns about her great-grandpa Lyman Davis who was a banker in the ninteen twenties but in Ninteen-Twenty_Nine the bank crashed overnight making lots of people lose their fortunes and letting go of their staff. Luckily Lyman and his wife Martha were okay due to an inheritance of Martha's but many weren't. Two weeks later Lyman quit work  because of his clients even though Marhta thought it was cowardly and even stated so in a letter to Min's aunt and Flora and Ruby's great-great aunt in WELCOME TO CAMDEN FALLS. Lyman and Martha let go of their staff to save money including Mary Wololsey's mother Letticia. Lyman died in 1964 but Mary recieved checks of money until 1966 which was a mystery until book 4 BEST FRIENDS when it turned out Mary's father after leaving her at the age of two sent her the checks rather than Lyman. Martha and Lyman moved to Florida in their late years and Marhta lived for more than twenty years after Lyman's death. Mrs. Fitzpatrick a lady who Mary suggested that Flora interveiw for her town history project

Hardships And Changes
Flora had a fairly easy life until her parents Frannie and Mr. Northrop died and her first real hardship was in book 1 WELCOME TO CAMDEN FALLS as she was learning to escape greif and pain and move on to a different type of life with her grandmother Min aand with out her parents. Later in books 2 and 3 NEEDLE AND THREAD and TIS THE SEASON  having Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas without her parents as well as missing other traditions and fun things about the way her old life used to be. Flora also feels bitter in the book NEEDLE AND THREAD because Ruby regains full joy so quickly with starring in The Witches of Camden Falls for the 350th party later to happen in book 4 BEST FRIENDS and Ruby is also in a choir and takes dance. Flora's next hardships were in books 6 and 7 SEPTEMBER SURPRISES and KEEPING SECRETS  as she becomes a tween and feels like she is outgrowing Halloween and soon would get  bras and slowly hse and her friends would grow up. Flora and Ruby in the tenth and last book STAYING TOGETHER discuss how someties they want their lives to go back to the way they were two years earlier but then think about how full and satisfactory their lives are now and think about how sad and heartbroken they were when they first moved to Camden Falls. Flora realizes she wants her life to stay the way it is.

Connections to the main characters from the babysitters club and a little about Ann M Martin
The author of Main Street Ann M Martin also wrote another seires called The Babysitters Club which used to be very popular and now this is a comparison of Flora and a  the main characters in THE BABYSITTERS CLUB. If you compared Flora to any of the main characters she would be the most like Mary Anne and maybe a little like Claudia and also slightly like Mallory. Flora is like Mary Anne because she likes mellow and quiet activities an children she is also shy like Mary Anne and greatly fears being the center of attention and both have a hard time at the idea of acting. Mary Ann also likes to knit like Flora  and Mary Anne's friendship with Claudia's grandmother Mimi in the babysitters club is similar to Flora's with Mary Woolsey except Mimi is not a recluse unlike Mary and Mary Anne was never scared of Mimi unlike Flora was with Mary until she really and comfortably got to know her in book 2 NEEDLE AND THREAD. Ann M Martin the author states that she  was like Flora and Mary Anne as a little girl while her sister Jane was like Ruby. Flora is like Mallory because they both like to read although Mallory mainly likes to read horse stories and Flora mainly likes to read more complex books and she does not write stories unlike Mallory but they both like arts and crafts sometimes. Flora is like Claudia because she is very creative (Mallory is also creative and likes children) and Claudia will occasionally read but only Nancy Drew books.

Welcome to Camden Falls
In the book Welcome to Camden Falls, Flora has just ended fifth grade and will start sixth in the fall. At the beginning of the book, she, Min, Ruby, King Comma, and Daisy Dear are in Min's car on the way to Flora's new home in Camden Falls. Flora is afraid that she won't like it in Camden Falls. The book focuses on Flora's pain slowly going away as she and Ruby learn about Camden Falls the summer they move there and their getting to know Olivia and Nikki. Flora thinks of her mom and dad in many ways and misses them a lot. Things go pretty well until Min breaks her arm one Saturday evening. When the Edwardeses who are her neighbors drive Min, Ruby and Flora to the hospital Flora thinks about how Min immeadiatly stepped in to take care of Flora and Ruby when their parents died but what if Min had died and who would take care of them. She thinks about this until a Row House barbecue when she and Ruby observe their teenage neighbor Lydia Malone acting suspiciously. Later after Nikki is accused by Mrs. Grindle the irritable owner of Stuff and Nonsense of steeling a necklace the grls start to figure out Lydia is a shoplifter. One day Ruby sees Lydia in a nail polish store take an expensive bottle of polish she tells her friends and Min and Gigi. Ruby and Flora eaves drop on a conversation between Min Gigi and Dr. Malone they can't hear anything Flora finds her mother's old diary after weeks of looking for interesting things in Min's Attic.

