The Unseen Enemy - a Goldsmith Book for Boys and Girls

This book was another one of those spur of the moment purchases for me.  I am not usually prone to picking up books that aren't a part of a series; however, having read one of Baxter's other books (Becky Bryan's Secret) and rather enjoying it, I thought I would give this one a chance.  Both the title and the cover art are rather unusual for a children's mystery, but the description of the story on the inside front flap of the dust jacket was enough to pique my curiosity.  This is the second of three books authored by Betty Baxter Anderson that were published under the name "Betty Baxter."  Anderson also wrote books under the pen name "Alice Anson" and her her given name of "Betty Baxter Anderson."  As much as I enjoyed the previous book, I admit I enjoyed this story even more!

 

The Unseen Enemy follows two girls - Polly Squires and Margot Graham - during their summer between high school and beginning university, where they plan to study social services.  In order to get a head start, Polly gets the bright idea of helping out at "Neighborhood House," a community center that helps children in the local area by giving them a place for activities while not at school.  But they quickly learn that the Neighborhood House is not doing well, and that the man who donated the house upon his death (one Doctor Brighton) put a stipulation into his will - if after 20 years, the House was not succeeding and a relative wanted to claim the house, they could!  Well, that 20 years is about expired, and it seems the House is having a number of problems.  First, a young girl goes missing, only to be discovered later asleep in the attic; then a young boy is injured on some climbing bars, which bars strangely disappear right after the incident; after that, another young boy falls into the water during a scavenger hunt, nearly injuring himself; then a young girl who was to be the lead in a benefit play for the House goes missing, only to be discovered later to have been struck by a car!  And what is even worse, each of these events somehow makes it into the local newspaper, despite the best efforts of Polly, Margot, and Sage Brian (who manages the House) to keep it quite.

 

An "unseen enemy" is determined to see the House fail, but the question remains:  why?  As far as anyone knows, once Doctor Brighton's wife died, years after his own death, there were no living relatives to claim the house.  So, then why is someone so determined to see Miss Brian fail in managing the Neighborhood House for the children?  Polly is determined to garner good publicity for the house, since the council overseeing funds for the House is preparing to pull those funds to give them elsewhere.  But her and Margot's plans are made difficult by Catherine Peasley, the spoiled daughter of a rather affluent man who happens to also be the president of the board who oversees the House.  Catherine could definitely give Lettie Briggs (from the Dana Girls series) a run for her money when it comes to causing trouble and using her money and family's power to get her own way.  When Polly and Margot devise a scavenger hunt for the children, Catherine takes charge and makes it way more extravagant.  When Polly and Margot plan the children's play as a fundraiser to get funds for the House, Catherine becomes angry and bitter that she was not asked the direct the play, and she executes plans that nearly sabotage the play on its opening night.

 

Baxter-Anderson provides readers with a well-plotted mystery that has several twists and turns, and while the revelation of the person behind all of the sabotage (which, after all, is what it really is) does not come as a huge surprise, the truth behind this person's actions is not quite what the reader will expect!  The author uses some rather ingenuous red herrings, as well as some subtly-placed clues that make for a really great read. 

 

Being a Goldsmith publication, there are no internal illustrations, and the cover illustration is not credited, so I have no clue who did the art.  It is rather unique (or odd, depending on your point of view), as the grey walls and floor surround a pantry door that Polly and Margot are about to enter.  While this scene does not exactly occur within the story, it does rather hint at the climax of the tale, when the girls make the big reveal about what the crook was really after in the House and who it was that was after it.  In fact, I had to smile at the way Polly manages to pull the newspaper and the Mayor into the scene, so that all can be witness to the criminal and the revelation as to his real identity!

 

A couple of things worth noting about the book.  While none of the story takes place in Florida, there are references to St. Petersburg, Florida (p. 17), from where Catherine Peasley's family seems to have come.  And as far as where the story takes place, it is in a city called "Kenwood" located in Iowa (p. 113).  There is a Kenwood that was established in Iowa back in 1886, with the plat for the town being filed in the county courthouse in 1887.  (Note, this tiny little town should not be confused with Kenwood Park, Iowa, which is located in a different county.)  Since the author is from Iowa, it should not be a surprise that she would write about the state with which she would be familiar (although, the real town of Kenwood is nowhere near the size of the city within this book).   The author also references a luxurious hotel called the Lexington (p. 182); but the only hotel in real life that is anywhere near that would be the Lexington Inn in Bedford, Iowa, which is about two-and-one-half hours away.

 

Now there is one error in the book, and not sure how it came about.  When Polly first learns about Doctor Brighton from an elderly woman in town, she is told the Doctor's wife's name is Martha.  Throughout the book, Mrs. Brighton is always Martha - except one time, where she is called "Sarah Brighton" (p. 210).  Not sure why the sudden name change, unless the author forgot the name she was using in the rest of the story, although she does refer to her as "Martha" again just three pages later.  I suppose we can simply chalk it up to a continuity and editing error!

 

RATING:  9 beautiful old teakwood boxes out of 10 for a grand treasure-hunting, sabotage-stopping mystery with some great characters and fun mishaps! 

Dorothy Dixon and the Double Cousin - the fourth (and final) Dorothy Dixon Air Mystery Story

With this book, we reach the final adventure in the Dorothy Dixon Air Mystery Stories.  First, our young heroine had to learn how to fly (Dorothy Dixon Wins Her Wings), after which she stopped some smugglers (Dorothy Dixon and the Mystery Plane, and then she had to help find a young man find his stolen inheritance (Dorothy Dixon Solves the Conway Case).  I was curious to see what type of flying would lead Dorothy into her final mystery; what I discovered, however, is that the author (Noel Sainsbury, Jr. writing under his wife's name of Dorothy Wayne) must have run out of flying tales, as our title character never sets foot in a plane in her last adventure!  Instead, readers get a tale that is yet another twist on the whole "twins switching identities" trope in an outlandish adventure involving the United States government, spies, international thieves, and a deadly invention that could kill millions! 

 

Dorothy Dixon and the Double Cousin begins with what appears to be a simple case of mistaken identity.  While purchasing a Christmas gift for her father, Dorothy Dixon is accosted by a young man who wants to know "[h]ow in the world did you escape?" (p. 15).  Dorothy tries to ignore the man, but when he finally addresses her by the name "Janet" (p. 16), she has no choice but to set him straight.  What is rather odd is that without knowing who this man is, or ever hearing Janet's last name, Dorothy somehow knows he is referring to Janet Jordan, her first cousin (p. 17).  The author explains that Janet's and Dorothy's mothers were twins, which could account for how closely the two cousins resemble one another (p. 18), and Dorothy admits she has been mistaken for Janet before (p. 18), although this must have happened "off-screen," so to speak, since there has never been any mention of a cousin, or of the fact that Dorothy's mother had a twins sister.  In any event, this sets the stage for the latest mystery, because Dorothy learns her cousin is in serious trouble, and, of course, she is only too willing to jump in and help.

 

This final story is a departure from the previous three books.  While the first three stories involved Dorothy flying (albeit only briefly at the beginning of the third book), this book does not see Dorothy go anywhere near a plane.  Instead, she agrees to aid her cousin's fiance rescue Janet Jordan from the dilemma in which she has found herself!  Janet awakes from sleepwalking in her apartment home to find herself strategically hidden behind a screen in the room where her father is meeting with a number of business associates - unscrupulous business associates, that is!  When they discover her, she pretends to still be asleep, but the crooks do not believe her, so her father (Dorothy's uncle!) is forced to keep her locked in her room until they can determine what she knows.  Dorothy's friend, Bill Bolton, enlists the aid a Secret Service agent (Ashton Sanborn) to help them.  He immediately comes up with a plan that involves Dorothy switching places with her cousin, so she can be taken captive to the home of a professor who is creating a formula for the United States government - and who is, unwittingly, housing two foreign agents in his home who plan to steal that formula once it is complete!  It is up to Dorothy to play the innocent young Janet, who purportedly knows nothing of what is going on, while at the same time, work undercover to steal the formula before the foreign agents do!

