The Boxcar Children: Great Adventure 5 - The Khipu and The Final Key

The Boxcar Children
The Khipu and The Final Key
Publisher - Albert Whitman & Co.
Publication Date (October 2017)
ISBN 10 - 0807506826
ISBN 13 - 978-0807506820
135 pages of story

And so the Boxcar Children's "Great Adventure" reaches its conclusion in this fifth and final part of this mini-series within a series. Although the five books in this mini-series should have been numbered 141 - 145, the publisher labeled them as "Great Adventure" books 1 through 5 instead. The next book after this picked back up the numbering with 146.

All of that aside, The Khipu and The Final Key provided a satisfying, albeit somewhat rushed conclusion to the Boxcar Children's worldwide adventure. In the last mystery, the children discovered that their pilot, Mr. Ganert, is a spy for the Argents, who are determined to steal the artifacts that the Alden children are working so fervently to return to their rightful owners. (Of course, as revealed in the book, if you look at Mr. Ganert's name, it is basically the letters of Argent rearranged.) Now, as they prepare to return the last item on their list, the children must find away to do so without revealing the fact that they know Ganert is a spy - and still manage to return the object.

But they don't know where they are going, and the don't even have the object they are to return!

Authors Dee Garretson and JM Lee send the children on a mission to South America, using the clue they discover inside the Reddimus box to locate the rare and exotic flower and deliver it to a botanist in Argentina. Along the way, they manage to evade Mr. Ganert, but they face off against the devious and determine Argent agent, Anna, not once, but twice, in their efforts to safely deliver the flower.
Garretson and Lee do provide some exciting moments, but nothing overtly dangerous (after all, these children are still very young). The clues are also intriguing without being overly difficult. For its intended audience, the book is a great conclusion to this huge, five-part adventure.

And I suppose that is where my problem lies. I am reading the book as an adult, so I am taking my adult perspective into the story.  Seriously, what adults would allow four children, all under the age of 15, to go traipsing around the world without a chaperone? What guardian would allow the four children in whose care they are entrusted to leave a perfectly safe train to go hiking through the woods to an unknown destination, all the while knowing that some not-so-nice adults are looking for them, to steal the package they are carrying - and not only allow them to do it, but encourage them to do it? And what international agency would enlist the aid of four children to deliver packages around the world, when their adult agents were having difficulty evading the evil Argents?

I suppose as a pre-teen, the intended audience for this series, the stories would be amazing. I mean, isn't that every child's dream? To be free of parental control and go traveling the world in search of adventure? Besides, looking back, when I read the Nancy Drew series as a child, I did enjoy the fact that a teenager not only had so much freedom, but that she was respected by pretty much every adult she met.  And let's face it - the Boxcar Children manage to outwit and out-think all of the adults around them and solve the mystery, every time. So, from that perspective, I would have to say this five-book adventure was fairly well-written and would certainly draw in children who crave mystery and adventure in their stories.  (Let's just hope the children reading these books don't get it into their head that they can do these things without adult supervision!)

RATING:  7 jars of Dulce de Leche out of 10 for wrapping up this mystery adventure series in a fun and enjoyable way.

The Boxcar Children: Great Adventure 4 - The Shackleton Sabotage

After the difficulty of making it through the last book I read, I knew I needed something quick and enjoyable, so I reached out for the fourth part of this Boxcar Children story.  The books may be intended for young readers, but the stories themselves are fun, easy to read, and usually bring a smile or two to my face while I am reading them, making this the perfect choice.

The Shackleton Sabotage continues the kids' adventures around the world as they return stolen artifacts on behalf of the Reddimus Society.  The book opens with the Alden children headed for Australia to return an old coin with a hole in the center.  They are greeted by their aunt, who joins them on this latest leg of their journey, and together they visit various sites throughout the country before returning the coin to a doctor just off the coast of the land down under.  The second half of the book finds the four children, along with their aunt, traveling down to the very far south region of Antarctica (where, conveniently enough, not only does their aunt know a researcher and historian who is working there, but he turns out to be the Reddimus agent to whom they have to return the sixth relic!).