Flora is is happy and sad at the same time but as she reads the diary she thinks it is funny and starts to learn more about her family. The book ends with Flora, Nikki and Olivia learning their teacher is Mrs. Mandel the nicest in the school.

Needle and Thread
In the book Needle and Thread, Flora is about to start sixth grade in Camden Falls Elementary and is nervous about it. At Halloween, she goes trick-or-treating as the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz. Ruby is Dorothy, Olivia is the Tin Man, and Nikki was going to be the Cowardly Lion, but her father wouldn't let her go at the last minute. At Thanksgiving, Flora, Ruby, and Min are going to go away for a few days, but then they invite Mr. Willet and Olivia's family to Thanksgiving dinner and have a Row House potluck dinner.

Tis the Season
The book begins with a surprised but jovial Flora as she sees the pretty decorations with Ruby along Main Street one evening in December. Later in Needle and Thread Flora learns from Min that they have Christmas workshops.

Flora is excited with getting presents for Mae, the Needle and Thread workshops,Camden Falls festivals and her history project but sad that her parents are deceasced and there will be no more christmases with them in their old house. Although it hurts with out her mom and dad Flora remides herself to enjoy this christmas as well.

Flora's aunt Allie comes to visit Min's house for christmas that year although Min usually goes to New York to visit Allie. Flora is excited for Allie's visit and then dashed when Allie is being rude, stiff and disconected with Min, Flora and Ruby. Later on Christmas Eve Flora realizes her aunt although cold misses her mother to as they read Min's copy of THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS.

The book ends at a new years eve slumber party as the girls make there resolutions.

Best Friends
Spring has arrived in Camden Falls and Flora is excited and very content with the town's 350's birthday celebration and fair, her history project and that her best friend from her old town Annika Lindgren will visit when the parties take place in Camden Falls. Flora has started intervewing people for her history project including Mrs. Jacob Fitzpatrick, Mr. Pennington her neighbor and other elderly people. Olivia is anxious and jealous at the fact Annika will visit Flora and Ruby being Flora's old best friend and Ruby's friend. Flora and Ruby think about fun times with Annika making Olivia even more irritated. Flora also takes up sewing costumes for the parade on Main Street. After Annika arrives thing are frosty between Flora, Annika and Olivia and Flora is frustrated that she only won second place in the children's division of the history projects. The tension between Flora and Olivia is making Nikki confused about what's going on with her friends. The next day at the fair Flora, Olivia, Nikki and Annika talk about their problems with eachother. It turns out Annika was jealous of Olivia, Olivia was jealious of Annika, Flora wanted things to be perfect for Annika and that's why she was upset when she won only second place for her project and Nikki was just puzzled about the problem. The girls later enjoy the fair together and Olivia and Annika open up to one another.

Ruby also dose a wonderful job as Alice Kendall.

The Secret Book Club
THE SECRET BOOK CLUB starts out with Flora, Ruby and Min on a Friday morning in summer going to Needle and Thread for the day when they find mysterious packages that say Flora, Ruby, Olivia Nikki on them. Flora and Ruby are confused and curious about who sent them but Min seems to act casual about them. Flora paitently calls Olivia and Nikki and waits for them to arrive but Ruby is impaitient and wants to open them immideatly. When all the girls are present they open the packages and find THE SATURDAYS by Elizabeth Enright and MRS. FRISBY AND THE RATS OF NIMH as well as a letter welcoming them to the book club and explaining activities that will follow the books. Flora who loves to read and do quiet activities is excited and hops in to THE SATURDAYS but Ruby who dosen't read very often starts much later. Flora also offers for Ruby to come read their mother's diary but Ruby says she is busy really being afraid to read it. Flora often gets annoyed at Ruby for being so far behind in the first two books. When the girls start to read ROLL OF THUNDER HEAR MY CRY they think a lot about racisim and how Olivia is black and how this makes the main character Cassie diffrent from her wite neighbors. They visit a lady named Mrs. Angrim whose house used to be part of the underground railroad and plant a garden with their neighbor Mr. Pennington because Cassie lives on a farn in the book. Flora and Nikki are invited to a pool party by a rich girl at school named Tanya Rhodes but Olivia isn't. Ruby wonders if this is because racisim but Tanya is half African-American half Janpnese so it is prbably because Olivia skipperd a grade and Tanya thinks Olivia is too nerdy. Flora and Nikki feel badly about going but Olivia makes them. Next is their first brave Saturday and the girls still don't know who their mystrey leader is or what gender. Flora is very proud at having held a snake, Ruby finds out her mother's diary is enjoyable not painful, Nikki writes a letter of anger to her father. Olivia invites Tanya and her best friend Melody to invite them to a party at Sincerely Yours her parent's store. The girls read A SUMMER OF SWANS and UNDERSTOOD BETSY while trying to find out who their mystery leader is and even sending Nikki to look for he of she in Needle and thread they don't find her and get suspicios their parents know who it is. After they finished UNDERSTOOD BETSY Min and Aunt Allie take them to a town called Sands Point and the girls think about UNDERSTOOD BETSY as well as learning Aunt Allie was their leader. The girls decide to continue the Saturday adventures and Ruby and Flora start to feel more open to their aunt.