 

This is far from your typical girls' series book mystery.  The danger is considerably greater, as Martin and Laura Lawson, the foreign agents, are murdering thieves who will not hesitate to kill anyone who keeps them from their objective (p.135)!  Dorothy is kept on her toes, especially with Mrs. Lawson, who is constantly trying to trip up "Janet" to reveal what she knows.  But Dorothy is too smart, and she eventually pits the Lawsons against one another, accusing Mr. Lawson of making overtures to her, which starts the accusations flying between the two crooks!  Meanwhile, Dorothy makes a friend in a young made named Gretchen who recognizes Dorothy as the aviatrix who she once met and got an autograph (forcing Dorothy to reveal herself and enlist Gretchen's aid).  She also has the help of the major domo of the house, Mr. Turnbridge, who, it turns out, is a Secret Service agent himself!  Dorothy has to use her wits to escape being revealed when Mr. Lawson captures her in the library right as she is about to get away with the formula!  It's a deadly showdown, with the cavalry (including Bill Bolton and Ashton Sanborn) arriving at just the right moment to save the day!

 

The book offers up some fodder for discussion, that's for sure.  First, the entire "twin cousins" premise makes me think of The Patty Duke Show (1963-66), which featured cousins, Patty and Cathy Lane, who were identical in appearance.  In more general terms, it reminds me of Mary and Marilyn: Double-Trouble Twins, published five years after this book came out, in which twin sisters that were separated at birth switch places to experience once another's life.  Then, there is the more easily recognized story, The Parent Trap, which also features twin sibling separated at birth who switch places.  This idea seems to be a common trope for children's stories.  Second, the book features some very high-level vocabulary, with words that even an English-major like me did not recognize - such as "equinoctial" (p. 31), which in this case, refers to strong storms, usually experienced in autumn; "demitasse" (p. 39), which refers to a small cup, typically of ceramic or porcelain, used to serve strong coffee; "legerdemain" (p. 62), which is the skillful use of one's hands, normally when performing conjuring tricks; "trousseau" (p. 65), which is a collection of clothing, linens, and personal items a bride assembles for her marriage; and "somnambulistic" (p. 174), which refers to the actions, characteristics, or state of being one who sleepwalks.  The book definitely offers some interesting new vocabulary!

 

There is one particular scene of dialogue that made me do a double-take (no pun intended) and had my laughing out loud.  When Janet's fiance is describing the trouble his bride-to-be faces, he informs Dorothy, Bill, and Ashton that she is to be moved from her apartment to the professor's house at midnight that very evening, to which the Secret Service agent replies, "It is now one-thirty.  That gives us exactly eleven and a half hours in which to get her out of their hands" (p. 29).  Now, I may not be a fan of math, but even I know that eleven and a half hours after one-thirty would be one in the morning, not midnight!  Apparently, not only could the author not count, but neither could the editor nor the publisher, since no one caught the error before the book went to print!

 

And with this, we've reached the end of the Dorothy Dixon Air Mystery Series (although this book had no airplane flights or mysteries in the air!).  There is a possibility that Dorothy appeared in at least one of Bill Bolton's books, as this one has a reference to Bill Bolton and the Winged Cartwheels (p. 24), and a quick glance through the pages of that book reveals several references to "Mr. Dixon" - so, at some point, I'll have to read that one and see if our adventure-loving aviatrix appears there.  I would be curious to know if this series ended due to low sales, due to lack of interest by the publisher, or due to Sainsbury's own lack of interest in continuing the series.

 

RATING:   8 shivering fox terrier puppies out of 10 for sending Dorothy Dixon off with one wild tale of spies, deadly weapon formulas, undercover work, and cousins ... identical cousins ... two of a kind!

Dorothy Dixon Solves the Conway Case - the third Dorothy Dixon Air Mystery Story

And so we come to the third book in the Dorothy Dixon Air Mystery Stories.  After an introductory story in which Dorothy earns her wings and captures some thieves (Dorothy Dixon Wins Her Wings) and a follow-up tale in which she foils the plans of some smugglers (Dorothy Dixon and the Mystery Plane), I had hopes that we would have yet another challenging adventure that Dorothy (and, yes, Bill Bolton returns once again - poor girl cannot seem to have her a story without him!) would have to weather - and when I say weather, I mean it (see below)!  Author Dorothy Wayne (better known as Lt. Noel Sainsbury, Jr.) seems to rely on a number of the same tropes as this third book in the series features many similar scenes that we saw in the first two books - although, Dorothy does finally shine as the quick-thinking sleuth and strong leader we all knew she could be if given the chance!

 

Dorothy Dixon Solves the Conway Case opens with our young aviatrix doing what she loves most - flying her plane, Will-O-The-Wisp (or "Wispy," for short) with her best friend, Betty, along for the ride. The only problem is, they are flying in the middle of a rough storm, and good ol' Wispy is running extremely low on gas.  Thus, Dorothy is forced to find a place for an emergency landing in the torrential downpour while flying over a dark area of forest!  Leave it to Sainsbury to put Dorothy in dire danger from the very first page - this type of situation definitely catches the reader's attention from the get-go. Of course, Dorothy, being the hero of the story, manages to set the plane down safely, and she and Betty make their way through the storm and find a secluded house (gee, it seems like each of these mysteries involves a secluded house in some form) where they think they will get shelter.  But, alas, fate has other plans - instead of a welcome party, the girls peer in the window to find a young man tied to a chair, while two other men are questioning him harshly about something (hmmmm, this also seems to be a recurring theme in this series - someone being held captive in the secluded house).  And so, the mystery begins!

 

This time around, Dorothy uses her own ingenuity, rather than relying on Bill Bolton, to rescue the young man - and Sainsbury, to his credit, gives her the quick thinking needed to get the men out of the house so she and Betty can rescue the captive man.  He turns out to be George Conway, and once untied, he and Betty form an immediate attraction; but Dorothy does not give them time to think about that, as she calls in some aid in the form of Bill Bolton, who brings along Terry Walters to help him refuel Dorothy's plane.  It is at this point we get some of the story about George Conway and the mystery surrounding his father and why so many people are interested in George, that small house his father left him, and a book titled Aircraft Power Plants.   None of it makes sense to George, but Dorothy suspects it all comes down to money in some form or fashion.

 

Sainsbury spends in inordinate amount of time on Dorothy and Bill's tramp through the woods, as they try to escape the men with guns who are after them (mistakenly believing Bill is actually George Conway!), and chapters are spent on their running in the rain through the wooded forest and up a dangerously steep cliffside (that, conveniently, Terry had previously hiked and found a secret way to climb up the side of it).  He eventually gets the duo to a cabin in the protected woodland area, which is inhabited by an old man named Abe Lincoln River "known to the world at large as Ol' Man River, but to his friends he's Uncle Abe" (p. 160).  He takes an instant liking to Dorothy and Bill and helps them out of a number of tight situations through the rest of the book.  

 

What the reader must realize is that Uncle Abe (or Ol' Man River, if you prefer) is a character that is a product of the time when this book was written. From the moment his is introduced as "an ancient, white haired negro" (p. 152), to the dialect he is given by Sainsbury (i.e., "Lordy, Lordy, you chillen is sho' 'nuf half drown'. But we's gwine ter fix date sho' nuf in a jiffy" [p. 154]), it is clear he is an over-the-top stereotype of how African-Americans were portrayed in the early part of the twentieth century, particularly in literature.  The references to Uncle Abe as "the old darky" (p. 156) and even the self-proclaimed "ol' niggeh" (p. 161) must be read in the context of the time, with an understanding that such terms, while not appropriate today by any means, were not considered in same way back in 1933 when this book was published.  Uncle Abe is a lovable character in the story, and he has no problem standing up to the white landowners who try to bully him into revealing Dorothy and Bill's whereabouts. In fact, without Uncle Abe, the two heroes would never have been able to sneak their way into the great house on the hill, rescue their friends, and reveal the crooks for who they are!

 

Sainsbury once again keeps his story real by integrating non-fictional locations into the book, such as references to "Route 124," a road "from Poundridge Village that runs to South Salem..." (p. 96).  Some quick research reveals that New York State Route 124 (called "Salem Road") is a nearly 5-mile road that connects Pound Ridge to South Salem, running through a forested area, just as it is described in the book.  And since the previous books have made it clear the Dixons and Boltons live in New York, around the tip of Long Island, then this area would not be far-fetched at all as a place where Dorothy is forced to land while flying.  There is also an interesting reference to "Bull" Durham (p. 78), but not the one from the real world.  In the story, Bull Durham is Terry's cousin, Ed Durham, who played football for the Lawrenceville university team; in the real world, however, Bull Durham was a baseball player who played for various teams in the first decade of the twentieth century.  While not a direct reference, it was probably a subtle homage to the sports hero.

