The Missing Jewels - The Hayley Mysteries, Book 2

It's been a few months since I read the first of The Hayley Mysteries, so I figured it was time to pick up the second book in the series and give it a read. The series is written by actress Hayley LeBlanc, a social media "star" who has performed in the online shows, Chicken Girls and Mani.  This series is her first stab at writing, and for a thirteen year old (although she's probably fourteen or even fifteen by now!), they are actually not bad at all.  The stories are fast paced and, while the mysteries are relatively tame, they are pretty good for the target audience.

The Missing Jewels opens with the main character, Hayley (go figure!), getting ready to film an episode in the second season of her hit television show, Sadie Solves It!  Yes, the main character is an actress, just like the author, and they even share the same name.  But, no, the books are not autobiographical in any way - they are pure fiction.  Hayley, along with her two best friends, Cody and Aubrey (who also happen to be the co-stars of her show), solved the mystery behind the "ghost" that was haunting their studio in the first book, and as they begin filming new episodes for the second season of their show, the creator of the show has made it clear he does not want them getting tangled up in any new mysteries.

Yeah, sure, okay - like that's going to happen.  After all, this is a mystery series, and with the title of this book, you know there's going to be some stolen jewels that Hayley and her friends will have to find.  It starts with a prop tiara missing.  Then a pair of ruby earrings belonging to the mother of one of the actors on the show go missing.  Then a ring that is very important to Hayley disappears.  It's clear that someone is swiping jewelry from the set, but who could it be?  No matter how much they want to get involved, they did promise the show's creator no more mysteries.  But then there is evidence that points to Vee, the show's make-up artist, as the culprit.  Hayley and her friends know Vee is innocent, but how can they prove it without breaking their promise not to get involved?  Well, it's simply a matter of deciding what ... or rather who! ... is more important.  And the answer to that is an easy one.

Although the culprit is pretty easy to discern from the get-go, it is rather enjoyable to follow along as Hayley, Cody, and Aubrey piece the clues together to uncover the culprit.  In the tradition of the old Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books, there are even some educational elements to the story, as LeBlanc makes sure to provide explanations for a number of the technical aspects of filming a television show (and there are even moments where the reader gets to "watch" as the Sophie Solves It! show is being filmed.

While the first book was more about friendship and trust, this story is more about loyalty and not being so quick to judge.  The younger actress who plays Hayley's little sister in Sophie Solves It! once again joins the crew as they try to solve the mystery (after all, it was her mother's earrings that were stolen, and she does come up with a good idea now and again!), and readers are introduced to Vee's daughter, Ava.  I was excited at first, as Ava is deaf, and I thought we would get to see some interaction through sign language; however, the story deals more with the surgery Ava wants to have cochlear implants that will allow her to hear better (and there is no sign language used in the story).

Overall, it's not a bad little mystery, and again, for its target audience, I'd say it's pretty spot-on.  I think young readers will really enjoy this series, particularly if they are fans of social media stars and YouTube shows, as these characters seem to fit right into that genre.

RATING:  7 poker-playing dogs out of 10 for proving even mysteries for younger readers can be enjoyable and well-written!

Dan Hyland, Police Reporter

This book is not one I had ever really planned to purchase and read.  I had seen it numerous times at various used book stores and antique malls, but, again, I'm not overly interested in books with male lead characters.  I prefer the female-led mysteries, as they seem to be more mystery-focused and less adventure-focused.  However, this book happened to be at a local used book store that I frequent, and it was there on the shelf week after week, month after month, and I finally told myself that if the store ever has a sale, I will get it and see what it's about.  Well, wouldn't you know it, the store had a sale, so I decided that since it was less than $10 and it had a pretty good, in tact dust jacket, I would bite the bullet.  And while the story is not exactly my normal cup of tea, so to speak, I would say it was worth the small price I paid for it.

Dan Hyland, Police Reporter is a story about ... well ... Dan Hyland, who happens to be ... a police reporter.  The book opens with a brief, two-page introduction to Dan and explains how he became a reporter for the Chicago Daily Star.  Then it moves right into a dangerous scenario, as Dan must fly a plane into Chicago during a turbulent storm, then he joins his fellow newshawk, Billy Parker, as they evade the guns of Jules Sparoni and his gangsters - after all, it's the evidence against Sparoni and his men that Dan has brought back to Chicago!  And if it gets published in the newspaper, then Sparoni is done for good.  Of course, the he and Billy make it to the Star, and their editor, grumpy old George Anderson Gargan, takes the article with barely a word of praise and tells Dan to head home and get some sleep.

After such an exciting opening scene, the story slows down a bit.  In the apartment that Dan shares with Billy, he opens a letter postmarked from Hollywood, California and receives some very unexpected news - his uncle Ray Hyland, who helped Dan make it in the newspaper world, has gifted Dan with the Norfolk Clarion, a small, weekly newspaper in Norfolk, Indiana, which Ray Hyland had built up and turned it into quite a success (p. 36). It seems his uncle previously sold the paper, but the new owner could not handle it, fell into default in payments, allowed the paper to become a mouthpiece for the criminal element in the area, and nearly bankrupt the paper.  Dan's uncle is hoping he can rebuild it into the great paper it once was.  Of course, that would mean leaving his established career in Chicago and starting all over in a small town.

The story then picks up the pace as Dan moves to Norfolk, meets the current editor of the paper, Leslie Wysong (who Dan mistakenly believes is a man and is shocked to discover Leslie is actually a pretty young woman [p. 88]), and begins his new career as the owner of the Norfolk Clarion.  His first order of business is to figure out who "the Ghost Gang" is that has been terrorizing and robbing the Chicago and Southern railroad's Midnight Special.  Dan figures if he can solve that mystery and stop the attacks on the train, he can help boost sales for the paper and get it back on track.  When it turns out that the city's big-wig, Con Sheldon, may be behind the robberies, it only makes Dan more determined than ever - and with Leslie and the rest of his newspaper staff joining his crusade, he can't help but feel success is within his grasp.  But Con has other ideas and puts into motion a new plan that does more than just rob the mail and money from the train - it makes the entire train disappear in the middle of the night!  How did he do it and where is the train now?  Dan publishes a special edition, letting the citizens of Norfolk know that he will solve the crime and make his city safe - but can he accomplish that before time runs out?

The majority of the book follows Dan (and later Billy, as he travels to Norfolk to get the story for his Chicago paper) as he tracks down the missing Midnight Special and fights the criminal element led by Con Sheldon (gotta love that name - "Con" - pretty much says everything about the man!).  I give the author credit for coming up with a creative means whereby Con and his men were able to "steal" the entire train and make it disappear between stops.

And speaking of the author - Norton Hughes Jonathan (almost sounds like his name is backwards, doesn't it?).  I have never heard of him before this book, and looking online, it appears he was not an overly prolific author.  He did write some books under the "Eagle Scounts banner - The Movie Scout (or The Thrill Hunters), The Lost Empire (or Larry Hannon Carries On), and Speedway Cyclone, none of which I've ever heard of, let alone seen.  It appears he also wrote another book called Gentlemen Aren't Sissies, which is toted as a "guidebook" for the modern young man of the 1930s.  Interestingly enough, that book is illustrated by none other than Pelagie Doane, who provided the art for the early Judy Bolton books!  What little else I could find on the author states he began writing at the age of seven, when he started his own little newspaper called the South End Scoop.  I suppose that may account for his writing a novel about a newspaper reporter, since it is something he apparently thought of becoming when he was a child!

Not being a series, this is the one and only appearance of Dan Hyland, and while the story was a half-way decent read, it's probably not a character I would continue to read if it were an ongoing series of books.  Although, I will admit, the story does feel like something that would have made a decent noir film in the 1930s or '40s.

 

One last thing I needed to make mention of - something odd I have discovered about Goldsmith books is that the first chapters usually begin on page 11, 13, or 15 - yet, I am unable to figure out how they come up with that numbering, as there are never 10, 12, or 14 pages before that!  So, I'm at a loss as to explain why they start the opening chapter at such a high number, instead of as page 1 (or, at the very least, the actual page number for the page count that comes before!). 