September Surprises
Summer is coming to a close for Flora, Ruby Olivia and Nikki as well as ending with a bang  after Nelson Day which was a good deed Ruby did for her new friend Hilary and her family. Flora and Nikki are looking foreward to their tour and first day at Camden Falls Central High but Olivia refuses to look foreward to it because she has always been the youngest person in her grade and now might be the youngest in the whole school. Ruby taunted the girls for having three days less vacation time than her. Flora, Nikki and Olivia sit by themselves for the first week or so due to discomfort and change which they all have a hard time with. One night Flora thinks about how the girls are growing up and soon will start wearing bras, dating and take drivers lessons as well as be too old for trick or treating. School changes aren't the only things that are going on in their lives: Mr. Willet is  moving away, Min and Mr. Pennington begin to go steady and Flora starts to work at Three Oaks where Mrs. Willet lives and babysits little Grace Fong. As the girls start to make friends and sit with other kids they start a book club and a new problem arises. Olivia gains a boyfriend named Jacob and Melody a mean girl at school gets jealous of her for Melody also likes Jacob. Melody begins to make Olivia do all her homework for her or give her the answers to tests and reports. Olivia listens to Melody while Flora, Nikki and even Ruby try to stop her after two events where Melody is present. Finally Olivia promises to stop letting Melody cheat on her by no longer answering Melody's phone calls or not giving her report facts. Olivia's locker is broken but she makes a big show of opening it and closind so Melody won't break in. The plan dosn't work and Flora, Olivia and Nikki start to feel grim about Olivia turning in a sience asingnment but Olivia finally tell her teacher she can't find it. A few days after the stealing incident the girls decide to get back at Melody. At school Olivia puts a copy of a math test with almost all the wrong answers in it in Melody's locker. Later after the test Olivia gets an A and Melody gets a D including a talk with Mr. Krauss the math teacher. Flora and her friends now enjoy book club and the rest of school without pressure including becoming friends with Mr. Barnes the english teacher and book club leader whowe see his point of veiw sometimes.

Keeping Secrets
Flora, Ruby, Olivia and Nikki often wonder who will move into the second row house where Mr. Willet no longer resides and soon learn a girl their age named Willow Hamilton, her brother Cole and their parents will occupi the house. Flora and her friends are excited because now they can do fun things with Willow like go to College Pizza and sew at Needle and Thread. Willow often seems resistant to do those things with them perhaps because her mom might have obsesive compulsive disorder and has weird rules about what Willow can do and can't do. Willow dosn't tell the girls what goes on with her mom and makes up excuses or changes the subject when Flora asks about her and what was going on. Other row house residents get supicious as well including Min when Mrs. Hamilton calls at five A. M. one morning. Flora invites Cole to walk Bessie the Hamilton's dog in a dog parade Nikki planned for Sheltering arms and Mrs. Hamilton tearily says no. Willow sneaks off to book club at school one afternoon because she is interested in reading and knows her mom won't permit her she also sneaks to the Halloween dance and that's when Flora, Olivia and Nikki's suspicions arouse. Jacob asks Olivia if Willow has a father Olivia says of course she dose. A few weeks later when Mrs. Hamilton is taking Cole out for a hair cut Flora asks Willow if she can see her house on the inside to tell Mr. Willet about it next time she visits Three Oaks. Flora notices the house is very clean without dusballs, the siverware is upside down and that the shades were still down from the day the Hamiltons moved.

