Make-Believe Daughter - a Mystery Featuring the Three Matildas

I remember growing up and seeing various Whitman books on the shelves at K-Mart and Kresge and Woolworth's, and I always thought they were sub-par books, not at the same level as series books, such as Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, etc.  It seemed to me (as a kid, anyway) that the quality of the Whitman books were not as high as those from Grosset & Dunlap.  As an adult, however, my views on this have changed.  I have come to realize that while Whitman may have used lesser quality paper, and they may not have offered series with the longevity of Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys; yet, I've been finding in recent years that the stories are actually not bad at all - in some instances, equal to, or even superior to, some of those Grosset & Dunlap series!  Now, that being said, this particular book is one I passed on many times when I saw it in antique malls and used book stores.  One day, though, I happened across a copy of the book in excellent condition, with a tight binding, and for a relatively inexpensive price, so I thought - why not?

 

Make-Believe Daughter does not sound like the title to a mystery; and, although it is tagged as a mystery on the cover (in two places: along the top, it says "A Whitman Mystery," while under the title, it says "A Mystery Featuring THE THREE MATILDAS"), the story itself does not have much of a mystery to it - in fact, the first hint of the mystery does not come into play until after page 100!  The first half of the book reads more like a "malt-shop" story, as readers are introduced to Matilda Sterling - a young girl who lives in an apartment building over Brackenbat's International Restaurant in New York City.  She lives with her parents, and the older couple who run the restaurant (who live in the apartment just above the restaurant, while Matilda and her parents live in the apartment above that) are "Uncle" Tor and "Aunt" Alma.  They allow Matilda - or Tilda, as she is called - to stay in the restaurant and do homework every day after school until her parents get home from work.  Tilda's one wish is that she had friends in her area with whom she could hang out.  Sadly, Tor and Alma Brackenbat have no children, nor does Louis Confrere, the single French man who lives in the apartment above Tilda's family.  The top floor apartment is empty, and Tilda believes it is haunted, the way people move in and out so quickly.

 

The story begins with Mr. Confrere's dilemma - he has told his aunt, his only living relative who still lives in France, that he is married and has a daughter named Matilda.  A daughter the same age as and who looks just like Tilda!  This would not be a problem, except Aunt Therese is now coming for a visit and wants to meet his daughter!  Tilda rather likes the idea of pretending to be the Frenchman's make-believe daughter, but her parents are not amenable to the lie.  And that's when we, the readers, meet the second Matilda - also known as Mat.  The young girl is there in the restaurant when Tilda comes running in from the rain after school.  Tilda quickly learns that the girl has been raised in the circus, where her father worked until he died.  The circus fortune teller dropped her off at the international restaurant, and when she does not come back, Mat gives Uncle Tor a letter that reveals the fortune teller has no intention of coming back, asking the bearer of the letter to take Mat in and give the young girl a proper life!  Of course, Tor and Alma readly agree to take her in, and Tilda is thrilled to have a girl her own age in the building.  It seems things are working out for the girls ...

 

Enter: the red-headed Matilda!  Before you can blink an eye, a new family is moving into that top-floor apartment.  Big Chief, the huge red-headed man who is an artist, with his son, Genius (not his real name, nor does it accurately describe his intelligence, or lack thereof!), his wife (called nothing more than "Mother"), and Red-Top, which is the third Matilda's nickname.  An unusual family, but Red-Top just happens to be the same age as the other two Matildas, and as such, the Three Matildas are formed!

 

The book merely follows the day-to-day lives and adventures of the three Matildas until Aunt Therese arrives.  It is while at the docks where the huge boat has brought Mr. Confrere's aunt and many other travelers that the mystery begins.  Tilda notices a man in a grey suit appears to be following Aunt Therese, and while she does not like his face, nor the smell of his suit (she eventually realizes it is the smell of mothballs!), she keeps her concerns to herself, as the families welcome Aunt Therese into their building.  Tilda might have forgotten about the man, except she sees him again in the Brackenbat International Restaurant the same night a dinner party is thrown in celebration of Aunt Therese's arrival.  She soon forgets about him, though, as summer vacation begins, and the three Matildas explore New York City with their new "aunt."  A decision is eventually made to take a three-week trip in August across the United States, and it is during that trip that the mystery man makes more appearances, and the actual mystery starts to develop.  But, if you are expecting to have any idea what the mystery actually is, don't get your hopes up.  The actual mystery is revealed in the last two chapters, and it is so quick, you might miss it if you blink!  It's rather a shame we did not get any kind of hint as to the mystery earlier in the story, as it might have actually made it a bit less out of left-field. 

 

One aspect of the book I did rather enjoy was the distinctly different characteristics for each of the Three Matildas.  Tildy, with the light brown hair, was the more curious one; Mat, with the black hair and big hoop earrings, was the serious one; and Red-Top, with the red hair and jump rope, was the playful one.  Each was her own individual, and they actually complemented one another within the context of the story, thus making a simple story more interesting than it otherwise could have been. 