RATING:  7 quarry holes filled with cold, jagged stones out of 10 for a crime story with an ingenuous way of making a train disappear!

Penny Parker Mystery Stories No. 8 - The Wishing Well

With this eighth book, we have nearly reached the half-way point of this 17-book series.  The Penny Parker Mystery Stories have turned out to be some of the best Mildred Wirt Benson stories out there. It is clear that Wirt (Benson) wrote much better stories without the heavy editing and control of the Stratemeyer Syndicate.  Her characters come to life so much more off the pages of these books, and the dialogue, particularly between Penny and her father, as well as Penny and her best friend Louise, is snappier and so much livelier!  I'm kicking myself for waiting so long to sit down and read these stories, as they are well-worth the read!

The Wishing Well, is the second Penny Parker book published in 1942.  Despite her other writings, Wirt kept up a steady pace of two Penny Parker books each year.  Although, 1942 was a rather light year for her when it comes to books, as she only had this book, The Clock Strikes Thirteen, The Quest of the Missing Map (Nancy Drew), and The Clue of the Rusty Key (Dana Girls) published, as well as a magazine story, "The Mystery at the Lookout."  Four books and a magazine story is definitely not the normal amount of books Wirt was known to be writing at the time, so it is clear that her husband's stroke and her work at the newspaper kept her exceptionally busy that year.  That being said, the story was great, even if it had elements seemingly pulled from other works Wirt had previously wrote...

The mystery centers around this old "wishing well" on the abandoned Marborough homestead, which has been abandoned for at least ten years (p. 5).  Wirt describes the property, known as Rose Acres, as "Riverview's most outstanding architectural curiosity ... [an] old plantation home with its six graceful pillars [that] retained dignity and beauty" (p. 5).  Thus, despite being abandoned, its yard overgrown, the house was still a magnificent site to behold.  Penny and her friends from her school's palette club (palette referring to a group of artists) visit Rose Acres to sketch the property.  This is where readers are introduced to Rhoda Wiegand, who is a new girl in Penny's class.  She is described as "somewhat older than members of Penny's class," who "lives in a trailer camp at the outskirts of the city" (p. 2).  Interesting that Wirt would choose that as Rhoda's residence, since Wirt herself had not so long before written a four-book series about three children who reside in a mobile trailer (see Wirt's Trailer Stories for Girls, all of which have been reviewed on this blog).  In any event, the girls are fascinated by the old wishing well.  It's "base was of cut stone and on a bronze plate had been engraved the words 'If you do a good deed, you can make a wish and it will come true'" (pp. 5-6).  The wishes made by Rhoda and Penny become the catalyst for the two mysteries in this book.

The first mystery involves Rose Acres itself and its owner, Mrs. Marborough, who returns unexpectedly after more than a decade to reclaim her home.  Only, the lady of the manor acts extremely strange, refusing to permit anyone to enter the house, including the prominent women of Riverview (p. 50).  It's funny that Wirt describes the leader of this group of women, one Mrs. Buckmyer, as "a stout, pompous lady" (p. 50) - if that type of person came to my door, I'd be unlikely to invite them in as well!  Penny is certain Mrs. Marborough is hiding a secret, and when they spy someone prowling around the wishing well late at night (p. 71), it prompts Penny, and Louise by extension, to investigate.  The cover art depicts the scene from page 79, where Penny and Louise watch from behind the shrubs as someone is turning over the flagstones around the wishing well, as if searching for something.  

Penny is certain there is something about that wishing well, and Wirt brings back that silken ladder that Penny acquired three books ago to climb down into the well to see what she can discover (pp. 111-13).  She ultimately finds an opening on the inside of the well (p. 116), which turns out to be a door to "a long narrow tunnel about five feel below the ground" (p. 129).  Needless to say, she and Louise explore it, leading them to the basement under Rose Acres.  Unfortunately, they are discovered by Mrs. Marborough (p. 132), which leads to them finally learning the truth behind the mysterious events at Rose Acres!  Mrs. Marborough proceeds to tell the girls about the famous Marborough pearls, a necklace handed down for generations to the first girl in each generation to get married.  Mrs. Marborough's sister was jealous when she married first, so her sister hid the pearls out of spite.  She moved away and eventually died without telling anyone where the pearls were hid (p. 135)!   Only recently had Mrs. Marborough received a letter from her sister's husband, which included a long-ago written note from her sister explaining the pearls were hid "near the old wishing well" (p. 136).  Penny and Louise are excited at the thought of a treasure hunt, so they promise to help Mrs. Marborough find those pearls!

Two interesting tidbits about this part of the story.  First, if the pearls were handed down from generation to generation in Mrs. Marborough's family to the first daughter to get married, why are they called the "Marborough" pearls?  Marborough appears to be her married name, not her maiden name, and the pearls did not come from her husband's family - so wouldn't they have been rightfully named after her maiden name?  Second, this plot element may seem familiar to those who have read other books written by Wirt, as a similar story occurs in the third Madge Sterling book, The Secret of the Sundial.  It's funny that she would pull plot from a previously written work published by a different publisher - perhaps she thought no one would notice?

Anyway, the second mystery involves poor Rhoda Wiegand.  She and her brother Ted live with the Breens, who took them in after their parents died.  The Breens live in the Dorset Tourist Camp and have three children:  Betty, Bobby, and Jean (which, again, seems like another nod to the Trailer Stories for Girls, as that series features three children - two girls and a boy!).  On Penny's first visit to Rhoda's trailer, Jay Franklin, the owner of the camp, shows up demanding payment for the past due rent or they will have to leave the next day (pp. 25-26)!  And, once again, yet another similarity to the Trailer Stories for Girls, as this same plot element appears in The Crimson Cruiser, the second book in that series.  Penny pays the rent so the Breens are not evicted, and she even offers to take Mr. Franklin home in her car (since it is on her way home).  Penny immediately decides she does not like the man.

The story goes a bit off on a tangent when Penny learns about a rock found on a nearby farm that has writing allegedly of Elizabethan origin, with later Indian carvings on it (p. 30).  The curator of the local museum believes it may be real, which would be important historically for the area, since they never had any proof of English colonists settling in that part of the state (p. 36).  Leaving the museum, Penny, along with Jerry Livingston, happen to meet two men from Texas who are looking for Ted Wiegand - Rhoda's brother (p. 37).  Penny later learns the men - Mr. Coaten and Mr. Addison - are looking to adopt Rhoda and  Ted (p. 75), but Rhoda is suspicious, as they have never heard of these men, and they have no money or property for the men to be seeking!  Well, the story of that rock comes back to play, as Penny learns from the farmer that Jay Livingston paid him $2 for the rock that was found on his property - and when Penny discovers another rock with similar carvings on Mrs. Marborough's property, Jay Livingston is on the scene again, paying Mrs. Marborough $2 to remove the rock from her property (p. 63).  Penny is growing more and more suspicious of Mr. Livingston, and those suspicious play out when she finds that Mr. Livingston is trying to sell the rocks to the museum for a much MUCH higher price!

Well, Penny sticks her nose into the whole sordid affair, and she eventually helps her father prove the rocks are fake (pp. 198-99), and she also concocts a rather convoluted scheme to reveal the truth about why Mr. Coaten wants to adopt Rhoda and Ted (pp. 188-94), which results not only in the arrest of Mr. Coaten, but also Mr. Addison (who it turns out stole Mrs. Marborough's pearls after they were discovered!).  Penny also manages to help Rhoda and Ted find a new home, to relieve the Breens of the burden and to provide help to Mrs. Marborough, who desperately needs it.  As the saying goes, all's well that ends well!