 

Something else I found interesting is the author's use of the Bible in the story.  At one point, Uncle Abe is telling Dorothy and Bill how he came to be there in that cabin in the forest, and he says, "De Good Book say, 'Him what has, gits, and him what ain't got nuffin' gits dat nuffin' tak'n away'..." (p. 165). This is a paraphrased version of Matthew 13:12, which says, "For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance; but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath."  This statement was made by Jesus to his disciples, just after telling the parable of the sower and the seeds.  Commentaries on the matter indicate the verse is referring to spiritual awareness: a man who has a desire to learn more about God and to do His will shall see his knowledge and understanding increased, but those who refuse to listen and believe will have what little understanding they may have had taken away.  Sainsbury takes the verse to refer to Uncle Abe and the comfort he lost with his previous master in the South to the lonely, impoverished existence he now lives.

 

While the adventure and danger are kept at a high level throughout the story, the mystery itself is somewhat subdued and not a major portion of the story; in fact, its solution is done "off-screen," so to speak, and we learn of how Dorothy uncovered the whereabouts of the missing patents owned by George's father from the crook's cook, who helped Dorothy, Bill, and Uncle Abe when they snuck into the great house in order to rescue their friends.  I found that to be somewhat of a let down, as I would have loved to have seen (or, rather, read) Dorothy's making the big find in the presence of George Conway and all of her friends.  I supposed Sainsbury may have been running out of room, so he had to wrap up this adventure so as to not exceed whatever page count or word count restrictions he had for the book.

 

Before I end this post, there is one scene at the end that had me scratching my head.  After everything is wrapped up, Dorothy and Bill take a test run in her plane in order to test one of Conway's patents - and after spending more than 100 hours straight in the air without refueling once, the plane comes in for a perfect landing.  What is unexplainable is that when the mechanics open the door, they find "side by side, grimy, worn, unkempt, were Dorothy Dixon and Bill Bolton, sleeping like children!" (p. 247).  How in the world did they land the plane if they were both fast asleep?  I did a search to see if there were automatic pilots in the 1930s that could have landed a plane, but it seems the first successful, fully automatic landing did not occur until 1937, some four years after this book.  Thus, we are left with one mystery that will never be solved...

 

RATING:  8 faded blue flannel shirts with matching overalls out of 10 for a mystery that has very little flying and lots of running, sneaking around, and climbing!

Dorothy Dixon and the Mystery Plane - the second Dorothy Dixon Air Mystery Story

The second book in the Dorothy Dixon Air Mystery Stories was just as enjoyable as the first.  Author Dorothy Wayne (in reality, Lt. Noel Sainsbury, Jr.) offers up a stronger mystery this time around, and while Sainsury's other series star, Bill Bolton, does appear in the story, he does not show up until nearly half way through the book.  The book was published with the same dust jacket cover art as the first book (as well as the third and fourth book) - seems like the publisher, Goldsmith, often used the same cover art for an entire series, such as the Penny Nichols series, the Peggy Stewart series, the Merriweather Girls series, and others.  This book does offer one difference, however - there is a dedication at the front:  "To Winkie, who has had a finger in each of her Mummy's books."  While I could find no direct link, it is likely this is a reference to Sainsbury's daughter with Dorothy Wayne Illick, his second wife (and from whose name came his pseudonym for this series), as his daughter from his first marriage died while still an infant (Noel Everingham Sainsbury).

 

Dorothy Dixon and the Mystery Plane seems to be set some months after the events in the first book.  Not only is Dorothy now a licensed pilot, having completed all of her training, but her father has purchased her a plane of her own (confirming for the reader that Mr. Dixon's job as the president of the town bank has made him quite wealthy!).  In addition, the cast of characters in Dorothy Dixon's world is expanded, as readers get to meet Terry Walters, a blond-headed young man who could potentially be a love interest for Dorothy.  Readers are also introduced to Phil Stanton and Betty Mayo, two more friends who are sharing an afternoon in the water at the beach club as the book opens.  Before the first chapter ends, the "mystery plane" in the title appears, and the bearded man flying it, after being forced to make a landing in the water not far from where the young people are splashing around in the Long Island Sound (more on that location later...), makes it clear Dorothy and her friends need to steer clear of him!

 

It seems that the "mystery plane" as Terry as dubbed it (p. 19) seems to fly the same route over that area at the same time every day.  After her encounter with the pilot, Dorothy suspects something is not right, and when Terry goes missing and Dorothy herself is nearly kidnapped, she knows for sure that the man and his plane are somehow involved.  Despite his concern for his daughter, Mr. Dixon does not stop her from investigating, particularly when Terry remains missing.  Dorothy takes her plane up into the sky, hoping to follow the mystery plane and learn where it is headed each day.  Of course, weather interferes, and she must face great danger in some thick fog before finally uncovering a small cottage some miles down the shore.  She concocts a plan that she feels will enable her to uncover the truth - but all it ultimately does is get her knocked unconscious, kidnapped, taken to another location, and ultimately rescued by none other than Bil Bolton (remember, I did say he ultimately appears in the story!).  He reveals he is working a case for the government, trying to find some diamond smugglers, and wouldn't you know it - that happens to be the very criminal activity Dorothy has stumbled upon!

 

Sainsbury created a wonderful pair of detectives with Dorothy and Bill - they are a semi-comedic duo who share some fun banter, face plenty of danger together, and manage to outwit criminals of pretty much any nature. We even get another reference to Dorothy as "Miss Sherlock Holmes, the famous lady sleuthhound who solved the New Canaan Bank mystery" (p. 181), referring to the first book.  Despite this being Dorothy Dixon's series, I am rather glad the author has kept Bill coming into the stories, as he compliments the main character nicely.  I just wish he allowed Dorothy to take a stronger role in the actual planning and executing of those plans.  Instead, Mr. Dixon has to remind her of her place, sternly telling her, "...if you're going on these patrols, just remember that [Bill] is the captain of the outfit and must have obedience" (p. 185), further informing her that her job "is to do what you're told and let your captain do the thinking" (p. 185).  At that point, I almost wished Dorothy had talked back to her father, or struck off on her own and proved she was capable on her own!  But, I supposed despite the plethora of series books sporting strong-willed and determined female protagonists, Sainsbury could not let go of some of the more male-dominated lines of thinking in those days, and it came out in his writing.

 

Since Dorothy already had all of her training behind her, the story did not delve greatly into the technicalities of aviation as the last book did, and readers get more of the mystery in this one.  The danger level is definitely high in this one, what with the kidnapping, the foggy aerial mishaps, and a purposeful ramming of boats in order to keep the smugglers from grabbing their loot from the water.  The climactic chapters find Dorothy and Bill following the criminals' trail through a dark tunnel into an old, abandoned castle, where they find the captive Terry and face off with guns against the smuggling mastermind and his henchmen.  And yes, you read that right.  Once again, Dorothy faces the enemy with a gun in hand, more than once in this book!  She carries a revolver (p. 85) without any trepidation, and in the final face-off, Dorothy, Bill, and Terry all three are brandishing guns (p. 242).

 

Now, back to the location of this mystery.  It is stated numerous times throughout the book that Dorothy and her friends live in New Canaan, which apparently located not far inland from the Long Island Sound (p. 29), on the Connecticut side.  New Canaan is "slightly under eight miles" from the coastal town of Tokeneke (p. 29) - which is true, as a map shows that Tokeneke and New Canaan are only 6.6 miles apart.  Sainsbury also references Lloyd's Neck, which he indicates is "just west of Oyster Bay" to the "farther side of Smithtown Bay, a distance of fifteen or sixteen miles" (p. 58).  Once again, a map of the area shows these descriptions as accurate, as Oyster Bay is approximately 15 - 20 miles from Smithtown, New York!  I love when authors employ this level of reality within their stories, as it gives them some grounding in reality to help make up for some of the more outlandish and unbelievable antics of the characters.