 

The author is Laura W. Douglas, and I'm not sure if this is a real person or a pseudonym (although I'm leaning toward a real person).  What I was surprised to discover, when I went searching for information on Ms. Douglas, is that she authored a book I already have in my possession, The Mystery at Crooknose.   That particular book is aimed at an older audience than this one.  I also found she wrote a third book titled The Mystery of Arrowhead Hill, which I do not have - but which I plan to hunt down and buy.  Both Crooknose and Arrowhead were published in various formats, including paperbacks under Airmont's "Mystery House" banner.  There were no other "Three Matilda" books published, which is rather a shame, as this one ends with Big Chief making an announcement that clearly was intended to be a set up for a second book (and a story that I would have loved to have read!).

 

The illustrations in the book are by Al Fiorentino, who was a talented painter / artist who received his training at the Museum of School Art in Philadelphia.  He worked as a commercial illustrator before becoming freelance in 1960.  A number of children's books containing his art can be found on eBay or other sites.  His work on Make-Believe Daughter is very well done, each illustration being careful to fully depict the scenes from the book down to some of the smallest details (such as Mat's dog stretching its front legs as the girl is getting acquainted with her new room in Tor and Alma's apartment).  A great choice of artist for this book!

 

RATING:  8 white mice rescued from a garbage can out of 10 for a uniquely fun concept that definitely deserved more than just one book!

Trappers of Venus - the Fourth Dig Allen Space Explorer Adventure

Four books in, and this one, by far, is the best one yet!  I was actually caught by surprise as to how much I really enjoyed this story.  The author, Joseph Greene, has definitely got a much stronger feel for his main characters in this book, and he focuses less on back story and more on the actual adventure, which starts right on page one.  This is the second of Greene's planet-hopping books, with the previous one taking Dig and his friends to Jupiter - now they head to Venus, before journeying to Saturn in the fifth book and Uranus in the sixth, and final, book in the series.  With each book better than the last, I can only imagine just how good the stories will be in the last two entries.

 

Trappers of Venus begins with Dig sneaking out for a clandestine meeting with an unknown person (well, unknown to the reader, anyway). Once meeting his contact, Chips, Dig learns he has been asked by an old space pirate friend of his to assist a trapper from Venus named Tim Buckle.  Dig saves Tim's life, after they find him attacked by some hunters, but Tim turns out to be far from grateful.  As Dig is getting ready to blast off, taking Tim back to Venus, Tim wakes up and takes over the ship, blasting off with too much speed and force, sending them way off course!   Dig manages to gain Tim's trust and gets the ship back on track, learning that he, as a Space Explorer, needs to help Tim and his friends on Venus protect the lives of an indigenous species known as the Kohoolies.

 

Meanwhile, twin brothers Ken and Jim Barry are visiting their father on the asteroid science center, where they meet the business man, Linton Wells, and his prideful, egotistical son, Chuck.  It seems Wells needs some Space Explorers to come to Venus with him to determine that an indigenous species there is nothing more than another animal species, not as intelligent as man, and therefore open for hunting.  The brothers, while not particularly liking Wells and his son, see no issue with going to Venus to make a determination of the alien species' level of intelligence and humanity, so that a report can be made to the scientists who will give authorization for hunting or protection of the animals.

 

Can you see where this is headed?

 

Greene goes beyond just your typical adventure story with good guys vs. bad guys.  In addition to that, we get the misunderstandings that cause a rift between Did and the Barry brothers; we get the mystery surrounding the Kohoolies and whether they are intelligent life forms; we get the question of who are the real good guys and who are the real bad guys; we get some very intense life-and-death scenarios; and we get a story of real redemption for one, if not two, of the characters in the tale.  There is a strong human nature element to the story that causes you to suspend your disbelief over the idea that Venus no only has a breathable atmosphere for humans, but also has a thriving planet of fauna and life forms.  In reality, we know its closeness to the sun would prohibit life as we know it; but hey, this book was published back in 1961, back before man ever actually reached the moon and not long after all of those wacky space films from the '50s. 

 

The rotation of artists for this series continues with this book.  Walter Dey, who provided both the cover and interior art for the third book returns to provide the cover art for this book.  Honestly, the art is not quite as crisp and defined as his cover for Journey to Jupiter was, but it is definitely superior to that of the second book.  The interior illustrations, however, are provided by Charles Beck - who, as it turns out, was an artist for Fawcett Comics, illustrating the first Captain Marvel (a/k/a Shazam!) stories!  When he severed his ties with Fawcett, Beck moved for Florida, where he became a freelance illustrator.  This was the only book in the series that Beck illustrated.  (One disappointing thing I have noticed about this series is that the further it goes, the less interior illustrations each book seems to have!)

 

The back cover for this book (my copy, at least) features the same design as that on my copy of the first book; however, my copy of Venus is obviously an earlier printing that my copy of Forgotten Star, as the series all list fewer books than the earlier novel - and Vicky Loring is listed as "Coming Soon" rather than the three titles shown on the first book.  