As with the other books in this series, the dialogue is one of the best things about the story.  Wirt gives her characters such superb personality, and the fun banter between Penny and those around her always brings a smile to my face.  "Don't you ever patronize a filling station?" asks Louise, when Penny siphons some gas from her father's car (p. 43).  "You certainly have your family well trained," Louise remarks, after Penny tells her that her father is better able to buy more gas than she is (p. 43).  Later, when Penny discovers the rock that resembles the one found on the farmer's property, Louise ask, "The rock only weighs two or three hundred pounds. Shall I lift it for you...?" (p. 58).  Later still, when Penny takes a chisel that may have been used to carve the rocks, Louise comments, "Lately you've reached the stage where adjectives are too weak to describe you" (p. 105).  Penny, when asked if she simply going to take the chisel, replies, "In my official capacity as a detective - yes" (p. 105), to which Louise promptly replies, "Oh Mystery, what crimes are committed in they name" (p. 105).

When it comes to keeping track of time, however Wirt seems to have a problem with consistency in her stories.  I've noticed it in other books, but this one has a glaring time shift.  When she joins her father to visit the city of Bryan to follow-up on a possible lead regarding whether the carved stones are real, Wirt indicates that they reach the outskirts of Bryan in the EARLY AFTERNOON (p. 153).  Then, Penny watched a performance of an Indian show FOR AN HOUR (p. 154), following which she is LOITERING ABOUT FOR A TIME waiting for her father (p. 154).  After finding him, Wirt writes that the two return to Riverview, and it was EXACTLY NOON when they reached the newspaper office (p. 156).  Now, I pose this question - if they did not arrive in Bryan until early AFTER noon, and Penny spends an hour watching a show, then loiters for additional time after that waiting for her father, then they spend time driving back to Riverview, how in the world did they get back to the newspaper at EXACTLY NOON???  Unless they have a DeLorean, I can't see how they could travel back in time to noon!

But that's okay - because Wirt keeps the writing witty, the stories engaging, and the mysteries just complicated enough to stay interesting, so small inconsistencies like this can be overlooked.  With 1942 behind us now, it's time to move forward to 1943 and the next two Penny Parker mysteries (as well as her Nancy Drew mystery from that same year!).

RATING:  10 stolen chickens out of 10 for giving Penny Parker such an inquisitive mind and miraculous intuition that keeps her stories so much fun to read!

Friday Foster - the Sunday Strips

I first heard about the character of Friday Foster when I discovered a one-issue Dell Comic that starred this African-American photographer from the '70s.  I've never been able to purchase the comic (as the prices for this one issue are astronomical!), but I always keep my eye out.  Then, one day, I discovered that David had recorded a movie on TCM called Friday Foster, starring Pam Grier in the title role.  Watching the film, sure enough, this is the same character that was in that comic book I wanted.  The movie was definitely a product of its time (known as the "Black Exploitation" era), but nevertheless, it had a pretty good story to it and was a lot of fun.  Little did I realize that Friday Foster was actually a comic strip before it was ever a comic book and movie - but I learned this when I purchased a collected edition of the Sunday strips, published by Ablaze Publishing.  The hardcover collection had more than just the Sunday strips, however - it also featured a LOT of extra material, including bios of and interviews with the creators - one of whom has a direct Nancy Drew connection!

So, let's start off talking about the strips themselves.  Friday Foster premiered on my very first birthday - January 18, 1970!  (I probably shouldn't reveal that, since it totally gives away my age!)  Syndicated by the Chicago Tribune, the strip ran for only four years (January 18, 1970 to February 14, 1974), but despite its short run, it definitely broke the mold when it came to newspaper comic strips.  While she was not the first black female character in a syndicated strip (a little known character named Torchy Brown holds that honor), she is the first syndicated strip to appear in non-black publications.  Created by James D. Lawrence, she was originally named Jet Jones before becoming Friday Foster in the actual published strip.  In the "Notes for a Biography" section of this collection, author David Moreu reveals that Lawrence was already writing other syndicated strips when he realized there were no African American characters in the comic strips - and he decided to do something about that.  The strip became the subject of a lot of talk in big cities, such as Los Angeles, New York, and others; but, apparently, all of that talk could not keep the strip alive beyond those four years.

 

To Lawrence's credit, Friday Foster was not a stereotype. She was not depicted with an afro that was so common in the '70s, and she was not only smart and sophisticated, but she quickly falls into her career as a photographer during her first storyline.  Before you know it, she's working for Shawn North, a famous photographer with whom she develops a very strong friendship over the four years of the strip.  Yet, despite moving up in the world, Friday never forgets her roots, and she's very protective of her little brother, Cleve (who is always running one scam or another).  Rounding out her supporting cast is Mame Van Clive, the editor of "She" Magazine; Simon Aubry, the art director; the enigmatic man known only as Blackhawk, who is a creative cat burglar; and Mwenye Nguvu, the mysterious Lord of the Jungle (a/k/a Slade King, former American football star) who makes more than one appearance during the run of the strip.  Each story ran, on average, eight weeks - and what is truly amazing is that even though this book only collects the Sunday color strips published from 1970 to 1974, there are no gaps in the stories.  Lawrence wrote them in such a way that even without the daily strips, the readers gets the entire story in the Sunday strips alone!  I didn't feel like I missed out on anything by reading only the Sunday strips.

Now, let's talk about those stories.  The strip begins with Friday working at The Club Senegal, a "swingin' Harlem nightspot," where Friday enjoys taking pictures of the girls, as well as the guests, hoping that some day, one of her pictures will help her crash the big time.  And wouldn't you know it?  One her photos does just that, because unbeknownst to her, one of her photographs has a couple in the background who do not want their outing to be made public.  The art director and editor of "She" magazine recognize the couple right away and put Friday in contact with Shawn North, a famous photographer - who just so happens to be engaged to the woman in the photo (who, incidentally, went to that Harlem nightspot with another man!).  This leads to a number of near-misses, subtle threats, and a fist-fight on a yacht!  This first tale is the longest storyline (as it serves to set up the characters and the series, in general), and interestingly, two of the Sunday strips (just before the last one of this story) do not feature Friday at all (which is daring for a strip to be missing its lead character for two weeks in a row!).  

The last panel of that first story sets up the next story, which involves the world's most famous "missing person" - Mike Morgan, a British pop-rock singer that supposedly died.  Friday and Shawn get pulled into the drama of Morgan's attempt to undergo plastic surgery to change his looks so he can disappear yet again - but a young woman following him may put a kink in those plans.  Just as the first story ended with a one-panel set-up for the next storyline, so does this one - and all that follow.  Lawrence basically created a formula, with eight to ten week stories ending with a lead-in to the next.  It worked well, as it kept the stories moving at a fairly fast pace, not allowing any lull that would bore the readers and turn them off of the strip.  And the stories varied greatly in subject matter - from rescuing a scarlet macaw from a man who wants to make it his trophy to a young hippie who decides she wants Shawn to be her man ... from a dangerous mission in Spain to kill a scientist to a small ivory elephant trinket that holds a very important secret ... from a fading model trying to stay relevant to a pair of star-crossed lovers destined to be kept apart ... from a stolen necklace and insurance scam to a Broadway actress determined to keep her son away from his father ... a family fighting over an inheritance ... a special effects make-up artist trapped in his own designs ... a crooked detective ... a haunted house ... a cursed idol ... a jungle bride .... and ultimately, a jealous editor from a competing magazine who wants nothing more than to take Friday out of the picture!  But, as the saying goes:  All's well that ends well!  And Friday Foster definitely ends on a high note.

It's truly a shame the strip didn't continue.  Jordi Longaron provided some truly beautiful art for the series (even if fill-in artists were occasionally used when Longaron was unable to get his pages to the publisher in time due to mailing days - remember, this was well before there was the internet!), and even though his backgrounds are not as detailed as those of Leonard Starr's Mary Perkins, On Stage strip (very few artists can do backgrounds as detailed as you'll find in that strip!), his characters and settings are such that your focus always remains on the story itself.  He is certainly a master of expressions - whether Friday is sad and crying or giving an admirer one of her "come hither" looks, or she's shocked by the discovery of a hidden room, Longaron's panels ooze with emotion that the reader can easily feel themselves.