 

What is funny about the references to Long Island Sound, as well as North Fork and South Fork, is the fact that I just recently finished another book set in the same location (Secret at Orient Point).  These two books were published more than 50 years apart and intended for two completely different types of audiences; so what are the odds that in just a matter of a couple of weeks, I would have read both books set in the same location?  And here we thought it was just children's series books that were full of coincidences!

 

One final thing to note - the author not only has Bill Bolton appear and take an active part in the story, but he specifically references on of Bill Bolton's books!  When Bill and Dorothy are talking, he reminds Dorothy of his adventure with "the Winged Cartwheels" (p. 115), for which there is an asterisk that gives a reference at the bottom of the page to inform readers to See Bill Bolton and The Winged Cartwheels. Now that is an interesting cross-promotion for a boys' series book in a girls' series book.  I have to wonder just how rare this kind of specific cross-promotion was!

 

RATING:  10 small white boxes filled with diamonds out of 10 for an exciting mystery that braves the foggy skies and weathers the stormy waves to stop a ruthless gang of smugglers!

Dorothy Dixon Wins Her Wings - the first Dorothy Dixon Air Mystery Story

It was time to start a new (well, technically it's vintage, but it's "new" to me, since I've never read it before!) series, and this time around it's the Dorothy Dixon Air Mystery Series by "Dorothy Wayne."  And, yes, I put the author's name in quotes, because that name is nothing more than a pseudonym.  As it turns out, "Dorothy Wayne" was actually Noel Sainsbury, Jr., who wrote a number of children's adventure and mystery stories during the 1920s and '30s.  A former naval aviator during the first World War, it would only make sense that his stories tend to involve aviation.  Sainsbury authored the Billy Smith series, as well as the Bill Bolton series, both of which had pilots as their protagonists.  The inside front flap of the dust jacket for this book advertises the series as a "new series of mystery books for girls - the stories are told by Dorothy Wayne, wife of Lieut. Noel Sainsbury, Jr., author of the famous Bill Bolton books."  It seems Sainsbury used his first wife's name when authoring the books, likely because it would have appeared odd to have a girls' series written by a male author.  All four books in this series were published by Goldsmith in 1933, and no more appeared after that.

 

Dorothy Dixon Wins Her Wings reads like a spin-off of Sainsbury's Bill Bolton Naval Aviation Series, which also ran for four books, and were all published in 1933.  On the first two pages, readers are not only introduced to sixteen-year old Dorothy Dixon, but the "famous" Bill Bolton as well!  Dorothy meets him while preparing to head out into the waters in her skiff, and when she realizes who he is, she exclaims, "I've read about you in the papers - and I know all about the wonderful things you've done!" (p. 16).  So, it's clear from the start that the young man had already made a name for himself as an accomplished aviator by the time this story begins.  Dorothy, on the other hand, knows nothing about aviation and quickly proves herself not so capable in the water either when her boat capsizes in the middle of a horrific storm by the end of the first chapter.  It's Bill Bolton who saves the day, however, when he pulls her out of the raging waters with his Loening amphibian (p. 33).

 

Sainsbury clearly knows his stuff, as the Loening amphibian was a real seaplane that could land on ground or water, designed by Grover Loening and first taking flight in 1923 (Loening Amphibian).  And the author definitely shared his knowledge of aviation and planes throughout the entirety of this first book, as Dorothy immediately wants to learn how to fly, and Bill graciously agrees to teach her (with both of their fathers' permission).  Sainsbury, through Bill's lessons, goes into painstaking detail at times about the various parts of the plane, the instruments and their different purposes, and pretty much everything one would need to know before taking a plane up into the air.  I have a feeling the author fudges with the timing a it, as Dorothy learns to fly in just a matter of days, while in the real world, as quick search online reveals it can take a month or two of regular, consistent training for someone to learn how to fly sufficiently to gain their private pilot's license.  I suppose, however, in a fictional tale such as this, learning to fly in a just a few days is relatively easy - especially for someone like Dorothy Dixon, who also is skilled in jiu jitsu (George Fayne, eat your heart out!) and was trained by her father in "running, boxing, fencing, swimming..." (p. 192).  Why, it seems there is nothing Dorothy Dixon can't do once she sets her mind to it!  (Gee, sound like another female teen detective?)

 

And speaking of similarities, I did find it interesting that Dorothy is the daughter of a one-parent home, yet her relationship with her father was not an affectionate one.  The author indicates that although the bond between father and daughter was strong, "especially since the mother's death some years earlier, neither was particularly demonstrative" (p. 103).  It made me stop and think that a number of these girl sleuths had only their father to raise them, although some had live-in housekeepers.  Perhaps this is why the young detectives are so strong-willed and, more often than not, well-versed in any number of physical and mental capabilities - because they were brought up with a male perspective and strong, masculine influence, which made them more capable and independent than most girls their age.

 

While a large portion of the story focuses on Dorothy's education in aviation, there is a mystery involving a robbery at the bank of which Mr. Dixon is the president.  Honestly, it's pretty obvious from the get-go who aided the thieves, but no one (including Bill and Dorothy!) seems to catch on.  The mystery takes a back-burner to the flight lessons, but once Dorothy starts to get the hang of flying, Bill suddenly reveals a hunch about there whereabouts of the thieves (in an isolated house on a hill, some miles away from town).  Rather than tell the police, the daring duo make their own way to the house and end up captives of the criminals.  It's actually a fairly exciting climax to the story, as Dorothy reveals her jiu jitsu skills, and she proves just how much she has been paying attention to her flying lessons as she takes the amphibian from the water and flies it right up to the front porch of the house where the criminals are hiding!  (Oh, and one of those criminals is not exactly who he appears to be, which made for a good twist in the story.)

 

Sainsbury is not shy about his female detective using guns (something Harriett Adams would NEVER allow for Nancy Drew!).  When Bill offers Dorothy a Colt .32 to protect herself and asks if she knows how to use it, her response is, "Certainly.  What do you expect me to do - release the safety catch and pull the trigger to see if it works?" (p. 159).  Near the end, when she flies the amphibian up to the front of the house, she does not hesitate to turn "the Browning [machine gun] into action and [send] half a belt of bullets whipping through the door," careful to "aim high [as she] had no desire to play the part of executioner" (p. 245).  Definitely not a Stratemeyer sleuth! 

 

I found the constant banter between Dorothy and Bill rather humorous, and loved that Bill playfully referred to her as "Miss Sherlock" (p. 85).  He even goes so far as to refer to himself as "Doctor Watson" (p. 89) to her Sherlock!  And I was surprised at the blatant use of brand names such as "Silvertowns" and "Goodyears" when Dorothy and Bill are discussing the kinds of tires the getaway car had (p. 90).  It's not often you see specific brand names used in a series book.

 

Finally, Sainsbury had a bit of fun at his own expense in the story.  When Bill asks Dorothy to go see a movie, she declines, informing him she has a writing club meeting that night.  She invites him to join her, but he quickly turns her down - until he learns the advisor for the group is none of than ... "Noel Sainsbury, the writer ... He was a naval aviator during the war ..." (p. 143).   How many authors have the fun of immortalizing themselves in their own stories?!

 

All four books in this series feature the same cover art, which is a scene taken right out of the second chapter, where Bill shows up to rescue Dorothy after her boat overturns.  There's no signature on the art, and like most series books of that time, no cover artist is identified on the title or copyright pages.  There are also no internal illustrations, which is typical of a lot of the Goldmith books.  The paper is also considerably cheaper, as this nearly 100 year old book has pages that are very brittle, meaning it had to be extra careful when I was reading it to make sure the pages did not crack or fall apart under my fingers.

 

While I did find the abundance of technical instructions about flying to be a bit tedious at times, the characters' banter and the mystery did more than make for it.  I found that I really enjoyed the story, and I'm looking forward to reading the next three books.

RATING:   10 pairs of yellow beach pajamas out of 10 for giving readers a spunky, new aviatrtix who is daring, adventurous, courageous, fearless, and loves to solve mysteries!

The Sacred Scimiter - a Hope Twins Adventure Story

And so we continue with the unusual adventures of Dave and Will Hope - the twin aviators who seem to be known around the world for having been the first individuals to make a non-stop flight across the Pacific Ocean.  I did not thin author William Dixon Bell could take these boys on any wilder adventures than they faced in the last book, but Bell did not disappoint.  This book finds the boys thrown smack dab into the middle of a Holy War, with warring religious factions in the Arabian deserts.  And the title?  Well, let's just say the title to this book does not actually come into play until, quite literally, the very end of the story.