 

This book definitely cemented my enjoyment of this series, and I'm now really looking forward to the last two books.

 

RATING:  9 deadly scorpion lizards out of 10 for science fiction, space adventure with a strong dose of human drama and good vs. evil! 

Mary Worth: 1943 Career Girl Drama - a Blackthorne Publishing Collection

Anyone that has ever read the "funny pages" from a newspaper is more than likely familiar with the name Mary Worth. The name is pretty much synonymous with the soap-opera-style comic strips, such as Rex Morgan, M.D. and Apartment 3-G, among others.  The strip began in 1938, although sources indicate the strip started even earlier than that in a previous incarnation as "Apple Mary," which had its beginnings in 1934.  "Apple Mary" was a strip created by Martha Orr, with art and lettering by Dale Conner and Ruth Belew, respectively.  When Orr left the strip in 1941, and this is when Allen Saunders took over the writing, and Ken Ernst came in to take over the art.  By 1940, the strip was already using "Mary Worth's Family" as a subtitle, and when Saunders and Ernst took over, it eventually transitioned to simply Mary Worth.  There is, of course, disputes regarding whether "Apple Mary" really was a precursor to Mary Worth, but respected sources, including Saunders himself, indicated it was.

 

In 1986, Blackthorne Publishing was doing a number of collection of comic strips under the "Comic-Strip Preserves" banner, including Betty Boop, Brenda Starr Reporter, and others.  One of those was Mary Worth, with, unfortunately, only had this one book.  Labeled a "1943 career girl drama," the book features a storyline that ran from October 1943 through April 1944.  A number of things surprised me about the strips as I sat down to read them.  First, the name of the strip alternates between "Mary Worth's Family" and simply "Mary Worth."  Second, and probably most surprising, is the fact that the title character actually features very little in this story!  She plays heavily in the first few strips, as she heads to Elm City where Bill Biff is to have found them a place to live, and she shows up in the last few panels to bid some of the major characters farewell, as two of them head out on military duty.  Otherwise, she is only seen in a few strips, and usually those scenes are simply as a plot device to move the characters in a certain direction!  This is a far cry from the strip I remember glancing out now and again as I was growing up, where the elderly woman was always sticking her nose into everyone's business and offering advice, whether it was solicited or not!

 

This sixth month tale is, in reality, the story of Gypsy Monez, a professional dancer from New York City.  She happens to be on the same train as Mary Worth, and she sneaks into Mary's cabin, asking her to hide her from the men that are looking for her.  Mary (and the reader) knows there is more to the story, so it goes without saying that Mary helps her sneak off the train at Elm City.  Mary opens up her new home to the young actress (over the objections of Bill Biff, who is upset to be put out of his own room!).  Soon enough, Gypsy is directing the charity benefit to support the war effort - there is only one catch - she must use the chairwoman's son in the leading role!  Gypsy is unsure until she meets the boy, who turns out to be a handsome young man.  The two quickly hit it off, but as with any good story there's a snag.  An unscrupulous man discovers by accident the secret Gypsy is keeping from everyone and threatens to expose her if she does not date him instead.  As her feelings for Bud (the chairwoman's son) grow stronger, she eventually walks away from the man blackmailing her - a decision she is sure to regret.

 

The story takes a romantic tangle of a turn when Bud's older brother comes home on leave from his service in the armed forces.  He happens to be on the same train Gypsy is on after spending time in New York City (no, I'm not going to spoil her reasons for being there - let's just say, it has to do with the resolution of the first half of the story), and, of course, the two hit it off, neither suspecting who the other really is.  Once home in Elm City, though, Rick is the one to realize his new love is actually his brother's fiance-to-be.  He tries to bow out, but his feelings for Gypsy and hers for him are too much.  Luckily, another young lady happens to come to town, and she catches Bud's eyes - and with a little help from Mary Worth, the entangled lives become untangled, and we end up with two very happy couples. Well, happy that is, until the final panel, when both Rick and Bud head off into the service for their country!

 

Again, it is odd (to me, at least) that the title character appears so little in the strip.  While I didn't necessarily expect to see her in every panel, I did expect her to have a much larger role than simply an advice giver every couples of weeks or so, and matchmaker for a few strips.  We can't even go so far as to say "Mary Worth's Family" is an appropriate title, since the characters involved in this story are not a part of her family at all.  I am now curious to learn when did Mary Worth take a much more active and consistent role in her own strip? 

 

The art, by Ken Ernst, is enticing, and he gives each of his characters very distinctive looks that make them easy to identify without being named repeatedly.  His rendition of Gyspy is pretty spot on, since she is meant to be a seductive beauty - he even manages to give her clothing that only accentuates her sexy side - when she tries to wear "normal" clothes that would be appropriate in Elm City, it comes across very unnatural.  Unlike Mary Perkins, On Stage (another strip that I have been reading in collected editions),  this strip does not always concern itself with detailed backgrounds; in fact, a number of panels have no backgrounds at all - the characters simply appear against empty space.  This does not detract from the storytelling, though.  In some cases, it actually gives more focus to the character(s) speaking, so the reader is not distracted looking at what is in the background.