As for the creator - James D. Lawerence - this is where the Nancy Drew connection comes in.  When I first got this book and saw "Jim Lawerence" on the cover, I didn't make the connection.  But the second I read the foreward to this collection, it dawned on me where I recognized the name from - the Nancy Drew books!  I knew that he wrote a number of the Wanderer books in the early 1980s (Race Against Time, Clue in the Ancient Disguise, The Silver Cobweb, The Haunted Carousel, and others) - but I was not aware that he had written comic strips, such as Buck Rogers, James Bond, and, of course, Friday Foster.  Lawrence was also the author of several Christopher Cool series for the Stratemeyer Syndicate, as well as Tom Swift, Jr. and rewrites for The Hardy Boys (I have correspondence from the New York Public Library between Mr. Lawrence and the Syndicate regarding his contention about creator rights to the Christopher Cool series).  So, it was with welcomed surprise that I discovered he was the creator and writer of this Friday Foster strip.  I did find it odd, though, that the book indicates Lawrence stopped writing for the Syndicate in the '70s, when the Wanderer Nancy Drew paperbacks he wrote were published into the 1980s.  (Thanks to a dear friend, Geoffrey Lapin, I have since learned that although Lawrence left writing for Syndicate for a while, he did go back in the '80s and wrote more books for them under a pseudonym so Harriet Adams did not realize it was him!  Yellowback Library, Jan/Feb 1986 No. 31, pp. 5-10).

Nevertheless, there is another comparison between Lawrence's work and the Nancy Drew connection.  After Friday Foster ended, Lawrence's children indicated in an interview that he wanted to keep the character alive, so he wrote a series of books with a very similar character called Dark Angel - a series of four books published by Pyramid Books through the book packager, Book Creations, Inc.  The painted covers for these books were done by none other than Friday Foster artist Jordi Longaron!  As can been seen by the covers, the title character in this series bears a striking resemblance to Friday Foster.  The interesting tidbit about the publication of these books is the book packager, Book Creations, Inc.  The essay about Dark Angel reveals that Book Creations, Inc. was formed by Engel in 1973 and dubbed "the fiction factory" because he and his editorial team "would sketch out ideas for series of books, contract authors to write them up, and then sell the rights to the series to published such as Dell, Pyramid, Belmont Tower, and so on" (p. 268).  Gee, does that process sound familiar?  Perhaps Engel took a cue from Edward Stratemeyer!

But, I digress!  This post is about Friday Foster, a unique character for her time and definitely a strip that is well worth the read.  While the one-issue Dell Comic was written and drawn by entirely different creators, I am still searching for a reasonably priced copy of that comic.  I already have a DVD  of the Friday Foster film, starring Pam Grier (which, by the way, is a fun movie and definitely worth watching!).  And who knows?  Maybe one day, someone will run a series of books collecting all of the daily strips - that would be something I would LOVE to see!  (Hint! Hint! Christopher Marlon, you did an amazing job with the Sundays - get us the dailies!)  Then again, I'd be curious to see what the character would be like in today's comic world.

RATING:  10 weaponized cameras out of 10 for breaking the stereotypes and providing a strip headlined by a strong, black female who could easily hold her own in a white male dominated market!

A Ted Wilford Mystery, no. 11 - The Baseball Mystery

Up until this point, I have more or less enjoyed the Ted Wilford series.  While I'm not much of a fan of the "boys' mystery series" books, since first buying these reprints of the series written by Norvin Pallas, I have been pleasantly surprised by how good the books have been.  While not full of danger and adventure like the Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys series, the mysteries have been more cerebral, and the fun has been in following along with Ted and Nelson as they methodically follow up on clues and use their brains to unravel the truth.  But this eleventh mystery in the series left me feeling a bit let down.

The Baseball Mystery gave me the impression that Pallas was more interesting in writing a baseball story than a mystery.  There's very little mystery and more of Ted and Nelson trying to manage the statewide baseball tournament that is being held in their small hometown of Forestdale.  Between scheduling the games, arranging accommodations for all of the players of the various teams, setting up people for intake, tracking the scores, and taking photographs, Ted and his best friend are left very little time for anything else.  Especially when there are problems that arise that must be handled with delicate care so as to not offend anyone and give Forestdale a bad name.  

The small mystery that comes in to play starts with a break-in at the headquarters for Ted's team of workers.  Nothing is stolen, leaving Ted to wonder exactly what it was someone was looking for.  Then a couple of kids break the window to the local jewelry store, and once again, nothing is taken.  After that, a model airplane is stolen from a small show that takes place during the baseball tournament.  Everyone is convinced that some of the young men who have come to town to play ball are behind all of these crimes, but Ted isn't quite ready to blame the baseball players.  He thinks something else may be going on.  Of course, he has next to no time to really think about it or investigate, because all of his attention is spent monitoring the baseball games, ensuring all of the players have accommodations, and that complaints are handled quickly and efficiently.

For anyone who ever wanted to learn everything about baseball, this book is it.  Either Pallas was well-versed with the game and how it is scored and how the players' averages are determined, or he did considerable research - because he writes about all of it in excruciating detail in this story, making it somewhat difficult to read at times.  I'll be honest and admit that I skimmed over some of the pages when Nelson starts explaining how the averaging works for the various player positions.  I did not see how it was important to the story, and quite frankly, it wasn't.  Yes, the mystery was ultimately revealed to be about some men who were gambling, placing bets on the game and trying to control the outcome of the games in order to make more money - but the overly detailed facts about baseball where not truly necessary in order to enjoy the story.  I have to wonder if perhaps that was used as filler, in order to pad out the story to fill the page count.

Ken Kutler does make a brief appearance in the story, although it seems for no other purpose than to push Ted into suspecting the whole gambling side of things.  Margaret shows up in a scene or two as one of the people helping Ted check in the baseball players as they arrive in town.  Ted's mother is on hand to help house and feed a couple of the baseball players, and even Mr. Dobson, whose newspaper is the one that petitioned to have the baseball tournament held in Forestdale, is barely in the story.  It seems the entire supporting cast has been pushed aside to focus on the baseball (which is why, you'll notice, my post here is focusing on the baseball element of this book - I figure if the book can do it, then so can I!).

I will give Pallas some credit here - he does introduce two young boys that stay at the Wilford house, Larry Dodge and Cal Farmington, who manage to make their presence known throughout the story and play a part in the final revelation about the gambling element.  These two boys are rather likable, and it's almost a shame they won't be sticking around to be regular members of the supporting cast.

Not much else I can really say about this book, other than the fact that I'm glad it's behind me, and I can only hope the next book in the series will be better than this one.

RATING:  5 perfect little bunts down third out of 10 for at least changing things up a bit and not writing the same old mystery plot in each book.

Holiday Heroine - Book Six of the Heroine Complex

Well, six years ago I picked up the first book in this series, thinking it was just a one-off book - but I liked the premise and the cover, so I bought it, I read it, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Then a second book came out, and I was over the moon.  And then a third.  And a fourth.  And a fifth!  And now I have read the sixth book in the series, but am saddened over the fact that this is the final book in the "Heroine" series by Sarah Kuhn.  I have grown to love these characters - Bea Tanaka, her sister Evie Tanaka, and their "sister" (friend) Aveda Jupiter - as well as all of the assorted supporting characters, love interests, frenemies, and family members.  Kuhn truly did create a huge family over the course of these six books, and it's a shame to have to say goodbye (although, admittedly, there is one thing about the series I won't miss - more on that later....)

