Dolphin Summer is the fourteenth book in the Romney Marsh series of novels by Monica Edwards

Monica Edwards

Monica Edwards was an English children's writer of the mid-twentieth century best known for her Romney Marsh and Punchbowl Farm series of children's novels.-Early life:...

, published in 1963 by Collins

HarperCollins

HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...

. Once again Tamzin finds an animal in need of rescue. This time it is a dolphin

Dolphin

Dolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in 17 genera. They vary in size from and , up to and . They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly eating...

 which appears in Dunsford Bay one hot summer. Tamzin conspires with the other children and Jim Decks to prevent a Sea Life Centre from capturing Simo, the dolphin. Unexpectedly, Hookey Galley reveals a compassionate side to his character and it is through an unlikely acquaintance of his that the story reaches its resolution.

Monica Edwards embroidered a church kneeler with a leaping dolphin on it for her local cathedral after this book was published.

Blurb from First Edition

Dolphins leaping off the Sussex coast were a sight indeed, and when Jim Decks took Tamzin and Meryon out in his old fishing smack one of them in particular seemed to take a fancy to the boat and its occupants. Later, when Tamzin and Rissa went out for a midnight swim, could it have been the same dolphin who rescued Tamzin and bore her to the shore when she was pulled under by the current? Tamzin had no doubts at all, and when they went down to the beach the next day there she was again leaping and playing round them. Soon the papers heard of Tamzin and her dolphin, and soon too, trippers were descending in hordes on the little town of Westling, all eager to see for themselves.
But such bliss could not last for ever, and the dolphin suddenly was in terrible danger. Could they save her from being captured and taught to perform in an Aqua-circus? It looked impossible—for after all anyone can fish in the sea.
Monica Edwards' new Romney Marsh story is as delightful as any of the earlier books and will be warmly welcomed by her readers.

Subsequent editions

• Armada paperback - 1966 (abridged)
• Hawthorn (USA) American hardback edition - Spring 1971
• Girls Gone By Publishers
  Girls Gone By Publishers
  Girls Gone By Publishers is a publishing company run by Clarissa Cridland and Ann Mackie-Hunter and is based in Bath, Somerset. They re-publish new editions of some of the most popular girls' fiction titles from the twentieth century.-Elinor Brent-Dyer:...
  
  reprint of original - 2009