 

I will admit - I took a look online to see what the strip looks like today - and it is a FAR CRY from these strips from the 1940s!  While I loved June Brigman's work on Marvel's Power Pack back in the '80s, her work on the current Mary Worth strips does not hold a candle to Saunders' work represented in this collection.  It is a shame no one has collected more of these early years of Mary Worth.   I'm aware there is a mass-market paperback collection out there, as well as a comic collection published by a company called Argo; and there are several issues of a Harvey-published comics; but that is so little compared to eighty years of daily newspaper strips!  Someone needs to get work preserving these strips for future readers!

 

As a side note - I'm not really sure where the "career girl drama" banner on the cover comes from.  Mary Worth is definitely not a career girl, so the only thing I can figure is that it is referring to Gypsy Monez, who settles down in Elm City and opens a fashionable clothing store for the women about town. 

 

RATING:  9 autographed photos of Gyspy Monez out of 10 for an interesting trip back in time to the simpler times of comic strip tales filed with romance, drama, and lessons learned!

Image of Evil - a Dell Gothic

This is a book I specifically hunted down because of the haunting cover.  The lone woman, standing in the swamp in her flowing white dress, with a dark mansion in the background - no light in an upper story window as so many Gothics are wont to do.  The greens and blacks setting the somber mood, the moss hanging from the trees, the moon barely visible in the sky.  To me, this cover screams creepy, and so I had to know if the story could match the horror of the cover art!  Took me a while to track down a copy at a reasonable price, but I finally managed to do so.  The book is written by Rosemary A. Crawford, and from all I can find, this appears to be the author's real name and this book appears to be the only Gothic I can find that she wrote!  If she did write any others, I would sure like to find them, especially if they are as good as this one turned out to be.

 

Image of Evil was first published by Dell in November 1971. The story is told in first-person, from the point-of-view of the main character, Susan (whose name is not actually stated in the book until page 15, when another character finally calls her by her name!), a twenty-three year old clothing designer from New York who comes to Louisiana to meet a family she never knew she had.  After her parents pass, she receives a mysterious letter from one Corinna Hamilton, who claims to be her aunt (her mother's sister).  The woman invites her to come stay at Southern Moon, the Hamilton homestead, and meet the rest of her family - which includes Corinna's two children, Paul Hamilton (a lawyer) and Lacy Hamilton (a spoiled debutante), as well as the brother of Corinna's deceased husband, Cedric Raimond.  Before she can even reach the mansion, which is deep in the Louisiana bayou, she has the misfortune of meeting the deputy sheriff, Billy Ben Curtis, to who she takes an instant dislike (due to his complete lack of manners and unpleasant disposition).  Once at the great house, she meets not only the family, but also the housekeeper, Matilda, and the surly cook, Lucille.  Susan is not overly ecstatic about this sudden appearance of a family she never knew existed, and so she is somewhat reserved when she arrives ... if only she had turned around and left the moment she arrived, perhaps she would not have experienced the terrors she did.  Of course, had she left, then she never would have learned the truth about why her mother left the Hamilton family and never looked back ...

 

I will admit, the story gets off to a somewhat slow start.  Crawford goes back and forth in the first two chapters between the present, as Susan is arriving at Southern Moon (the name of the Hamilton home) and Susan's receipt of her aunt's letter, her meeting with the attorney to learn more about the invitation to Louisiana, and her not-so-great experience on her first entrance into the swampland surrounding the great house. Once all of the backstory is told, Crawford then moves forward in a more normal, linear narrative form.  Susan's first observations of the family are somewhat accurate - Lacy is spoiled and clearly has no interest in knowing her; Paul is a playboy of sorts who takes a shine on her; and Corinna is playing a part, but just what part that is, Susan is unsure.  The only one she feels she can trust is the housekeeper, Miranda, who admits to remembering her mother and slowly, as the story progresses, tells her more and more about Meg Hamilton and why she left the way she did.  Of course, the more she learns about that, the more she learns about Corinna, and the more she begins to realize there is a lot more to this story than she realizes!  Things truly start to come to light when she meets Dr. Clay Foster, a young physician who is treating Miranda's daughter Lillian - and when she tells her new family she has a date with the doctor, she finds they are quite vocal on the matter.  By no means will a Hamilton ever go out with "white trash" like Clay Foster!  This is the beginning of the battle lines being drawn, and soon enough, more truths are revealed about Corinna, about Paul, about Clay, and about Lillian - and about Rosalie, the one no one is allowed to talk about!

 

Crawford build the suspense slowly, but as it rolls along, it gets more and more intense, and as it speeds towards the climax, the terror builds, as Susan finds herself first locked in the attic where Rosalie was hidden away for a number of years, and then ultimately as she runs through the swamps at night, daring to face any danger to escape the evil plans the Hamilton family has in store for her if she were to remain at Southern Moon!  What started out rather uninteresting definitely turns into a page-turner that I could not put down.  