Holiday Heroine is the final journey of Bea Tanaka (and no, before you get worried, that is not referring to a death by any means!).  Bea was first introduced simply as Evie's younger sister, who Evie basically had to raise after their mother died and their father took off.  Bea was viewed as a bit of a trouble maker, and it was Evie's job to take care of her and see to it that Bea stayed out of trouble.  In Heroine's Journey, the third book in this series, Bea's powers were tested by a malevolent force, and she nearly turned completely to the "dark side," all with the idea that she was going to be reunited with her mother.  Now, here we are three books later, and Bea has grown up - and in this book, she is determined to prove to everyone - her sister, her co-workers, and her boyfriend (Sam) that she truly is grown up and can keep her powers under control.

But the real question is - can she?

Kuhn provides readers with a holiday-centric story as Bea is prepared to celebrate the Christmas holidays in the middle of summer with her family - Evie and Aveda are coming for a visit, along with Nate and .. uhm ... Sam - which could be kind of awkward, since Bea and Sam sort of broke up.  The only problem is, Bea doesn't remember the break up.  She also doesn't remember spending the afternoon at her office in Maui completing reports.  Nor does she remember cleaning up her tiny apartment in Hawaii and charging her phone.  Either Bea is having black-outs, or something crazy is going on.  When she comes across a picture of her and Pika with ice cream - something that wasn't going to happen until Friday - does it dawn on Bea what is really going on.  Bea Tanaka is time-traveling!

With all of the other crazy things that have happened in this series - demons, other dimensions, ghosts, vampires, and such - why should time travel be so out of the ordinary?  Bea is both excited and frightened at the prospect of traveling through time.  And just like all of the movies she has seen, she must avoid doing anything that could potentially alter the timeline.  This is what she tells herself to excuse the fact that she doesn't say anything to Team Evie/Aveda about the time-traveling.  Instead, she decides to show everyone just how grown up she is and figure it out herself.  If only she could figure out how to control when it happens and to what time she goes.  But things go crazy (as if they weren't crazy enough!) when she wakes up and discovers that Sam is no longer in the timeline - it's as if he never existed at all!  So, she does what any normal person does and goes back to try to correct that mistake.  But in so doing, she erases her sister from the timeline!

And if all of these things weren't bad enough, Nate's evil mom, Shasta, is back on the scene, working overtime to convince Bea that she must sacrifice Evie's soon-to-be-born baby in order to save all of humanity!

There are plenty of twists and turns, and lots and LOTS of angst (a lot of which would probably have been completely unnecessary had Bea simply told Evie, Aveda, Nate, Scott, and the rest of the team what was going on from the very beginning!) - but there are also plenty of fun scenes wit the time-traveling element.  We get to see more of Sam's family.  We get to see Nate and Evie as doting parents.  We get to see a wild beach battle against a gigantic sea monster.  We even get a talking chicken!  (Yeah, trust me, it's a bit weird at first, but you just go with it....)

The one thing I could have done without in this book (and this has been actually building in the last couple of books) is the whole "white people are stereotyping and discriminating against people of color, and therefore white people are bad" sentiments scattered throughout the story.  Yes, I'm not oblivious to the fact that there are still people out there who discriminate, and yes, I do understand that racism can have an impact on people in different ways.  But when I'm reading fictional stories for enjoyment, I don't need those kind of things shoved down my throat when they add nothing crucial to the story.  The first three books in this series barely touched on those issues - they focused on the characters, their coming to terms with their powers and their family around them, and their battles against the demons coming through from the other dimension.  I thought that was the focus of this series.  But starting with Haunted Heroine, moreso in Hollywood Heroine, and now much more in Holiday Heroine, it's almost as if Kuhn feels it necessary to push this sentiment into the story, despite it lacking any substantive purpose for the story.

But I was able to look beyond that to the story as a whole, which I enjoyed overall.  Evie, Aveda, and now Bea have all managed to find their balance (and their husbands/boyfriends), and I can see them having their happily ever afters.  I'll miss these characters, but it's satisfying to know that their family has finally been firmly established, and whatever happens in their futures, they will face them as more than a team - but as a family!

RATING:  8 canoes toppling to the ground out of 10 for bringing the story of this terrific trio of super-powered ladies to a satisfying and happy conclusion!

Nancy Drew Mystery Stories # 168 - The Bike Tour Mystery

What better way to celebrate my 750th blog post than to not only review one of the later Nancy Drew digests (which is how fans refer to the later books in the original Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series) and compare it with my own trip to Ireland.  Yes, that's right - David and I recently joined my Dad on a trip to Ireland, so in anticipation of that trip, I read the 168th Nancy Drew mystery story, The Bike Tour Mystery.  I was curious to discover whether any of the places referenced in the book actually existed in Ireland and whether any of the facts described in the book were real.  Well, surprisingly enough, there was actually quite a number of references in the book that were grounded in reality, leaving me to wonder if the author of this story had actually visited Ireland, or if he/she simply did considerable research to be able to integrate the reality of Ireland into the book.  Whichever the case, such realities made this story all the more enjoyable!

The Bike Tour Mystery brings Nancy, George, and Bess to Ireland for an adventurous bike tour along the western coast of the Irish countryside.  "They're looking forward to spectacular scenery, romantic ruins, local entertainment, and, at the end of the day, cozy inns to welcome them" (back cover).  Of course, this being a Nancy Drew book, that idyllic vacation quickly turns into yet another mystery to solve.  Someone seems to be targeting the tour group, as the trip is filled with mishap, missteps, and mistaken identities.  Not everyone on the tour is who they say they are, and several are hiding secrets that could very well spell disaster for the whole group.  Nancy is determined to get to the bottom of it all, but she finds herself blocked at every turn, as no one is willing to open up, and everyone keeps telling her that the "accidents" are nothing to worry about!

There's Bob Prendergast, the tour group leader who is insistent that nothing is wrong.  Carl Thompson is the assistant college professor from Boston who is also a chemist ... and a geologist ... and perhaps something more?  Jim and Natalie de Fusco are the young couple from San Diego, California - he works in construction and she manages a surf shop - so why are they in Ireland at the height of surf season?  Rhonda and Rachel Selkirk are the sisters from Australia who are expert bikers, and who also appear to be the target of the attacks. Terry O'Leary is the rumpled Irishman with the gloomy expression who will be the tour group's driver.  Derek Thorogood is the handsome playboy who likes to flirt, while Camilla Collins is his girlfriend who seems oblivious to his flirtatious nature.  But everyone is not who they say they are.  One of them is a reporter looking for a big story; one of them is hiding a troubled past; one of them is fearful of their father's overwatchful eye; one of them is willing to keep another's secret; and one of them is careless enough to lead the entire group into terrible danger! 

And one mustn't forget the man in black (no, not THAT man in black!).  Described as "broad-shouldered ... in a black wool overcoat..." there was "something about his heavy-browed, tight-mouthed face [that] made Nancy uneasy" (p. 4).  That, and that fact that she immediately noticed "that the little finger was missing from his left hand" (p. 4).  With a description like that, you know this man is going to be trouble, and his connection with two of the members of the tour group definitely doesn't look good.  Why is it that the villains in a Nancy Drew book are never described as beautiful or handsome?  Instead, they are always disfigured or otherwise "ugly," as if good-looking people can never be bad.

In any event, Nancy does solve the mystery, with the author managing to integrate a little Gothic spookiness through the nighttime adventure into a foggy bog.  For astute readers, many of the clues are easily seen, and the ultimate revelations are not really that big of a surprise.  But for me, it was not the mystery itself that held my attention - it was all of the wonderful descriptions of Ireland that had me captivated.  I read the book on the flight from Florida to Dublin (and with eight hour flight time, I had plenty of time to read the book and take notes) so that by the time I reached Ireland, I would have the story fresh in my mind to see if I could find any of the locations from the story!

