

Lalla and Harriet go for a holiday together with their families and they talk about their futures. But when Lalla hears that Harriet is seriously ill, she faints and later explains how nervous, miserable and guilty she feels.

Distraught, Harriet pretends to once again be ill while she decides what to do.
Lalla becomes jealous of Harriet and tells her that if she takes and passes her next skating test, Lalla will tell her aunt that she does not want Harriet to have lessons with her any more. Lalla, on the other hand, is much more of a performer than a figure skater and starts to have trouble with various figures she needs to learn for tests. Harriet soon shows herself to be a talented skater, and she starts to take, and pass, the same skating tests that Lalla does. Harriet and Lalla soon become friends and as Harriet is still not well enough for school, it is arranged that she will share Lalla's governess and her various dance and fencing lessons. When she gets to the rink Harriet meets Lalla Moore, a young skater who has been training since she was three years old Lalla's parents were killed in a skating accident, and her Aunt Claudia is determined that Lalla will be the greatest figure skater in the world. Harriet Johnson has been ill and her doctor arranges for her to take up ice skating in order to build strength in her legs. White Boots tells the story of a poor girl and a rich girl who meet as a result of figure skating and is the tale of their unlikely friendship. The book was published under the title Skating Shoes in the US, also in 1951. It was first published by Collins publishers in 1951. White Boots is a children's novel by Noel Streatfeild.