 

The original printing by Dell has full cover art, interrupted only by the title and author's name at the top and bottom, respectively.  However, the book was later reprinted in October 1979 under Dell's "Candlelight Intrigue" banner; while the reprint used the same cover art, it reduced it to just a smaller square under the title and author's name, cutting off portions of the top and bottom of the art, so you do not get the full effect of the image.  Personally, I prefer the full cover printing (which is the version I have).

 

While several blogs and reviews I have read online seem to find this book not overly appealing, I found it to be rather engaging, once you get past the opening sequence.  I would certainly recommend it to those who love a good Gothic read from this time period - and the Louisiana bayou setting is definitely a nice twist to the theme!

 

RATING:  8 extra bolt locks out of 10 for taking our poor heroine through the ringer, with some intensely dangerous moments and a couple of unexpected deaths! 

Snoops, Inc. # 4 - The Vanishing Treasure

This series has been a fun little series of easy reads, with some perfectly plotted mysteries that are aptly suited for the young reader age group at which the books are aimed.  Yes, the stories are short (after all, they are intended for fourth graders - although, honestly, I could have easily read these in third grade, and probably second as well), and there are plenty of fantastic illustrations in each chapter drawn by the extremely talented Mariano Epelbaum; but, quite frankly, if you want a twenty or thirty minute escape from the pressures of real life, these are the perfect go-to books!

 

The Vanishing Treasure is the fourth book in the series, which features the twin crime solving siblings, Hayden and Jaden Williams, with their two best friends, Keisha Turner and Carlos Diaz.  Together, these four are Snoops, Inc. - four junior detectives who are ready, willing, and able to help when needed.  As the tag line reads:  "No case too small ... we solve them all!" As with the previous books, the first chapter opens with the conclusion of a case - in this instance, the Snoops have set a trap to capture a bicycle thief, and their coordinated stake-out results in trapping the culprit when she attempts to steal Jaden's shiny red bike, which was used as bait.  With that case behind them, Hayden is free to focus on her upcoming challenge - the annual Math-tastic Regional Tournament!  About the only mystery there is the identity of Hayden's online friend, with whom she has been chatting about the tournament for weeks.  The two plan to meet for the first time at the tournament, and Hayden could not be more excited!

 

Of course, a real mystery gets in the way when the two Math-tastic trophies - one for the winning team and one for the highest-achieving individual - are both stolen from a locked case in the school lobby.  Hayden calls in the rest of her Snoops team, and they are on the case.  Hayden is concerned that the thief could turn out to be her online friend, who she believes to be Anya, a new contender in the math tournament.  All clues do seem to point to her, but Hayden does not want to believe it.  The culrpit could also be Warren Garvey, the student from Hayden's own school who was disqualified by their teacher for cheating on an exam - and boy, is he angry about not being able to participate!  Can the school win without him?  There's also Newt Loggins, a quiet young boy that does not seem to fit in.  As the saying goes, you can never really tell about the quiet ones!  A crumpled up practice test, some saw dust on the floor around the trophy case, a mask that looks like one of the suspects, and a witness's description of a person fleeing the scene all lead the Snoops to only one conclusion - the wrong one!

 

Author Brandon Terrell creates a fun surprise near the end when he reveals not only the real thief, but also the reason for the theft and the true identity of Hayden's online friend.  It all leads them into the school basement, where they get trapped in the boiler room just minutes before Hayden is supposed to be back on stage for the final math competition.  It's a race against time to get Hayden back in the competition and stop the trophy thief before he pulls off one final steal!

 

Enjoyed Terrell's side-story about Jaden's attempts to learn how to perform magic tricks.  Sure, he may have been bumbling around in the beginning, but those tricks turn out to be very important when the kids are locked in the boiler room - a well-placed subplot that seemed to have no importance whatsoever actually worked right into the main mystery quite nicely.  Kudos to Terrell!

 

Another winning read - as I say every time, it's a shame this series didn't last.

 

RATING:  8 grape suckers out of 10 for a calculatingly good mystery featuring a few surprising twists and turns! 

The Brownie Scouts at Snow Valley - Book One of the Brownie Scout Books

This is one of the few series by Mildred A. Wirt (Benson) that I have not yet read, so when a friend suggested I read it, I took her up on it!  I had heard of the Brownie Scout series before, as well as her companion series (Girl Scouts and Dan Carter, Cub Scout), and while I have all of them, I've only ever read one of them (The Girl Scouts at Mystery Mansion).  These series are aimed at a younger audience than her regular mystery series, more along the level of The Bobbsey Twins readers.  As many people are undoubtedly aware, Wirt (Benson) was the original ghostwriter for the Nancy Drew books back in the 1930s, and she went on to write quite a large number of series books over the course of more than two decades, many under her own name.  Surprisingly, she wrote a number of books for young readers (such as some of the Honey Bunch books, as well as the Dot and Dash series, in addition to those listed above).  This particular series was first published in 1949, with the first two books coming out that year, and the remaining four book coming out one a year through 1953.  So, with a little bit of curiosity and wonder as to whether these series would be as enjoyable as her mysteries for older children, I picked up the first book and gave it a read.