As always, there are plenty of coincidences to help the children get where they are going and have just the right amount of contacts to stay on track and stay safe, even with the Argents' agents hot on their trail.  Let's face it, there has to be a large amount of suspension of disbelief for these books to work, as no parent, grandparent, or guardian in their right mind would send four children around the world to return stolen relics, knowing that dangerous spies and criminals are after those very relics.  Further, there is no secret society in this world (or any other, for that matter!) who would use children, all under the age of 15, to do their work for them.

But, this is a children's mystery, after all, and in order to work, the children, no matter their ages, must have complete autonomy.  At least the author maintains their childhood, as there are plenty of things these kids don't know about the countries they visit, and the reactions of Benny and Violet (the two youngest) to the new venues and new experiences are very definitely child-like and realistic.  That, I will admit, is part of what makes these books fun, as the reader gets to experience some of these things through the eyes of a young child, and it can bring back good memories of being so young and innocent.

The one thing I do find interesting about this book is the title.  The Shackleton Sabotage.  From that title, one would think that the Argents would be up to something sinister in that Antarctic station, and that they would be creating havoc by sabotaging something there. Yet (and perhaps this might be considered a spoiler!), absolutely nothing sinister, deadly, dangerous, or even remotely villainous happens in Shackleton. In fact, there is no evidence at all that the Argents' agents even followed the children to Shackleton. So, it leaves me wondering what prompted them to choose this title for the book?

Aside from that, this was another fun romp with the Boxcar Children, and I look forward to seeing how this all concludes in the next book (particularly since the kids have finally figured out which of their so-called friends has actually been spying on them for the Argents!).

RATING:  7 dingoes on the loose out of 10 for showing the world just how independent children can be - I mean, after all, who needs parental supervision?  (Okay, okay, I'll keep my sarcasm in check from now on...)

The Boxcar Children: Great Adventure 3 - The Detour of the Elephants

The Boxcar Children's 75th Anniversary celebration continues with this third book in the "Great Adventure" series. And as I continue reading this five-part mystery/adventure, I discovered that this "Great Adventure" series falls outside the ongoing mystery series - for Amazon shows that once these five books are published, then the next book, The Donut Whodunnit, is listed as book 146 - which would be the correct number following The Election Day Dilemma, which was the last book published in 2016 and was numbered 145.

In any event, The Detour of the Elephants was, I thought, a rather odd name for a mystery. This series has found the four Alden children traveling the world to return priceless artifacts to their original owners, helping the super-secret Reddimus Society. And even though it is a bit of a stretch to think that any responsible adult would let four children, all under the age of 16, go gallivanting across the globe without any parental supervision, one simply puts that factor aside for the enjoyment of the story. After visiting New Mexico, Egypt, England, and Italy, this third installment finds the Aldens visiting Beijing, China and then Bangkok, Thailand.

Authors Dee Garretson and JM Lee provide plenty of clues for the children to solve (although they are not so difficult for any adult reader), and that is half the fun of reading the story is watching as Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny work their way through the clues to discover their destination, as well as the code necessary to open each box containing another artifact.  Garretson and Lee provide plenty of history for the two countries the siblings visit, and like with the children's mystery series of days gone by, there is plenty of knowledge to be gained about the various cultures and lifestyles of their foreign citizens.  (In a way, this "Great Adventure" is somewhat similar to the Greetings From Somewhere series for early readers - making the Boxcar Children an almost intermediate series, bridging the gap between Greetings From Somewhere and the Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew series.)

This book also features an interesting departure from the previous two books. While the rival organization, the Argents, have been following the Alden children, trying to steal the artifacts before they can be returned, their antics have been somewhat limited to simple theft. In this mystery, however, Garretson and Lee raise the stakes - for not only does the Argent society mislead the children and have them travel to Thailand unnecessarily, but the children learn there is a traitor in their midst - and while they don't know exactly who it is, they have it narrowed down to two people who are very close to them!