When Cole and Mrs. Hamilton come home Mrs. Hamilton asks Flora if she taped a vase in the foyer when she entered, Flora anxiouly says no and promises to do it as she leaves but Mrs. Hamilton throws an min-fit and says it is too late Willow says she taped it. Flora is desperate to tell Min what happend when she gets home. Unfortunatly Ruby is cooking a romantic dinner for Min and Mr. Pennington as a surprise Flora helps her and they have a good evening until they hear sirens. The sirens were the ambulence coming to take Mrs. Hamilton away because of an emergency. All the Row House neighbors are aroused and wonder what happend. Willow shakily tells Min the story about how Cole wanted to play games on his computor  and closed his door. Due to a new rule that all the doors must be opened at a nintey degree angle Mrs. Hamilton threw a fit and couldn't be calmed down even by Mr. Hamilton. They stay with Min that night to recover while their dad spends the night at the mental hospital and the girls talk about Willow's life with her mom and how the family will be doing as well as her dad spending more time at home. Things will be happier in the Hamilton home and Flora is reilieved to know more nabout Willow. Flora, Nikki Olivia and Ruby enjoy a shopping day out at a mall and a local town because they rarely have time for just the four of them now.

Special Delivery
The book starts out with Flora curled up in bed enjoying the heavenly peace of Sunday morning after the girl's mall day out. Aunt Allie rings the door bell about five minutes later making Flora, Ruby and Min all worry about what could be wrong. The news turns out to be Allie is going to adopt a little girl from an expectant young couple who are too poor to take care of the baby. The reason Allie is adopting is because she has wanted to be a mother really badly and  she is snigle and her uterus can't carry children. Allie is going to stay at her friends Debbie and David's apartment for a week to wait for the baby. Ruby is envious that Allie is going to stay in New York for a week and Flora irritably corrects her that Allie used to live in New York and she focuses excitedly on the baby. Flora starts to sew excitedly for the baby's arrival but constantly worries that Mrs. Prescott the lady incharge of the adoption center will call to say the expectant child's birth parents will call to say they want their daughter after all. Meanwhile Olivia ponders over the love of her and Jacob and Nikki and her sister Mae are busy with charity to others for Thanksging as they used to be relativly poor and reicieved turkies from lolcal charities. We also hear Allie pondering over a relantionship with her ex-boyfriend Paul and how their love ended so suddenly and their plans to adopt together failed. Allie also states she wants to be a mother badly having wanted to since she was a very little girl. Allie also spends time walking around the shops in New York especially Lord and Taylor to admire the decorations. Ruby is buisily working on a job she created calling herself the doer of unpleasant jobs which is cleaning for people or other annoying things so she can buy a present for the baby. Ruby also forgets to practice her solos for her Thanksgiving choir concert after bragging about them and her solo in the christmas concert. Finally Ruby blows it before the audience and scrambles before Ms. Angelo her teacher can talk to her. The next day Ruby is still upset about the concert and pouts until Min, Flora and Ruby reach the train station and Flora sharply tells her that she asked for the trip in the first place and Min is taking time off from work just to do this and Ruby and Flora are so surprised by those words of sharpness that they both feel better. Flora, Ruby, Min and Allie have a good time in New York going to central park, eating fancy food and seeing a show which makes Ruby pensive as she thinks about being more polite and responsible or she'll have a hard time as an actress just one of the characters. As they get ready to go home Flora is still annoyed with Ruby for not once mentioning the baby and only really caring about the sights and sounds. Ruby tells Flora that she dose care about the baby but didn't want to mention how Allie would be going home with out the baby and would have to wait until nearly christmas before talking her home. The baby is named Jane Marie being a girl and Ruby is dissapointed that it wasn't a boy who they colud have named Douglass and yet is excited that Jane Marie has both Ruby and Flora's middle names. Flora, Ruby and Min as well as everybody from the Row Houses help plan a surprise baby shower for Allie when she and Jane Marie come home. The book ends with the sweet christmas air coming in Camden Falls. Their is also news that Mr. Sherman will see his family one more time before getting divorced to Mrs. Sherman and everybody is anxious that Nikki will be okay.

COMING APART

So far things are a little shaky because the news hangs in the air that Nikki's father will return to the Sherman home one last time. Flora and Olivia are anxious for their friend and yet are occupied with their own lives. Nikki's anxitey is not the only event but Olivia feels strain in the idea of develpoing a romantic relantion ship with Jacob including simply calling eachother boyfriend and girlfriend.