 

The Brownie Scouts at Snow Valley introduces readers to six young girls who make up the Brownie Scout troop of a small town named Rosedale, set in somewhere USA (the exact location of the Scouts' hometown is left rather vague, which I suppose was a purposeful way of keeping the author's stories from being limited by geographical area).  The girls include:  Connie Williams, Jane Tuttle, Rosemary Fritche, Eileen Webber, Belinda Matthews, and "Sunny" Davidson.  Of these six girls, Connie is the one who takes center stage through most of the story, with Jane, Rosemary, and Sunny coming in as supporting characters.  Other than passing mentions, we see very little of Eileen and Belinda (who are pretty much just background window dressing used to fill-out the six-girl troop).  However, there is another major character in the story, Veve McGuire.  Veve is not a Brownie Scout; however, she is a friend of the girls, but she is frustrated with her friends for spending more time with their Brownie activities than playing with her.  Rounding out the main cast is Miss Jean Gordon, "the fourth grade teacher at Rosedale School, [who] had organized the Brownies..." (p. 2).

 

This seems like a good place to stop for a moment and discuss the Brownie Scouts for a moment.  Before picking up this book, I knew nothing about "Brownie Scouts," other than the fact that they are precursors to the Girl Scouts.  Wirt does not specifically identify the age of any of the girls, but some online research reveals that Brownie Scouts are usually anywhere from ages 7 or 8 up to 12 years old (at which point, I suppose, they are old enough to join the Girl Scouts).  Since Wirt does reference Miss Gordon as being a fourth grade teacher, one can assume the six girls are likely around 9 or 10 years old (since this book takes place around Christmas time, most likely the girls are still 9 years old).  According to online sources, the Brownie Scouts do have "promises" and "laws" the same as Girl Scouts, which set forth their standards for the members.  In this book, Wirt has them singing, "We're the Brownies, here's our aim: Lend a hand and play the game!" (p. 3).  This is the actual Brownie opening song, but in the story, Wirt has the girls sing this just before their meeting breaks up and the girls leave to go home.  Later in the book, Wirt has Miss Gordon recite to the girls the "Brownie story" as originally told by Juliana Horatia Ewing (pp. 128-33).  While there are some slight variations (Wirt's version has a little girl named Mary and her brother Tommy; in Ewing's original story, Tommy is the lead character, and his brother's name is Johnnie - there is no girl), the overall story elements are the same, with the charm, "Twist me, and turn me, and show me the Elf; I looked in the water, and saw--" (p. 131), being exactly the same as recited in Ewing's tale.  To read the actual story, you can find it here:  The Brownies and Other Tales.

 

Now, with regard to the story itself, the book features two very minor mysteries - one involves someone stealing trees from the property near the Gordons' home in Snow Valley where the girls go for the Christmas holidays, and the other involves a missing locket that Grandmother Gordon claims was stolen by a poor woman who used to be her housekeeper and cook.  These mysteries do not actually come into play until nearly half-way through the book, when the girls are taken to Snow Valley by their troop leader, whose grandparents have opened up their home to the girls.  The first half of the book is merely the adventures (or in poor Veve's case, MISadventures!) of the girls as they get ready for their Christmas break and enjoy what little snow the small town has.  Veve lucks out and is able to join the girls on their trip when Belinda falls ill at the last moment.  The poor girl seems to be a trouble magnet, as she spills water on a fellow train traveler, then that same man steps on her jacks when she accidentally loses them in the aisle; later, at a train stop, she forgets her purse in the depot diner and nearly misses the train!  Connie continually defends her friend, even when some of the other girls grow weary of Veve's mishaps.  Once the girls arrive in Snow Valley, though, the focus shifts to the mysteries.

 

The Stone family live in a nearby cabin and are very poor, so the girls come up with the idea to pool their money to buy the Stone children a brand new sled for Christmas and provide the family with some food for the holiday.  This is when they learn from Grandmother Gordon that Mrs. Stone used to be the Gordon's housekeeper, and Grandmother believes she stole a precious locket.  The Brownies are determined to find the missing locket and exonerate Mrs. Stone.  At the same time, a neighboring property that is filled with a plethora of pine trees, is the subject of numerous thefts, as someone is chopping down trees and sneaking them off the property.  Poor Mr. Stone is blamed, since he is out of work and has been seen walking down the street with an ax in his hand; but when Connie points out they saw another man from town with an ax, the accuser backs down.  Ultimately, both mysteries are solved - the girls have no hand in the resolution of the stolen tree mystery; however, Connie is the one to uncover the whereabouts of the locket, requiring Grandmother Gordon to apologize for her suspicions of Mrs. Stone and re-hire her as the Gordons' housekeeper. As one might expect, it is a very happy conclusion, as all mysteries are solved, the girls' families arrive in Snow Valley on Christmas Eve night despite a horrible snow storm, and the Stone family is included in the Christmas celebration.