 

The Sacred Scimiter picks up directly after the end of the last book. Astute readers will recall that at the end of the previous story, the Hope Twins were flying to Teheran (which, for those who do not know, is the capitol and largest city in Iran!) with Theodore Curtis and the young woman (who believed she was a goddess) they rescued from the Tibetan mountains.  Well, as this first chapter opens, the brothers and Theodore Curtis have arrived in Teheran - the only thing I was left wondering is - what happened to the girl?  There is only the briefest mention of their adventures in the previous book and how they rescued the girl; yet, there is no mention of her and Curtis falling for one another, and Curtis' decision to take her home with him. In fact, Curtis seems to have completely forgotten about her, as he chats with Dave and Will before taking off on his own.  Are readers left to believe the girl decided to take off on her own as well, or was she safely stored away somewhere, and Curtis just did not feel any need to mention her to the boys?  Whatever the reason, I must say that unresolved plot threads are always quite annoying...

 

As soon as Curtis takes off, the boys are met by a mysterious woman - a Persian woman who happens to speak English - a woman who is in desperate need of help - a woman who is being watched by a strange man with a bent nose and damaged ear - a woman who is willing to pay the boys $25,000 (which would be more than $570,000 in today's dollars!!!) to fly her anywhere and everywhere she needs to go to accomplish a mission about which she cannot tell them - a woman who, as it turns out, is not a woman at all, but a man in disguise!  Once again, the boys undertake a strange mission after being hired by a mysterious stranger (a plot element that is a commonality between the two books) - only this time, the brothers have no clue where they are heading with each flight, and they must deal with the odd bent-nosed man who keeps turning up everywhere they go.  To make matters worse, each time they land, their mysterious benefactor takes off, leaving them to fend for themselves in Arabian countries where they are looked at with suspicion and treated with less than respect.

 

The author spends a considerable amount of time talking about the Muslim religion, their religious practices, and their war against British rule.  Interestingly, this was likely taken from the real "holy war" that was going on at the time this book was written, as between 1936 and 1939, there was an Arab revolt in Palestine, fighting against the British rule and its policies related to Jewish immigration and the sale of land in the area.  In the story, Dave and Will find themselves in the middle of the war, slowly learning that their benefactor is a key player in this war.  Surprisingly, Bell does not have his twins take a side in the matter - in fact, they persistently complain about their distrust of their benefactor and their desire not to do anything illegal or that would place them in a precarious position with the laws of the lands they are forced to visit.  Ultimately, the man they are helping gets what he is after (the "sacred scimiter" that is somehow important to the Arabian cause, yet it is never mentioned or seen until the very last chapter, with its importance not explained until the very last paragraph of the book!), and the Hope twins are able to escape all of the turmoil of the area with the ability to finally get out from under the thumb of their benefactor.

 

The subject matter is a very odd one for a children's book, with a heavy emphasis on the war and the religious aspects of the people involved.  There is a certain level of mystery surrounding their benefactor's motives and real identity, and there is plenty of adventures as the boys fly from place to place; but the heavy emphasis on political and religious intrigue made this book read more like an adult story of spies and espionage than a children's mystery / adventure book.  And speaking of the religious aspect, at one point when the boys are flying over Kirkuk, which is a large oil field in Northern Iraq, their passenger points to the area that many believe to be the "fiery furnace" into which the king threw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego for refusing to worship him (p. 100).  This location is, in reality, Baba Gurgur (literally "Father of Fire" - The Eternal Fire at Baba Gurgur), which contains a fire that is alleged to have been burning for more than 4,000 years!  Bell also has the boys come across a silversmith who claims he and his people "are the famous silversmiths of Amara ... in addition are the descendants of John the Baptist" (p. 138).  This is likely a reference to the Mandaeans, who revere John the Baptist and believe he was the final and most important prophet.  Later in the story, while flying over the Dead Sea, David jokingly asks, "Do you suppose that sea is the pillar of salt that Lot's wife turned into?" (p. 189).  In addition to all of this, the author also takes the twins into what is referred to as the Great Mosque - in the book it is called "Ka'ba" (p. 217), which in the real world is more commonly spelled Kaaba (Kaaba - The Great Mosque).  Bell's explicit descriptions and references to religious locations and stories leads one to question whether Bell was a student of the world's religions, or if perhaps, he was a Christian who had a good deal of knowledge regarding other religions (and I say that because in both books, the Hope Twins are skeptical and questioning of religious beliefs that do not acknowledge the one true God and the history set forth in the Bible).

 

Thankfully, there were not more adventures of the Hope Twins written after this book.  I have no idea how these books were received back in the late 1930s when they were first published, but they definitely do not hold up well, especially against today's world views, and the plot and characters in this particular book are much too intense for a pre-teen audience.  I would have to agree with the author of the University of Texas webpage on the author, in which he states that Bell never appears "to have made a great success as an author of novels for teenage readers" (William Dixon Bell) - because based on these two books alone, I honestly cannot imagine too many teens or pre-teens who would like these books!

 

I'm just glad to have both of these behind me now, so I can move on to "hopefully" better reading!

RATING:  6 magnificently jeweled scimiters out of 10 for sending these adventurous young aviators into areas and dangers around the world that most series book writers would never dream of taking their sleuths! 

The Secret of Tibet - a Hope Twins Adventure Story

This book is part of a series featuring Will and Dave Hope, two young aviators who happen to be twin brothers.  You do not come across too many series books which feature twins (The Bobbsey Twins are probably the first, and most popular, to come to mind), so when I come across any, I pick them up.  This particular series was mentioned in a Facebook group for collectors of children's series, and thankfully, the two books were not too difficult to find with dust jacket.  Published by Goldsmith in 1938 (although one website about the author indicates this book came out in 1938, while the next came out in 1939 - William Dixon Bell - however, both of my books show a copyright date of 1938), the books feature a strong continuity, as one book picks up literally right after the ending of the book before it.

 

The Secret of Tibet introduces readers to Will and Dave Hope, twin brothers who are in Shanghai, China after winning a contest by being the first flyers to cross the Pacific Ocean non-stop.  While there, they meet a stranger by the name of Theodore Curtis, who engages their services to fly him to the hidden city of Tibet, where he believes his friend, Professor Alfred Noll, is being held captive.  The Hope twins are suspicious at first, but Curtis convinces them and offers to have the National Scientific Society pay their expenses (but, sadly, no salary).  The boys' hesitation ends when a mysterious Chinaman with a scarred face appears everywhere they turn - and when Will is knocked unconscious after catching someone trying to sabotage their plane, the brothers realize they must help Curtis, as his friend (a fellow American) could be in serious trouble!

 

The story takes some rather unusual and, well, rather unbelievable turns as it progresses.  While the fancy, trick flying could be possible, the number of instances that the plane takes off and lands in places with little runway space is a bit far-fetched.  And when the twins, along with Curtis, find the hidden village, they come across a young woman - who happens to be Caucasian! - who thinks herself a goddess (actually, she believes she is a mixture: half Drolma, goddess of mercy, and half Dordjelutru, the god of the highest mountain [p. 126]).  And she happens to be quite fluent with the English language.  And she happens to believe the scar-faced Chinaman is a ruler of the people who can be trusted.  I cannot imagine what Bell was thinking when he wrote these elements into the story.  Plus, for this to be a book aimed at "boys and girls," as the back of the dust jacket proclaims, the fact that this girl is "almost naked" (p. 123), as can be seen on the dust jacket cover art, is a bit too risque for young readers!

 

As one might expect, the story does feature a lot of flying, and there is even a battle in the sky when the Chinaman and his villainous cohort chase our twin heroes in their speedy yellow plane, shooting a machine gun at the Hope twins!  Despite the damage done to their plane, the boys manage to climb down into a wooded area in the middle of nowhere, between the mountains, to find exactly the type of wood they need to make the necessary repairs.  How convenient is that?!  Of course, the boys ultimately outwit the villains, and not only do they rescue Prof. Noll (who they find to be naked as well [p. 177] - what is it with Bell and his naked characters?), but they also manage to sneak out the young goddess girl, who takes an instant liking to Curtis and agrees to leave her home where she is worshiped to start a new life in the outside world with Theodore Curtis!