The art, for both the cover and the interior, by Anthony VanArsdale is beautiful.  His pencil art on the interiors is especially gorgeous to me, as I love the pencils - very reminiscent of the Ruth Sanderson art in the Nancy Drew and Bobbsey Twins books back in the early 1980s, in that there are the soft lines and curves, rather than the dark, harsh angles from a lot of pencil interior art I've seen in children's books.

Only two more books to go in this 5-part adventure, so I'm curious to see how the authors will ultimately resolve the over-arching mystery.

RATING:  7 empty camera cases out of 10 for reinvigorating a childhood favorite series of mine with a fun new mystery adventure.

The Boxcar Children: Great Adventure 2 - The Clue in the Papyrus Scroll

Authors Dee Garretson and JM Lee continue the world-traveling adventures of the four Alden children - Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny - as they seek to return a number of valuable objects to their rightful owners.  In celebration of the 75th anniversary of The Boxcar Children, Albert Whitman & Company is offering up this four-part "mini-series" of sorts that has the Alden Children aiding the Reddimum Society returning historical artifacts and other priceless memorabilia  to owners from whom they were stolen.  This "Great Adventure" began with the 146th book in the series, Journey on a Runaway Train (although the book is renumbered as "Great Adventure No. 1"), and continues now in this second book, The Clue in the Papyrus Scroll.

Again, I'm not sure I like the idea of the renumbering.  Both Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys have done this recently (and of course, back in the '70s, the Dana Girls played that same game).  I like having a series that is high in numbers, particularly well over the 100+ mark, as it gives the series a sense of history.  This whole idea these days that people want a "new number one" for their series - - well, that just isn't me!

Aside from that, the story in this book is a step above the previous book.  Yes, the four kids, all under the age of 15, have way too much freedom as they hop from one country to another, and it is rather unbelievable that so many adults would place such trust in these kids and leave them on their own to handle as many situations as they are forced to do; yet, it is rather fun to watch Henry, Jessie, Violet, and even little Benny work so hard to figure out the riddles left for them in order to solve the puzzles that will lead them to the return of the next treasure.

In The Clue in the Papyrus Scroll, readers get to see not one, but two different treasures returned.  The first takes them to the deserts and Great Pyramids of Egypt, and such is the source of the title of the book.  The second quest takes them to Stonehenge in England, where they are nearly thwarted on their mission by the nefarious Anna Argent. Along the way, the four children have to use all of their wits (and the help of the Internet) to solve some rather unique riddles that provide the necessary clues to unlocking the packages they are delivering.  Now, being honest, the riddles were fairly easy to figure out for me (as an adult); however, for the target age group for this series, I'd say the authors did a pretty good job at providing a fun way to figure out the codes and the next destinations.

What no one seemed to do, however (and not really sure any more whose job it is in the publishing world), is edit the story.  Normally, I can overlook one, or even two, editorial misses - however, this book had some very obvious, glaring errors that could easily have been caught if someone simply read the actual story.  Examples include:

p. 17 - "I had to attend in meeting in Cairo."  Clearly, it should have read "I had to attend a meeting in Cairo"

p. 42 - "A camel's gait is not a smooth as the way a horse walks..." Here, it obviously should have read "A camel's gait is not as smooth as..."

p. 60 - Rania says, "I'll stay with the car." Yet, on the very next page, it says the Aldens and Rania walk over to the professor. Then, on page 65, it says that Violet ran over and got Rania, and they followed Ken. However, on page 70, when the children come out of the pyramid, it says that Rania and one of the Egyptian policeman stood outside, waiting for them. There is a plain case of continuity error here that should not have been missed.

p. 76 - "They ... went through the airport where was a car waiting to take them..." The mistake this time was the omission of a word, as the line should have read "where there was a car waiting to take them..."

It concerns me that editing on books these days has become a real issue, particularly in children's books, as they are the ones who are learning how to read and write - and what do glaring errors such as these teach our children?