 

 

The book starts off with the girls arriving in Ireland via the Shannon Airport (p. 12) - which is a real international airport located in County Claire, lying half-way between Ennis and Limerick.  Bess accurately describes Ireland, with its "[t]hatched-roof cottages, woolly white sheep, crumbling stone walls..." (p. 2).  Of course, that "crumbling wall" reference made me think of the 22nd Nancy Drew Mystery Story, The Clue in the Crumbling Wall, published back in 1945.  But Ireland definitely has its fair share of sheep and stone walls - and is most certainly "one of the greenest places on Earth" (p. 7).  What is interesting is that, like Jim describes in the book, mortar was not used to build a lot of those dividing walls.  "They just pick up stones from the fields and fit them in place.  But they're remarkably strong - some of those walls are well over a hundred years old" (p. 12).  On our journeys through the country, we saw plenty of lush, green land, many a herd of sheep, and a lot of those stone walls.

The girls' first night in Ireland is spent at the Ballyrae House in a town called Lahinch (p .13).  While Lahinch is a real town on the northwest coast of County Clare, there is no Ballyrae Hotel - but there is a Ballyroe Heights Hotel on the southwest coast of Ireland (Ballyroe Heights Hotel) and there is a Ballyrane House Estate on the southeast coast of Ireland (Ballyrane House).  So, the author could have been using either of these as his/her inspiration for the place where the girls stay on that first night in Ireland.  (NOTE - David and I did not see either of these places in our jaunts around Ireland, as they were not in the path of our tour at any time.)

We did, however, experience the same awestruck wonder that Nancy felt when she visited the Cliffs of Moher, where the bike tour stopped for a picnic lunch (p. 33).  The author's description does not truly capture the majestic nature of these cliffs:

Stretching ahead before them, for about five miles, was a stretch of spectacular coastal cliffs, their sheer sides ribboned with five layers of different-colored rockface.  One the stone ledges nestled huge flocks of puffins and other seabirds.  To the left the Atlantic Ocean gleamed and danced.  (p. 36)

The view from the cliffs is truly awe-inspiring, and David and I walked from one end (where there was a small tower) to pretty nearly the other end (we didn't quite make it all the way due to time constraints).  And while we were told that we were visiting right at the end of the puffin season, we did not see any of those birds along the cliffs, although we did see some other white seabirds hanging out along the cliff sides.  And, just like Nancy, we were able to see the Aran Islands from where we were standing on the cliffs (p. 37).

 

Nancy and her friends, along with the rest of the bike tour troupe, end their evening at a local bar called Currach Pub (p. 39), where they were able to enjoy delightful Irish sea chanties (p. 40) and watch the Irish step-dance (pp. 100-01).  First,  there really is a Currach Irish Pub - but it's located in New Zealand and not in Ireland!  But, even without the Currach Pub, we did manage to enjoy an evening out at Taylors Three Rock in Dublin (Taylors Three Rock), which offered up a band playing Irish music, as well as some wonderfully fun Irish step-dancing - even offering members of the audience an opportunity to get up and join the dancing!  (No, David and I stayed in our seats and simply watched all the fun!)  And I could definitely understand how Nancy, despite how tired she was from all of the bike riding, couldn't help but get caught up in the spirit of the music and enjoy herself (p. 40) - because despite how tired we were after the long flight over the Atlantic and very little sleep, we still had a great time that night!

Nancy, Bess, and George eventually make their way to Galway (p. 77), which was the last town we stayed in during our trip.  The author provides a fairly accurate description of the town:

 

"Lots of people think Galway City is Ireland's prettiest city," [Bob] said.  "The downtown area is remarkably well-preserved and quaint, but there's a university here and lots of arts and culture.  In its heyday as a port, Galway had a thriving trade with Spain..." (p. 77)

The girls plunged into the narrow medieval streets of downtown Galway City.  Like a maze, the streets twisted and wound between overhanging old buildings.  (pp. 77-78)

There can be no doubt that Galway is a beautiful city, and much of its history has been preserved.  From the old stone churches to the canals that run through the heart of the city to the remnants of the wall that used to surround the city (including the Spanish Arch that is still in place today - one of Galway's most recognizable landmarks that bears testament to its importance as a medieval seaport!) - the city is still well-preserved and filled with culture and history!  In fact, while I was wandering the streets of Galway (my Dad and David were off on an excursion to see Kylemore Abbey), I stumbled across this glass-enclosed area which featured what appeared to be stone foundation poking out of the dirt.  It turns out "The Hall of the Red Earl" was discovered by archaeologists during redevelopment work at Galway Custom House - a portion of the old castle that belonged to Lord Richard de Burgo, the red Earl!  And a portion of the building unearthed dates back o the 13th century!

Later in the story, the tour group eats dinner "at a seafood restaurant on Quay Street, near the Galway harbor" (p. 84).  There is a Quay Street (pronounced "key" street) in Galway that runs through downtown to the harbor, and there are plenty of restaurants along the street, so without a doubt, Nancy and her friends could have easily found a seafood restaurant there.

The book goes on to reference Rossaveal (p. 93), which is a village in the Connemara area of County Galway, as well as Kilronan (p. 93), which is the main setlement on Inishmore, one of the Aran Islands.  It is there where the girls visit Dun Aengus (which is also spelled "Dun Aonghasa"), which the author describes as:

...broken stone ruins, perched at the edge of the cliff ... It had been built in three concentric circles, the highest int he middle.  Shallow depressions in the sparse grass showed where missing parts of the once-grand design had lain.  The remaining stones, bleached pale by years of sea wind, reflected the sunshine with a hard glitter ... The stern gray stone was softened by patches of velvety moss and greenish gray lichens, flourishing in the wet sea air.  (p. 95)

David and I, unfortunately, were unable to make it over to the Aran Island during our all-too-brief stay, but information about the Don Aengus can be found online (Dun Aengus).  It is definitely something we want to check out if we visit Ireland again some day!

A few fun facts that were in the book that I discovered to be true while in Ireland.  Nancy is talking with George and informs her that the police are called "Garda" in Ireland (p. 83) - which is actually true!  We saw plenty of cars traveling the streets of Dublin, Cork, and Galway that had the word "Garda" printed on the side of the vehicles.  And when Bob informed the girls that "the same is true all over western Galway and Donegal.  Look at the road signs; town names are usually in Gaelic as well as in English" (p. 93).  We found this to be true throughout all of Ireland.  Our tour guide informed us that Ireland is slowly working its way back to having Irish as its primary language, and English secondary - which is why nearly all the signs we saw had the words in Irish on top, with the English translation underneath. And the references to just how rainy Ireland is ("This is Ireland, and I can promise it will rain" (p. 7) and "Here comes one of those famous Irish rain showers" (p. 112)) are pretty accurate - although we got lucky, and it only rained twice during our week in Ireland.

Now for a funny story- while on the bus traveling one day, my Dad starts to tell me about how the tour guide the previous day had discussed what the people did with "peat" - before he could continue, however, I interrupted him to describe the process to him:

"A bog is - well, its a bog.  The ground is soft and mucky for miles. The surface is what we call peat: a sort of gluey, dense soil.  People cut it into chunks, cart it away, and let it dry into hard bricks to use for fuel.  Most folk hereabouts hear their homes with peat fire." (p. 138)

He was shocked I knew what he was going to talk about, as I was not with that particular tour. He asked how I knew about that process, and I told him I learned it in the Nancy Drew book!  So, I guess it seems that the digests (at least this one) continued the tradition of Harriet Stratemeyer Adams in having educational facts in the stories.

Overall, the book was a fairly decent read, even if it was fairly simple to figure out.  Of course, for me it was less about the story itself and more about the Irish elements in the book that I was able to discover for myself while in Ireland!  For those headed to Ireland (or even for those who live there!), this is definitely a book to check out.

RATING:  9 falling pub signs out of 10 for merging the real elements of Ireland with the suspense and Gothic mystery of Nancy Drew to create a pretty good tale!