 

There is an interesting bit of information in the story about snowflakes, as Miss Gordon gives the girls some facts about various types of snowflakes, how they are formed, and why they are white (pp. 67-69).  She tells them how the hexagonal shape is "fairly common," while three-sided snowflakes are "considered rare" (p. 68).  I had never heard of three-sided snowflakes before, so even I learned something new from this book.  Some quick research reveals that three-sided flakes form due to special aerodynamic  - when a crystal tips in the air, causing two sides to grow faster than the others, creating the triangular shape.  Thus, like so many of the Stratemeyer series books, one can learn new information even from a non-Stratemeyer series such as this!

 

One thing I found rather amusing was that Wirt included a recipe for brownies in the book!  While preparing goodies for the upcoming Christmas holiday, Miss Gordon allows several of the girls (Veve, Connie, and Rosemary) to assist her.  At the bottom of page 155, Wirt includes all of the ingredients one would need to make a batch of brownies (which, oddly enough, Miss Gordon indicates are a type of cookies!).  I have to wonder how many children who read this book back when it originally was published asked their mothers to allow them to make brownies based on this recipe?! 

 

The book has a dedication at the beginning to "MRS. ELEANOR T. GIBSON, Executive Director of the Toledo Girl Scouts, in appreciation of her helpfulness and cooperation."  This would explain the accuracy of the Brownie Scout information, songs, and stories within the book.

 

As a final observation, at the conclusion of the story, Wirt references a trip the girls will take in the summer to a camp, making specific reference to the next book in the series, "The Brownie Scouts in the Circus" (p. 198).  What is unique, though, is that right after this reference, Wirt adds:

And for boys, also interested in cam life and the out-of-doors, there is a book called: "Dan Carter, Cub Scout."  (pp. 198-99).

I can't say that I can recall ever reading a series book that offers up an ad for another series by the same author like this!

 

The art, for both the cover and the interior frontis piece, was provided by Marguerite Gayer (her signature appears on the art and illustration).  What is strange is that I cannot really find anything about the artist online.  The only thing I could find was an illustrated page that Gayer had obviously done for another book, which features a little boy and a dog enjoying a picnic outside.  Thus, it is clear Gayer illustrated other children's books, outside of her work on the Brownie Scouts series, so it is surprising there is next to no information to find about her online.  I have put some feelers out there, so we will see what we can turn up on Ms. Gayer!

 

I'll readily admit that I did enjoy the story.  It was an easy read, and the characters and situations were fun.  Wirt has a way with making her characters come to life, so that you get drawn into their adventures and mishaps without even realizing it!  I'm looking forward to reading the remaining five books in this series. 

RATING:  9 lost luggage bags out of 10 for a fun-filled romp with some cute new characters as they experience plenty of misadventures in the snow! 

Victoria Winters - the 2nd Paperback Library Gothic Novel based on ABC-TV's suspense drama (Dark Shadows)

I am having a thrilling time re-reading these Dark Shadows novels from the late '60s (which continued into the early '70s, well past the end of the television show).  It has been so many years since I originally read them, it is like I am reading them again for the first time.  And the author, W.E.D. Ross (writing under his most popular pseudonym, Marilyn Ross) does a pretty decent job with the characterization, capturing some of the nuances the actors instilled in the characters on TV.  I especially like the fact that these early books, like the early episodes of the TV show, focused on Victoria Winters, as she was by far my favorite character from the show.  Thankfully, Ross manages to instill her a bit more strength and awareness than she was given by the writers on the daytime soap.  It breathes a little more life into her, and definitely makes me love the character all the more!

 

Victoria Winters is the second book in the series, and the story picks up some months after the events in the first book (which depicted Victoria's arrival, her meeting the Collins' clan, her romance with Ernest Collins, and the terrifying events that led to Ernest leaving for an indefinite period of time).  Now, as summer has arrived, Carolyn and David are gone on a vacation, leaving Victoria behind to act as a personal assistant to Elizabeth Collins Stoddard.  The Collins' attorney, Will Grant, is still around (still trying to woo Victoria), and we meet his sister, Nora, with whom Victoria has developed a close friendship.  Burke Devlin makes a few quick appearances in this novel, and Matthew Morgan is his usual grumpy self.  Roger Collins continues to be the ultimate spoiled playboy.  The new characters who are introduced in this book are Paul Caine, a visiting artist who takes an instant liking to Victoria, as well as Henry Francis and his two daughters - the gorgeous Rachel Francis (who becomes entangled with Roger) and the invalid Dorothy (who is recovering from major brain surgery and is confined to a wheelchair in a near catatonic state).  It turns out Henry was an old classmate of Elizabeth's back in the day, so she welcomes the man and his daughters into her home unlike she would anyone else.  And now, with all the characters in place, the mystery unfolds...