I suppose we'll have to wait and see what the third book in the "Great Adventure" holds...

RATING:  6 shy and hungry giraffes out of 10 for searching for ways to keep a series that is 75 years old fresh and accessible to today's readers (just work on the editing!)

The Boxcar Children: Great Adventure 1 - Journey on a Runaway Train

Growing up, I can remember reading "The Boxcar Children" series of books from my school library.  Back then, there were only 19 books in the series, all written by the series creator, Gertrude Chandler Warner. I enjoyed reading the stories about Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny, four children whose parents died and who found themselves on their own.  They discovered an abandoned boxcar, which they quickly turned into their home.  Eventually, they found their grandfather, and he brought the boxcar to his property, so that the four Alden children could always have it as a memory of their first adventure on their own.

Fast forward to 2015, when I stumbled across an animated version of the first book, simply titled The Boxcar Children.  Having fond memories of the series, I picked it up and enjoyed it immensely.  At my local Barnes and Noble recently, I found that, like so many other ongoing series), the publisher has rebooted The Boxcar Children.  After 145 mysteries (there being a 15-year gap between Warner's last book #19 - Benny Uncovers a Mystery and the first of many books written by unnamed ghostwriters), Albert Whitman & Company has now brought The Boxcar Children back to #1 with a new "Great Adventure" 5-part series.  I figured, what the heck - I loved them as a kid, let's see what they are like now.

Journey on a Runaway Train, written by Dee Garretson and JM Lee, reconnects the children with their love of trains.  It's funny to note that just like Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, the four Alden children have not aged a bit - Henry is still 14, his sister Jessie is still 12, their younger sister Violet is still 10, and the youngest, Benny is still 6.  (However, when I did a quick search online about the series, I discovered that in the original series, Henry did age and go off to college in the eighth book, The Lighthouse Mystery - I didn't remember that at all).  Garretson and Lee provide readers with a pretty good set up for the mystery - a stranger shows up at the house with a flyer advertising an antique store, but the children and their grandfather soon discover that the stranger had an ulterior motive!  The antique trunk that stores the children's passports and other important papers has an odd new addition - a tiny painted ceramic turtle.  The family soon discovers that not everything is what it seems, and the children realize that there's a mystery to be solved.

The mystery quickly becomes an adventure, as the children are introduced to the Silverton family, who are involved in a very unique business - locating historical and ancient items that have been stolen and discreetly returning them to their original owners.  Where the story suddenly becomes out of the realm of reality is when the matriarch of the Silverton family asks the Alden children to basically become her agents and deliver a group of boxed items to a contact in New Mexico so that they can be returned to their rightful owners.  While I could find plausibility if this were a Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew mystery, where the teen detectives were in their upper teens and used to traveling around the world solving mysteries on their own, I find it highly unlikely and extremely unbelievable that such an important and most likely very dangerous task would be given to four children, three of whom aren't even teenagers yet!

Pushing that unbelievability factor aside for the moment, the plot does have some great moments.  There's an unexpected visitor on the train who tries to steal the items the children are supposed to be safeguarding.  There's some good, old-fashioned sleuthing in the library that hearkens back to days before cell phones and laptops that was enjoyable to read.  There's an intense chase at the airport and a sudden, unexpected take-off that leaves the children wondering if they've been kidnapped.  And readers will definitely enjoy following along with the children as they endeavor to unlock the clues they find.

I do give props to Garretson and Lee for writing the four children so appropriately for their ages.  The dialogue, the interaction, the reactions - everything about Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny coincides appropriately with their ages, so that none of them are out of character at any time (despite being thrust into a situation that is so totally inappropriate for four children of these ages).  The book ends with a set-up for the next in this "Great Adventure" series, a hook to hopefully entice readers to buy the next book in the series (which, I'll admit, I've already bought...we'll see how well it holds up against this one).

RATING:  7 pirates-turned-delivery-men out of 10 for reviving a love for a childhood series of books and remaining somewhat faithful to the original author's creations.