Star-Spangled Squadron - an Ascendant Graphic Novel

Back in the 1980s, DC Comics published a comic titled All-Star Squadron, which featured the heroes of World War II on the then-Earth 2 world that was filled with the Golden Age superheroes.  It was, by far, my favorite all-time comic (until Infinity, Inc. came along a few years later), and although it was cancelled not long after Crisis on Infinite Earths and never seen again, the series has always held a special place in my heart.  A few months back, while flipping through Previews to see what new comics were coming out, I came across a one-shot graphic novel titled Star-Spangled Squadron.  The colorful cover featured a team of six heroes jumping off the page, the White House in the background, and proffered the tagline: "America Needed Heroes - They Answered the Call."  Between the title and the premise, I had to check it out.

Written by Alexander Macris and David Campiti, with art by Mel Joy San Juan, Star-Spangled Squadron is the start of a new superhero universe for Ascendant comics, a relatively new independent company founded in 2020.  In this new comic universe, superheroes are only just starting to appear, mostly as a result of a secret government program designed back in 2012 to create superhumans for America.  Only, the government could not control their subjects, and soon enough, both heroes and villains start to appear on the scene, and the world will never be the same!

While the blurb on the inside back cover indicates this graphic novel "tells the origin story of this first generation of superheroes and supervillains," that's not exactly accurate.  In the first of the two stories, we do get the origin of the villain known as Manticore, and we see him go up against the seemingly indestructible American Eagle (former firefighter Bill Goddard), we don't find out how American Eagle came to be the hero that he is or how he has the powers he does.  The second story features a rather interesting hero named Stiletto - a dark-haired bombshell in a skimpy leather outfit who apparently has heightened senses and the agility of a cat, yet bystanders want to know the same thing as readers - "How does she fight in those crazy heels?"  Again, no explanation as to how or why she has these abilities, but we do get the pleasure of reading her introduction into the Star-Spangled Squadron - a group of super-powered humans working for the Coast Guard to help protect America from the new threat of super-powered villains.

Dr. Quantum is the force manipulator ... Stronghold is the invincible strongman ... Warp is the teleporter ... and Aurora is literally a power battery for a star.  Together, with American Eagle and Stiletto, this is the world's first superhero team.  And, I have to admit, I love the self-awareness of the books.  The line about Stiletto's heels - coupled with Aurora's recognition of the stereotypes of the team ("American Eagle is, like, Mister Heartland Hearthrob; Warp is all bad boy from the Hood; Stronghold's repping the Hispanic working class; Dr. Quantum is the cute Asian WAIFU, [Aurora is] fan service for the frat boys; so you [Stiletto] must be, like, for the Goth crowd?").

But the Coast Guard are not the only ones with a team of super-powers.  In a facility harboring alien technology, a group of supervillains are set to steal the technology for themselves, and it's up to the Star-Spangled Squadron to stop them.  Thus, readers are given a spectacular super-battle of super-powers beings that tears apart the facility - and while the Squadron may win against the villains, they are unable to stop the alien ship beneath the facility from exploding, sending a beam of energy to the far reaches of space ... where someone is watching ...

Marcis, Campiti, and San Juan did a pretty good job of setting things up for a whole new universe of heroes, villains, battles, and great stories to come.  There's plenty of mystery about these characters - these two stories give readers a taste of each character and their personalities and powers, while leaving their past and origins yet to be told ... we get the foreshadowing of things to come with the villains disappearing from the battle and the unseen entity watching Earth from beyond ... and we get the questioning of whether the Squadron's superiors are truly on the up-and-up with the team and the goals for them.  Plenty of fodder here for future stories with some very likable characters of whom I would definitely like to see more.

Star-Spangled Squadron is a star-spangled hit in my book, so hopefully these creators have already got more stories in the works!

RATING:  8 crashing ferris wheels out of 10 for introducing a new group of heroes that have some originality and leave you wanting for more!

Bitsy Finds the Clue - an Augusta Huiell Seaman mystery story

Over my years of collecting, I've heard the name "Augusta Huiell Seaman" mentioned time and again as an author of children's mysteries back in the day, and I've actually come across several of her books here in there during my travels, but I never really picked one up.  Last year, while visiting my Dad in Kentucky, we visited an antique mall that was going out of business, and I happened to come across one of Seaman's books in hardcover (no dust jacket, unfortunately) for only $2.00, so I figured I'd give it a try.  I set it up on my "to be read" shelf and promptly forgot about it.  Until later in the year, when I was at a used book store in DeLand and came across another of Seaman's mysteries in hardcover for just a few dollars as well.  I thought, why not?, and I picked it up as well.  After sitting on my shelf for some time, I finally picked up this one (which, ironically, is the one I found in DeLand - still haven't read the one I bought earlier in Kentucky!) and gave it a read.  I was pleasantly surprised to find how much I enjoyed it.

Bitsy Finds the Clue tells the story of Elizabeth Bates (known to her friends as "Bitsy"), a sixteen year told girl - "I'm nearly seventeen," she reminds her mother on page 2 - who is leaving home for the first time, enrolled as a freshman for the upcoming Fall semester at William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia.  Because of health issues, Bitsy's parents are concerned about her being so far from home, but Bitsy is both excited and nervous about being on her own. A college senior named Celeste Dufresne has been corresponding with young Bitsy and has promised to show her the ropes - but during the train ride down the East Coast, as well as the first few days of college, it seems Celeste barely has time for her young friend, and Bitsy is prepared to return home, having found the other freshman not as welcoming as she hoped and feeling more alone each day!  Celeste, who lives off campus with her great-aunts and great uncle, comes up with a way for Bitsy to stay in school but not have to face the unfriendly freshman - she can board at the Romney House, which is the old home owned by her Uncle Drew, Aunt Abigail, and Aunt Eva.  Bitsy is willing to give it a chance, and thus begins the mystery that Bitsy can't help but get drawn into!

While Seaman does a slow build to the mystery, the story is by no means boring.  Seaman introduces readers to some rather odd characters in the Romney House - Aunt Abigail and is stern and definitely filled with the Old South mentality; Uncle Drew (a nod to Nancy "Drew" perhaps?) is not quite as stodgy, but he is very secretive about his research into his family's history; Aunt Eva is more congenial, but being the youngest of the three, she adheres to the demands of her older sister and brother.  No mention is made of spouses, so one can only assume the three siblings have never been married.  There is also Cousin Eustacia, who lives across the street.  She is definitely more modern than the rest, which puts her at odds with Abigail at pretty much every turn.  And one mustn't forget good ol' Eliza, the family's cook and general housekeeper.  She is a stereotypical black maid of the time, and Seaman manages to further the stereotype with Eliza's dialect:

"Oh, Lawdy, Lawdy!" moaned Eliza, removing her apron from her eyes.  "Hit's de Cunnel! He done fell and mashed hisself up! De doctor say he gwine tek him to de hospital in Richmond! He done gotta hab a operation - or somepin! Oh, Lawdy hab mussy on us all!"  (p. 73)

Yes, I realize by today's standards this type of dialect is extremely racist; however, this book was written back in the early 1930s, being published in 1934, and when placed in that time setting, one can understand that this was the perception many people still had of the African American men and women living in their communities.  So, reading it with that mindset, it makes these outbursts of Eliza almost comical and over-the-top (which could very well be what Seaman intended, as Eliza is definitely an easily excitable character in the book).

The mystery is hinted at by Celeste, when she informed Bitsy that the Romney House is allegedly haunted; but when Bitsy actually hears the knocking in the middle of the night, but can find no source for it, she begins to wonder.  Her curiosity grows as she discovers Uncle Drew, late one night, kneeling at the bottom of the stairs, studying the floorboards intently, unaware he is being watched.  There is also the strange animosity that Uncle Drew and Aunt Abigail have to the restoration of the home - while the rest of the neighborhood has willingly allowed restoration crews to come into their homes and basically restore their homes from the basement floor to the top of the roof, Drew and Abigail have been adamant that no one will touch their house (despite its decaying conditions).  Celeste finally breaks down and reveals to Bitsy that the mystery involves the research her great-uncle is doing on the family history, particularly as it involves General Sumter Romney, who died after the Spanish-Mexican War under mysterious circumstances.  When Uncle Drew is hurt and must go to the hospital, Bitsy and Celeste convince Aunt Eva to join them in a secret search for the "hidden staircase" and the missing "diary" that could hold the clue to what has been bothering Uncle Drew (funny how both items are connected to early Nancy Drew mysteries, eh?).  Even Cousin Eustacia joins in on the fun, along with Celeste's boyfriend, Campbell McDurford - popularly known as "Duff."