 

One thing that did surprise me (and it was a pleasant surprise, considering some of the material in this book!) was the twins' refusal to believe in reincarnation when the young "goddess" tells them she has been reincarnated a thousand times.  Dave firmly tells the girl, "...you should be ashamed to claim to be a goddess.  There is only one God - the God who moved upon the face of the waters and gathered them together.  To Him only I pray" (p. 132).  It's not very often you see a series book character so bluntly express their belief in God and to stand strong like Dave does with his conviction of there only being one true God.  Sure, other series characters make vague references to attending church on Sundays, but outside of Christian books, I cannot recall another series that states a belief in God so firmly as this one does.  It rather made up for some of the other nonsense that goes on in this story.

 

While some online sites negatively critique Bell's writing, particularly with some of his dialogue, I actually enjoyed the banter between Dave and Will - it was fun and, to a certain extent, felt natural, with the boys constantly making snarky comments to one another.  Some of the "native" language and pidgin English is rather off-putting at times; however, the depiction of the Chinaman and the other characters the Hope twins meet along the way are nothing more than a reflection of the time in which the story was written (remember, the book was published nearly 90 years ago, and American views on foreigners, particularly between the two World Wars, were not exactly respectful).  Thus, I simply put them in that context, and they did not bother me as much.

 

One thing to note - I had assumed that this book and the next one were the only two books in the "Hope Twins" series; however, it appears there was an earlier book, The Lost Aviators (published more than ten years prior in 1924) that is the first book to feature the flying brothers.  Since this book makes considerable reference to the boys' famous flight across the Pacific, and the prize money they won for making the flight, one might assume that story is told in The Lost Aviators (which, ultimately, would make this a three-book series). Yet, some online research reveals the plot of that book involves three boys who start out on a hunt for some army aviators who were lost while traveling from San Francisco to Panama (sadly, I don't find reference to the names of these young boys, so I can't be sure if two of them are the Hope twins or not!).  Therefore, until I can snag a copy of that book and read it, I cannot be sure whether it truly is a prequel to The Secret of Tibet or not.

 

Nevertheless, the next book is a direct sequel to this one (picking up literally where this one left off), so I will be curious to see what strange adventures await the twin brothers in their next adventure!

 

RATING:  7 bridges made of slender bamboo rope out of 10 for sending two teenage boys on some crazy and unbelievable adventures into unexplored terrain between the mountains of Tibet!

Becky Bryan's Secret - a Goldsmith Book for Boys and Girls

This book was an unusual pick for me.  The title is certainly not the typical "mystery" title of children's series books from back in the day, and for that matter, it was not a part of any particular series (unless you could the "Goldsmith Books for Boys and Girls" a series of sorts).  But it was one of the number of books I picked up at the estate sale down in Melbourne last year, and so it is another keepsake from the home / bookstore of a dear friend.  To be honest, knowing nothing about the book, I wasn't sure if it was really a mystery at all, because it seemed like more of a typical "girl at school" book that featured daily problems faced by young girls than a mystery itself.  But, since I bought it, figured I might as well read it.  And honestly, it gave me a bit of a surprise.

Becky Bryan's Secret is one of three books written by prolific children's book author Betty Baxter Anderson under the name of "Betty Baxter" (which is rather humorous, that the alliteration of her name matches the alliteration of her character's name!).  Anderson wrote two books under the name "Alice Anson," three under the name "Betty Baxter," and thirteen books under her given name of "Betty Baxter Anderson."  Interestingly enough, Anderson graduated from University of Iowa, the same university from which Mildred Wirt Benson graduated a few years earlier!  Apparently that university has a habit of producing some great children's book authors.

The plot for this story should come as no surprise, as it centers around the secret Becky Bryan is keeping from everyone around her. A new student in the Junior class at Kent High School, Becky is anxious to make new friends and fit in at this new school.  Hilary Porter takes an instant liking to the new girl, as does the school's football star, Tad Middleton.  The Junior class's most popular girl, Victoria Heath, though, dislikes her from the start, and the reader knows she is going to be trouble (just think of Lettie Briggs from the Dana Girls Mystery Stories, and you'll have an idea of what Victoria is like!).  Everyone is interested in knowing more about Becky, but she manages to sidestep questions about her past - as she tells her Aunt Margaret, with whom she is living, "It's just got to work, this time, Aunt Margaret" (p. 26).  The question the reader asks is - what has to work?  Why is Becky not wanting to talk about her past?  What exactly is Becky Bryan hiding?  What is her secret?

I give Baxter credit - the story is rather engaging, even where the main mystery is simply what is Becky Bryan's secret.  She plants a number of clues along the way that could mean different things ... Becky rescuing her new friend's young sister by walking along a telephone wire to the side of a building (which is represented on the cover art); a slip of the tongue when she makes reference to the "Royal" family; her ability to handle the town stable's most untamed horse; and her excitement of having her father in Florida look for information, when she told everyone she was visiting her father in Chicago for the Christmas holidays.  I'll admit, I was going back and forth between several theories - was it simply that her family was rich?  Was her family in the circus?  Was her family some sort of royalty from another country?  And Victoria's constant attempts to discredit Becky before all of the Juniors ultimately force Becky to reveal the truth.

But that truth does not come out until after Becky and Hilary are faced with an actual mystery.  A little over half-way through the book, the girls get trapped in a sudden snow storm (which, incidentally, is a scene that is depicted on the spine of the dust jacket!), and they take shelter in a small cavern they discover, which has been converted into a rather comfortable living space.  It turns out the "man-cave" belongs to Aloysius Kent, who Hilary reveals died before she was ever born and whose father is the man who founded the city of Kent, where they live (p. 182).  Hilary reveals when Aloysius died, it was believed he had money, but his wife found herself penniless, so she sold their home and moved to Florida.  While in the man-cave, the girls uncover a secret panel behind a bookcase, which contains a box that holds a large number of stocks and bonds! The girls hope these will be worth a fortune to help poor Mrs. Kent, who believed her husband resented her by leaving her nothing when he died.  It is Mrs. Kent that Becky has her father locate (and it is that final act that ultimately leads to Becky having to reveal the truth about herself to her classmates).

Baxter also includes within the story a competition among the Junior class members for a spot as editor on the school newspaper when they go into their Senior year.  The competition is between Victoria and Becky, and as expected, Victoria is not above doing some underhanded things in order to get Becky kicked out of the competition.  Baxter also throws in some important football games for the school, as they do their best to make it to the state competition, and an inadvertent accident at Becky's Halloween party leaves poor Tad with a sprained ankle, unable to play - which only leads to more gossip and tricks from Victoria.  As can be expected from a book from this era, things manage to all work out in Becky's favor, and she even makes the decision to stay in Kent and finish her Senior year with all of her newfound friends.

A couple of notes about the book.  First, I was surprised when Hilary makes the exclamation, "Oh, my great and sainted Aunt Harriet!" (p. 93).  I had never seen a phrase such as this before reading the Penny Parker series, where Wirt uses that exclamation in several of her books. From what I and my fellow book club members were able to learn, the phrase "my great aunt" originated in British novels and short stories from the late 1800s and early 1900s, and it is an expression of surprise or consternation.  What's funny in this book, though, is Baxter actually has Becky respond to that exclamation in a manner that shows she has never heard it before, as Becky says, "Her name is Margaret [referring to her actual aunt], not Harriet, and she's my aunt, and not sainted" (p. 93).  That response made me laugh out loud.

Second, when Victoria and her cronies are continuing to decry Becky for not revealing her past, Hilary provides a sarcastic response, telling them that "Becky is really a princess of the banished royal house of Russia, who was stolen from her crib by the gypsies.  She was brought to this country by the Canadian Mounted Police, and thrown into a dungeon as a danger spy - " (p. 108).  I thought this to be amusing, as it made me think of The Clue in the Jewel Box, which dealt with Russian royalty (of a sort).  This book was published in 1937, more than five years before Jewel Box; however, the book was published well after the events surrounding Anastasia Nikolaevna, so it's likely this was a subtle reference to that whole situation with the Russian royal family.

Overall, a pretty good read, even though light on the mystery side of things, and I'd recommend it.