 

 One might recall in the first book, it turned out Ernest's first wife did not really die as everyone believed, but was being kept secreted away in the dark halls of Collins House, as she had gone mad. It was revealed that she had murdered a woman Ernest had later fallen in love with - Stella Hastings, and she would have killed Victoria as well, if fate had not intervened.  Well, it seems that story was not quite over, as Victoria begins to see the face and ghostly apparition of a woman who she eventually finds out is none other than Stella Hastings!  Did the woman not die, as everyone thought?  Or was her spirit haunting the house where she had been killed?  As Victoria tries to figure this mystery out, she must also fend off a would-be killer, someone who is following in the footsteps of the silk-scarf strangler who Henry Francis tells her killed several woman back in Pennsylvania.  Did the killer follow the Francis family to Collinsport, stalking Henry's daughter?  Is Victoria simply another in a long-line of victims?  Or is there something much more sinister going on in the Collins' great house?  

 

We spend a bit more time outside of Collinwood (or Collins House, as Ross repeatedly refers to it) in this book.  Victoria and Nora head into Collinsport on several occasions, frequenting the Blue Whale, as well as Will Grant's office and the general store and post office.  Victoria and Nora also spend some time on the beach - after all, it is summer.  These interludes are nice reminders that there is an entire world within the Dark Shadows mythos, and the characters are not limited to the great house. It is also nice to see that Burke Devlin continues to make his brief appearances.  This book has a first printing date of March 1967, and by that point in the television show, viewers were treated to the final revelations regarding the mystery surrounding Mr. Devlin and his animosity towards Roger Collins.  Fans were also in the middle of the story where BIll Malloy is murdered and the phoenix, Laura Collins (David's mother and Roger's ex-wife!) shows up to claim her son.  While there are passing references in the books to Roger's ex-wife, there are no details given, and from what I can recall, the books never actually address who she is or her supernatural essence.

 

Ross once again gives strong hints at the supernatural, with the ghostly appearances of Stella Hastings, but as with your standard Gothic tale from this period, the haunting is explained away with real-world circumstances (in this instance, a look-alike who is mistaken for Stella).  Each of the continuing characters (Elizabeth, Roger, Will) are still exhibiting odd quirks and mood shifts that hint at secrets being withheld from poor Victoria, leading one to understand that Ross was likely hedging his bets, keeping their actions mysterious, yet not direct, so that if anything major was revealed on the television show, he could incorporate it into his stories.  I do like that he keeps Victoria true to form, in that she is not a Nancy Drew-type mystery solver, but rather, someone who seems to fall into these situations and is forced to go along for the ride until they resolve themselves.  I laughed at one line in the book, where Victoria was overwhelmed, and she realizes "[s]he had reached the stage where things when on around her and she simply sat in a kind of daze and allowed them to happen" (p. 100).  Many fans would say that is a pretty accurate description of how Victoria was always written on the TV show.  Thankfully, Ross does give her a bit more fortitude, so that even as she is forced into these situations, she has the mental acuity to reason things out.

 

As with the first book, this novel featured two different covers.  The first, which appeared on the early printings, was a painted cover (above), showing Victoria, in her overcoat, running away from Collins House.  This scene is taken from early promotional photos for the show, which shows Alexandra Moltke in that same position (also above).  For later printings, Paperback Library reprinted the book using a still photo from the television show, once again with Alexandra Moltke as Victoria and Jonathan Frid as Barnabas Collins.  As Barnabas did not make his first appearance on the show until April 18, 1967, a month after this book was initially released, and considering his character does not appear in the story at all, I find is somewhat misleading that the later printings used such a photo.  No doubt, Paperback was simply cashing in on Barnabas' popularity (since, by the time these books were reprinted, Barnabas had gained his success on the show, and the books were featuring Barnabas as their principal character).  Still, there were plenty of images of Victoria with other characters that do appear in the stories, which the publisher could have used.  Unless, of course, it was a mandate from Dan Curtis Productions, in which case, they would not have had much of a choice in the matter.

 

 This second book definitely takes the story of Victoria Winters further away from the direction she was written in the television show, and as such, it makes for some great reading.  These are new and unique stories, a "parallel time" of sorts, and it is a shame Ross was forced to write Victoria Winters out when she left the show.  This forum would have been the perfect place to reveal Victoria's true parentage, the one mystery that never got solved on any version of the television show (although, for the 1990's remake, that question was answered in Innovation Comics' Dark Shadows' comic book series, which picked up where the TV show ended and ultimately revealed Victoria really was Elizabeth's daughter...)

 

Only 30 books left to read in the ongoing saga of the Collins family!

 

RATING:  10 tiny silver earrings shaped like a leaf out of 10 for great Gothic suspense and ghoulish ghostly scares, with some well-written misdirects to keep the twist ending (somewhat) a surprise!