The crew get sidetracked and blocked at many a turn as they try to secretly investigate the locked room where Uncle Drew keeps all of his records, and a search in the attic reveals nothing of any consequence.  A look in the basement, however, leads to the discovery of an unusual rock in the floor that seems very out of place (and that ultimately plays a huge part in the mystery).  And while Bitsy proves her worth to the family by ingeniously piecing together a number of the clues that lead to the discovery of the diary (in a most unfortunate way!) and the missing papers that nearly go unnoticed by everyone else, she does eventually over-exert herself to the point where, after chasing down a runaway horse during a parade celebration, she ends up bed-ridden in order to give her body time to recuperate.

The mystery eventually turns into a treasure hunt, with the infamous pirate Blackbeard playing a part, and even some question as to whether General Romney was actually murdered back in the day for the part he was thought to have played in the missing treasure!  Seaman throws in some real historical facts into the story, as well as quite a bit of geographical reality, particularly in the city of Williamsburg and the area surrounding William and Mary College.  On pages 114-15, Seaman describes how Celeste takes Bitsy on a tour of the area on Duke of Gloucester Street, which leads out of the College, and her descriptions as the girls walk down the street and take side trips on cross-streets is pretty dead-on - if you pull up a map of Williamstown and follow the girls' journey, you'll be able to see Bruton Parish Church (p. 114), the Wythe Mansion facing Palace Green (p. 114), the Governor's Palace (pp. 114-15), and circle around to see the old St. George Tucker House (p. 115) before returning to Duke of Gloucester Street ... the Court House, the Paradise House, the Raleigh Tavern - it's literally a wonderful tour of the collegiate Williamsburg that is very much based in reality.

 

There is only one internal illustration, a frontis piece, as rendered by Irving Nurick.  I've never heard of him, so looking online, found that he was best known for his illustrations in early 20th century magazines, as well as World War II posters and illustrations for books.  His frontis piece for this book is somewhat plain (the same art is used for the dust jacket cover); however, his two-page spread used for the front and back endpapers is quite magnificent (in my opinion).  The detail is absolutely gorgeous - the building in the background, the trees, the statue, the college students milling about.  I would definitely love to  find other books for which he has provided illustrations.

Having now read my first Augusta Huiell Seaman book, I am definitely ready for more!

RATING:  9 old scrapbooks with glued pages out of 10 for taking a haunted house, a possible treasure, and a historical secret and mixing them into a great little mystery!

Return to Peyton Place - the Sensational Sequel to the Explosive Novel of a New England Town

Three years after the publication of Peyton Place, and two years after it was made into a feature film, author Grace Metalious returned to her fictional New England town and its startling cast of characters and sensational stories in a sequel that was aptly titled Return to Peyton Place.  Metalious picks up the story two years after the ending of the original, and readers were likely shocked to discover that there were still more secrets, more lies, and more controversial stories to be told about Allison MacKenzie, Selena Cross, Betty Anderson, Jennifer Carter, and the rest of the denizens of quiet, little Peyton Place...

Return to Peyton Place picks up with Allison still waiting to see if her first novel, Samuel's Castle, is going to be picked up by a publisher.  Ted Carter is having to break the news to Selena Cross that he has married another woman while at law school.  David Noyes is patiently waiting for his chance with Allison.  Roberta Carter is trying to figure out what is causing the changes in her son's personality.  And the whole town of Peyton Place is settling in for another winter, thinking that all of the horrific events of the past are just that - in the past.  Little do they realize that come Spring, all of that and more are about to resurface in the public eye in the most sensationalized way imaginable, painting the town - and all of its citizens, in the public spotlight and definitely NOT in a good way.  For, you see, Allison's novel finds its publishers - and its publisher will do everything and anything to make sure it is a bestseller, including hiring a marketing man who can turn anything to gold with his magic touch ... including the brilliant idea of sending some preview copies of the books to the citizens of Peyton Place to get their thoughts on the novel written by one of their own...

Metalious does not hold back with this sequel, that's for sure.  While the first book had to be scandalous for its time, dealing with incest, abortions, blackmail, adultery, rape, murder, and just about every other soap opera story that is taken for granted in today's storytelling, this book delves more into the sexual nature of the characters, giving readers more detailed (but not pornographic, thankfully) descriptions of the torrid love affairs of Allison MacKenzie and Selena Cross.  While Allison seems to have found the one lover that satisfies her in every way, poor Selena cannot seem to let go of what happened in the first book, and she can't let herself fall for the one man who would truly be good for her.  And poor Ted Carter.  Not only does he fail to realize his new wife is using him, he is painfully unaware that his mother is listening from the next room, shocked by the lascivious nature of her daughter-in-law and the sinful things she forces her husband to go - and, of course, there's the fact that Jennifer Carter knows that Roberta Carter is in the next room, and so she is purposefully putting on a show just to drive her mother-in-law crazy!

This, of course, is on top of the murder plot as one of the characters maps out a plan to get rid of her perceived nemesis, only to have the tables turned and wind up a victim of her own machinations!  And the blackmailing of a grandfather who only wants to see his dead son's only child - Betty Anderson knows exactly what her son is worth to her father-in-law, and she intends to milk him for every dime she can get!  And poor Michael Rossi - when Samuel's Castle is published, he faces the wrath of the town all because he married Allison's mother, and he loses his job at the school and finds that no one in town, or even in the surrounding towns, will hire him now.  And speaking of Samuel's Castle, what happens when Hollywood buys the rights to turn the book into a film, and Allison is asked to come out as a consultant?  Well, she quickly learns that all of the success she now has may not be worth the price tag that comes with it.

And above all else - what will happen when Constance MacKenzie Rossi learns that her daughter is following in her footsteps and has dived right into a relationship with a married man?

I'm a little disappointed that we don't get more of Norman Page in this sequel.  I really liked his character in the first book, and while we do get a small taste of him in the first part, the remaining three parts of the book are completely devoid of Norman and his mother.  

There are a couple of items that caught my eye while reading.  One is the name of a character who was an ex-husband of an actress Allison meets while in Hollywood.  She says his name is "John Gresham" (p. 192), and it immediately made me think of John Grisham, who has authored so many legal-related thrillers in the last decade or two.  Obviously, this book was written well before he became an author, but the similarity did make me smile.  The other thing was a speech given by Doc Matthew Swain at a school board meeting where the board has voted to fire Michael Rossi.  The words he had to say are truly prophetic:

We've joined the rest of the country with a vengeance.  We're setting back the clocks and imitating the witch hunters who are a shame on the pages of our history.  We who prided ourselves above all else on our individualism are now demanding that everyone conform.  Be like us, think like us - or into exile you go.  (p. 115).

It is uncanny just how much our country is doing exactly this today.  It seems we need Doc Swain to take the microphone and speak out to the citizens of our country today!

I watched the Peyton Place film after reading the first book, and now that I've finished the sequel, I'm going to sit down and watch the film version of Return to Peyton Place, which hit the big screens in 1961, two years after the book was published.  I'm aware that this movie has an entirely different cast, so I'll be curious to see how that works and whether the film mirrors the book as much as the first film did for the original novel.

Sadly, Metalious wrote no more stories about the characters in this little New England town, so I suppose the only chance I'll have to see more of Allison, Constance, Mike, Selena, and the rest of the gang will be to hunt down the box sets of the television version of Peyton Place and see what stories they hold...

RATING:  7 glasses of champagne out of 10 for reminding readers that even the smallest of towns can hide some pretty dark and horrific secrets!