RATING:  8 green lights hung over the barn door out of 10 for a fun, adventure-filled story with a mix of mystery, competitiveness, and small-town fun!

Jane, Stewardess of the Air Lines - a Goldsmith Book for Boys and Girls

Since I've been enjoying the books by Ruthe S. Wheeler (or Graham M. Dean, as has been alleged), I thought I'd go ahead and read another of her (his) books from back in the day.  While not part of any particular series, it is included in the "Books for Girls" published by Goldsmith, under which banner a number of series were published - the 2-book Janet Hardy series, the 4-book Penny Nichols series, the 2-book Peggy Stewart series, the 4-book Dorothy Dixon series, among a number of single titles.  I regret spending so many years thinking title published by Goldsmith, Saalfield, and Whitman were inferior in quality simply because the art and paper did not compare with the bigger publishers - I have discovered a number of really great books by these publishers, and this happens to be one of those!

Jane, Stewardess of the Air Lines was published back in 1934, some twelve years prior to the Patty O'Neal book published by Whitman (Patty O'Neal on the Airways), which also dealt with a stewardess - only the books are reversed.  In Patty O'Neal, a girl wanting to learn how to fly eventually becomes a stewardess, while in this book, a girl who becomes a stewardess gets a desire to learn how to fly!  No real mysteries in this story (well, unless you want to count the very brief episode in which an entire group of passengers, along with Jane herself, become violently ill after someone poisons their food); rather, this book is more about Jane's career as a stewardess and the many adventures she finds along the way - and boy, is this girl a magnet for trouble!

I think one of the most interesting aspects of this book is that when the story opens, Jane Cameron and her best friend, Sue Hawley, are attending their graduation from Good Samaritan hospital in University City, where they are both receiving their nursing diplomas.  It is after the graduation ceremony that they are informed by the supervisor of nurses that Federated Airways is looking for girls to serve as stewardesses on their flights, a new service being offered.  I never thought of nurses moving into the field of flight attendants (or stewardesses as they were referred to back then, since it was only women who served in those roles); however, some research revealed that way back in 193e0, a registered nurse by the name of Ellen Church is the one credited with convincing Boeing that having nurses aboard their flights would be of great assistance to passengers, and Boeing agreed - hiring female nurses at a salary of $125 per month (Commercial Flight in the 1930s).  Wheeler must have been aware of this salary, because in this book, Jane and Sue are offered $125 per month in their new positions with Federated Airways (p. 52).   That's not exactly an extravagant salary, considering that in today's money, that would equate to only $2,894.83 per month!  According to the research, the height and weight requirements of 5'4" or shorter and 118 lbs or lighter also coincides with the requirements Wheeler writes into her story (p. 19).

With regard to the story, Jane and Sue find themselves in one tight spot after another without any break!  On their first training flight with several other stewardesses-in-training, the plane they are on crashes, and the girls are forced to help their teacher rescue the pilot and co-pilot before the plane explodes!  From there, Jane gets called to assist an extremely wealthy woman as a private stewardess in her cross-country flight to see her ailing son in New York.  Before you know it, aerial bandits are forcing the plane down to take Mrs. Van Verity Vanness (gotta love that name!) for ransom!  They manage to evade the bandits, and Jane is rewarded not once, but twice - first, with a check for $500 from a newspaper who wants an exclusive story of the plane's bout with the bandits (p. 139), which was definitely no small sum back in the day, the value of which today would be more than $11,000; and second, with a $1,000 bonus (p. 142) from Ms. Vanness herself - which would have been a HUGE bonus for the day, as such amount would be worth $23,308.36 in today's money!  Off that one incident, Jane certainly got rich!  Oh, and that reporter from the newspaper who got the exclusive - her name was "Ruthe" Harrigan (p. 139).

Wheeler does not provide her heroine a time to rest, for before you know it, Jane ends up taking on the role of a stunt pilot (she had been taking lessons from a rather handsome pilot who was showing her favor and attention) in a movie being filmed at the Federated Airways airfield in Cheyenne - a role that nearly costs her her life when the plane does not function as it goes flying towards the ground!  Jane jumps out and parachutes to safety as the planes crashes in a ball of fire and metal, all while being filmed (making it the best crash scene filmed by the camera crew!).  From here, Penny and her teacher are called upon to travel to a remote town to deliver some much needed medicine for sick children during a turbulent storm, and, of course, the plane is forced down - but they make it out alive, just in time to get the medicine to the children, saving their lives.  And without time to blink, Jane then heads off on yet another flight, on which a child movie star and his mother are aboard - along with two unsavory men who end up hijacking the plane and taking the child, his mother, and Jane hostage!  But Jane manages to outwit them, using their own sea plane as a means for her to escape with the star and his mother.

I think Jane says it best as the book ends, just one year after she and Sue become stewardesses:  "Jut think how much more can happen in the coming year," replied Jane, wondering vaguely what new adventure might be ahead of them.  Good grief, after everything they went through in just that one year, one would think the poor girl would want a break from it all!

The cover art depicts the scene from the first airplane crash in which Jane is involved, as she watches the plane go up in flames.  And I love how the cover art extends over onto the spine as well (with part of the burning wing and one of the young stewardesses running from the wreckage visible there). That same "Two Taylors" signature that adorned the covers of the Janet Hardy books appears here as well.  I would love to know just who that is....

This was a good read, and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys vintage children's series books, even though it does not have any mystery element to it.   I'd call it more of a career girl / adventure story.

RATING:  9 prepared lunches of sandwiches and salads out of 10 for high-flying adventure and danger wrapped up in a wonderful story with a truly likable young heroine!

 

Janet Hardy in Radio City - Book Two of the Janet Hardy Series

So, after enjoying the first Janet Hardy novel so much, I did not want to wait long to read the second book in this series.  Interestingly, the copy of this second book that I have is larger and thicker than the first book.  My copy of Janet Hardy in Hollywood measures only 5" x 7.5", while my copy of this book measures a bit over 5.5" x 8".  Additionally, Hollywood is only a bit over one inch in thickness, while this book is nearly one-and-a-half inches thick.  The additional thickness is likely due to the heavier paper stock used for this book, as I noticed the pages are nowhere near as thin and brittle as the first book.  Both have a copyright of 1935, so I honestly don't know if one is an earlier printing than the other, or if all copies of these books were printed in these different formats.  Regardless, the dust jacket contains the same cover art, with the same description of the series on the inside front flap.  And this second book picks up literally right where Hollywood left off...

Janet Hardy in Radio City opens with Janet and her best friend, Helen, getting ready for their next acting gig - another western filmed by Billy Fenstow and starring Curt Newsome. Author Ruthe S. Wheeler (who, it has been suggested, is actually a pseudonym used by Graham M. Dean) manages to get in a recap of the previous book in the first chapter, giving new readers a quick review of how the girls came to be in Hollywood and the adventures they had filming their first movie.  Interestingly, this book follows the same pattern as the first book with regard to how the story advances.

The first half of the book is spent in Hollywood, with the girls starring in the new film, Water Hole, which is being filmed on location at a secluded ranch.  The film crew and cast get on a bus (hmmm, if you've read the first book, perhaps you can see where this might be heading) and head out to the desert to film the movie.  Oddly enough, when the film is near completion, Janet and Helen's nemesis from back home, Cora Dean and her lackey, Margie Blake, show up at the ranch and manage to talk themselves into a bit part during the crowd scene at the end of the film.  They quickly leave, and it's a good thing they do - because when the film crew heads back to Hollywood on the bus, they have one mishap after another.  The bus breaks down; they get it fixed, and then it breaks down worse; then they discover there is a brush fire heading their way; and just when they get the bus fixed and head out, they have a flat tire!  By the time they make it back to the ranch, the fire is well on its way - and they once again hop onto the bus and head for higher ground.  They manage to find a stream with a bank nearby under which they can hide from the flaming onslaught.  It is a weary, damaged group that walk their way slowly back to the ranch, where all of the buildings have been burned to the ground - and just when they think all hope of help is gone, Helen's father shows up with a rescue team to help get the girls and the film crew back to Hollywood!  (And in case you missed the first book, there is a similar scenario in the first book where Janet, Helen, and their school friends are trapped on a bus in the middle of a deadly blizzard, and it is Janet's father who shows up in the nick of time - from the freezing cold of a blizzard to the deadly heat of a desert and fire!  And in both instances, buses were involved!)