STAYING TOGETHER

Ruby Northrop
Ruby Northrop, Flora's younger sister, is almost the opposite of Flora in personality. They argue a lot, but most of the time it is over nothing. While Flora is patient and quiet, Ruby is impatient and talkative.Usually, the sisters are very close.Flora and Ruby have a huge argument in COMING APART, when Ruby is bored and goes through Min's drawers, she breaks a crystal owl.When Flora finds out, the girls fight.They make up in STAYING TOGETHER, and Flora and Ruby promise that they will always be there for eachother. Ruby and Flora clung to one another in WELCOME TO CAMDEN FALLS when Frannie and Mr. Northrop their parents had died. Flora and Ruby marvel at how their mother and Aunt Allie never spoke to eachother in TIS THE SEASON wile they are teo of eachother's best friends.

MIN READ

Min who is Flora's grandma has always been close to eachother both having a passion for sewing. Min and Flora are seen sometimes talking about how they like to remember when they were younger or what has changed. Min and Flora rarely argue with eachother. Once Min got annoyed with Flora when Flora rudley dumped some of her eggs on Ruby's plate during the fight in COMING APART and that was one of the only times Min scolded Flora. Min and Flora taught a couple of classes together for sewing including at Three Oaks. Flora often checks in with Min before asking something that she thinks or is tactless or wanting something.

OLIVIA WALTER

Olivia and Flora are two of eachothers best friends and are very close and they are both happy, sweet people but Flora thought at the beginning of book 4 BEST FRIENDS thinks about how hard it is to muster up excitmnt like Olivia dose over mammals called Fishers of how many birds inhabited north america and even fought about it later in BEST FRIENDS when Olivia was feeling sore about the arrival of Flora's best friend from her old town Annika that Flora also gets overly excited about sewing later being calmed by Nikki. Olivia often doesn't feel good about herself when she is left out of something by the cool kids but Flora and Nikki remind her to feel fine about the way she is even through some arguing.

NIKKI SHERMAN

Nikki is also one of Flora's best friends and Nikki and Flora never fought of fight through out the seiires except before they became friends in WELOCOME TO CAMDEN FALLS when Nikki, Flora, Olivia and Ruby first meet in Needle and Thread during a sewing class the girls have a lot of arguments and fights until they pull together to stop Lydia Malone from becoming more of a cleptomaniac than she is. Flora, Olivia and Nikki and their new friend Willow like to spend a lot of time together in the second half of the seiries and just talk. Nikki, Olivia and Flora are all part of the book club for seventh graders that they'd helped create with Jacob, Olivia and Claudette who are in their classes and Jacob is Olivia's boyfriend.

ALLIE READ

Allie Read is Flora's aunt and they get along reasonably well. At first Flora was annoyed that Allie was distant and slightly cold tward her and Ruby in TIS THE SEASON and espescially after she bought her a beaded oen she thought Allie would like but then told Ruby that maybe she'd bought it for nothing if Allie "WAS SO CONCERNED ABOUT HER COMPUTOR". Later Allie bought something Flora would like for Christmas but Flora had the feeling Min helped Allie pick it out but was still happy anyway. In book 5 THE SECRET BOOK CLUB Flora, Ruby and Allie become closer to one another after they find out that Allie was their mystery leader. Later in books 9 and 10 after Allie became the adoptive mother of Janie Flora loved babysitting for Janie and was sad when Allie said she didn't need her as much.

"I GOT HER A BEADED PEN BUT I GUESS SHE WON'T NEED IT IF SHE'SO CONCERNED ABOUT HER COMPUTOR"- Flora to Ruby about meeting Aunt Allie in TIS THE SEASON.

MARY WOOLSEY

Mary Woolsey and Flora are special friends and Mary helped Flora collect town history in books 3 and 4 TIS THE SEASON and BEST FRIENDS for the town's 350th celebration. At first Flora was scared of Mary due to a legend Olivia told her in book 1 WELCOME TO CAMDEN FALLS that Mary was an old lady who due to being a recluse kept a child hidden in her basement, had hidden tresure and was dangerous. Mary a a part-time worker at Needle and Thread who mends people's clothes. Mary is a quiet, shy lady but when she and Flora properly meet at Mary's house in book 2 NEEDLE AND THREAD and after a starained nevous hello Flora blurts to Mary that she'd seen her in a picture with her mother over the summer and had origionally thought it was Min's sister Mary Elizabeth but recognized the necklace Mary wore and realized it was Mary's. They become friends and Flora likes to visit Mary's house.