The second half of the book follows Janet and Helen as they return home to not only register for college, which the plan to attend in the fall, but also to ready themselves for a ten-day trip to New York City, where they will join several other cast members of the film to promote the movie filmed in the last book over a radio broadcast.  The girls take a rather lengthy train trip (from their midwestern home town of Clarion - which, there is such a town in Iowa - through Chicago and on to Jersey City, before taking a ferry to New York City), and their arrival in the Big Apple is filled with awe as they take in the wonders of the skyscrapers and crowds.  Curt Newsom is there, and they meet the radio director, Ben Adolphi, as well as fellow radio star Rachel Nesbit, who thinks quite a bit of herself and takes an instant dislike to Janet.  (Again, this scenario seems very reminiscent of the second half of the first book!)  As with the previous book, the second act is where the mystery comes in, as someone steals a manuscript that Janet had been working on in her hotel room, and there is a suspicion that someone in the radio drama is intending to lead the movie's plot and ending in order to stop World Broadcasting Company from getting the rights to air this radio preview of the film.  Needless to say, Janet ends up in the thick of things, and she gets chloroformed (but not kidnapped this time, thankfully), there's another theft, a car chase, and an ultimate showdown with the culprits behind the sabotage, which results in Janet and Helen both being offered jobs at WBC as a writer and actress, respectively!

Despite the mystery not being central to the entire story, I still enjoyed reading this one as much as I did the first. Janet and Helen remain very likable characters, and even though the author follows the same format with both books, the stories are actually pretty engaging.  I became interested in knowing whether Janet and Helen would actually sign on with the studio and stay in Hollywood, or whether they would go home to pursue their college education.  And, yes, the saboteurs of the radio program are fairly obvious from the moment they are introduced, but it doesn't make the mystery any less exciting, as you find yourself rooting for Janet and Curt to stop the culprits before they get away with the manuscript and ruin the station's chance at getting the studio's contract.  My only wish is that Goldsmith had included internal illustrations, like nearly all of the other publishers did at the time, even if it was only a frontis piece.

With this, the adventures of Janet Hardy come to a close, as Goldsmith did not offer up any more books in this series.  I have to wonder if it was because sales were not high enough to warrant more, or if the author was simply not interested in writing more tales of these characters.  At this point, I suppose it doesn't matter, as no more Janet Hardy stories were publishers, and fans like me are left to cherish the two we do have.

RATING:  9 glowing masses of steel out of 10 for keeping these midwestern girls hopping from one coast to the other, and taking them from film to radio!

Janet Hardy in Hollywood - Book One of the Janet Hardy Series

I've had the second book in this series for quite a while, but it was some time before I finally picked up the first book (I was looking for one reasonably priced in a pretty good dust jacket).  I managed to find a great copy at an estate sale last year, so I bought it and am finally just getting around to reading it.  Now, I will admit that prior to picking up this series, I had never heard of Janet Hardy.  I knew that Whitman did quite a few "Authorized Editions" based on various actors and actresses from Hollywood, and based on the two titles in this series, I though perhaps Goldsmith had jumped on the bandwagon.  This, clearly, was not the case.  There was no actress named Janet Hardy back in the early 20th Century, although I did find a book by famed author Nora Roberts, in which the main character has a grandmother in the book named Janet Hardy who was a legendary actress.  Makes one wonder if Nora Roberts perhaps read these two books... (I should note there were two actresses named Janet Hardy who did films in 1971 and 1981, respectively, but those were obviously well after this book, so it could not have been based on either of them!)

Janet Hardy in Hollywood is the first of this two book series written by Ruthe S. Wheeler, the same author who wrote another book from Goldsmith that I reviewed a while ago (Helen in the Editor's Chair).  Although, from what I have learned since reading that book, apparently Ruthe S. Wheeler was actually author Graham M. Dean, who wrote these books for Goldsmith under his wife's maiden name.  I suppose at the time, it did not seem appropriate to have male author's names attached to series books intended to be read by girls,  In today's world, that would not matter in the least, but the 1930s were definitely a different time (in fact, stopping to think about it, that would be nearly 100 years ago - a century ago!).

The story centers around Janet Hardy and her best friend, Helen Thorne, two young ladies who are getting ready to graduate from high school in their mid-western town of Clarion (the state is not identified, but there is a Clarion, Iowa, which would fit the Midwest setting).  Helen's father is a successful film producer in Hollywood, and Helen is anxious for him to come home in time for her graduation.  In addition, Janet and Helen are auditioning for the lead parts in the senior play before graduation - and Helen wins her part but Janet ends up as a light technician and stage hand.  Of course, as fate would have it, when the opening night of the play arrives, the other lead actress is injured in a freak accident, and Janet has to step into the role at the last minute!  She and Helen do such a magnificent job, Helen's father decides to take the girls to Hollywood for the summer so they might have an opportunity to act in some western films his company is producing.

Despite the title, more than the first half of the book actually takes place in Clarion, with all of the events leading up to the girls taking their trip to Hollywood.  The girls face a pretty dangerous scenario when the bus taking the seniors to a skating rink for an evening gets caught in a horrific snow storm on the way home, trapping the students and their teacher in a blizzard with no heater and no help in sight!  Janet and Helen (along with the boys they like, Jim and Ed) manage to keep everyone safe and warm, and the bus driver eventually returns with help to get everyone back home for hot drinks and a roaring fire.  They also face some difficulties from the girls against whom they compete for the lead roles in the play, as the rumor is spread that Helen only got her part because of her father's fame in Hollywood, while another rumor begins that Janet caused the accident that injured the other girl so she could get her part!  No real mysteries involved in these events, but they do make for some enjoyable reading.

It's only after Janet and Helen arrive in Hollywood with Helen's father does the mystery begin. Janet and Helen audition and win small parts in a western film being made by Mr. Thorne's production company. From the get-go, it is pretty clear that the leading lady in the film is not overly fond of the girls, feeling they got the parts solely because of their connection to Mr. Thorne.  Sure enough, Janet has a mishap with a saddle she is using while riding a horse during the filming of a scene, and while recovering from the fall, she learns that someone purposefully cut through the saddle girth, so that it would slide loose during the ride!  Janet does not like to think someone would purposefully injure her, so she lets it go.  But when they are selected to be in another film, albeit small parts once again, they see firsthand how deep the sabotage goes - because it is not Janet the saboteur is after; rather, someone wants to ruin Mr. Thorne's production company!  A kidnapping, some aerial battles, some burning sets, and a deadly explosion threaten to close down the film - and Mr. Thorne's company! - if someone doesn't figure out who the saboteur is and fast!  (And I'll give you two guesses who cracks the case...)

Sadly, this book does not have any internal illustrations (I don't know why, exactly, but I really do love seeing internals - I guess having had them in the Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, and Bobbsey Twins books I read while growing up has spoiled me!); however, it does have some beautiful art on the dust jacket, featuring the scene where Janet and Helen first arrive in Hollywood, where they are greeted with a horde of photographers as they step off the plane.  Interestingly enough, you even see "NBC" on one of the large microphones, which I'm surprised they were able to get away with using a national broadcasting company like that.  The book does not identify the artist, although next to Helen on the cover is the phrase, "Two Taylors" - I'm not sure if that is a signature of the artist or some other obscure reference.  I tried researching the question online, but came up empty-handed.  

One odd thing I did find while reading the story is that these people always seem to be up late, and they have no issue with eating meals at midnight or later.  What is odd about that is that they refer to these meals as "lunch."  I've always thought of lunch being the mid-day meal, usually around noon or so.  Looking online, I saw reference to a "midnight lunch" or "late night lunch" on a message board, referring to a term used in Canada to describe meals served in the middle of the night (for late night parties, wedding receptions, etc.).  Although, if I were awake at midnight, I probably would have no problem eating a "midnight lunch"!

Overall, this book was just as enjoyable to read as Helen in the Editor's Chair - not exactly heavy on the mystery side of things, but a well-written story that is nicely paced and easy to read and enjoy.

RATING:  8 heaping platters of celery, olives, and pickled onions out of 10 for a tale of two midwestern girls who make their dreams come true in Hollywood!