Posted on by TracyC

A Clue in Code

ClueInCodeA Clue in Code by Marilyn Singer, 1985.

This book is part of a series about a pair of twin boys, Sam and Dave Bean, who solve mysteries with their friends.

One day, the boys’ teacher, Ms. Corfein, has one of their classmates, Roger, collect money from the students for a class field trip.  Ms. Corfien tells Roger to put the money in her locker, but later, the money is gone.

Anyone in the class could have taken it.  When Dave went into the classroom to feed the class’s pet gerbil at lunchtime, he saw Willie, the class bully, there as well as his friend Patti, who thought that it was her turn to feed the gerbil.  Of the two, Willie seems like the best suspect for the theft because he’s been in trouble before for stealing, but perhaps there was someone else in the room before any of them arrived.

ClueInCodeSneakingSam and Dave decide to begin their investigation with Willie.  His father is the school’s custodian, and Willie has been using a copy of his father’s key to the school to sneak around after hours.  To the twins’ surprise, when they confront Willie, not only does Willie deny stealing the money, but it turns out that he’s actually been scared and upset himself.  After being caught stealing the last time, his parents have been especially strict with him, sending him to bed early, limiting his time with friends, and not allowing him to watch tv or read comic books.  In fact, his father tried to get rid of his entire collection of comic books by throwing them in the trash, but Willie rescued them and has been hiding them in the school, sneaking away to read them when he can.  However, someone has discovered them and stolen them.  Willie wants his comic books back, but he can’t report them stolen because his father thinks that they’re already gone.  Worse still, his parents will be even harder on him if he ends up taking the blame for stealing the class’s trip money.

ClueInCodeMessageIn spite of Willie’s reputation, which he deserves, Sam and Dave think that he’s telling the truth about the thefts.  Then, they happen to find a strange message that appears to be written in code after some of their classmates were throwing paper airplanes.  With the help of Rita, a friend who is very good with codes, they decode the message and uncover a valuable clue that explains why the comic books were taken and leads them to the thief’s identity.

I was pretty sure, from the very first chapter, who had stolen the money, but I wasn’t completely sure of who had taken the comic books until the end.  At first, I thought perhaps Willie’s father had found his stash and got rid of it again, but that wasn’t the case.  The thief who took the comic books was the same person who took the trip money and for the same reason.  This person’s father has been out of work, and they need the money.  It turns out that Willie has a number of comic books that are now collectors’ items, and someone is willing to pay a lot of money for them.

Posted on by TracyC

Top Secret

TopSecretTop Secret by John Reynolds Gardiner, 1984.

Nine-year-old Allen Brewster’s teacher, Miss Green, is obsessed with the science fair. Every year, there is a silver trophy awarded to the best science fair project and another prize for the best science teacher. No one in Miss Green’s class has ever won the trophy, and so Miss Green has never won the best science teacher award. All the best projects are done by older students. Miss Green hates it, and she’s been known to flunk kids who do especially bad on their science fair projects.

However, Allen Brewster thinks that he’s got the kind of project that Miss Green has been waiting for. When his mother served liver for dinner one night, Allen got to thinking how much nicer it would be if people didn’t have to eat, if they could just get nutrients from the sun, like plants do during photosynthesis. So, he decides that he wants to research human photosynthesis. When he tells Miss Green what he wants to do, she says that’s impossible and refuses to take his idea seriously. Instead, she tells him that he’s going to do a project on the topic of lipstick.

TopSecretTeacherAllen is angry that Miss Green didn’t take him seriously, and lipstick is the last thing that he’s interested in. His parents think that he should just do the lipstick project and forget about it. Even if human photosynthesis were possible, how could a nine-year-old possibly achieve such a thing? Real discoveries are made by important men, not little boys. However, Allen’s grandfather encourages him to persevere in what he wants. He says that Allen has everything that a important man would have: five good senses and a brain that he can use to think. Allen’s grandfather often thinks about strange things himself, and he encourages Allen to think all the time.

“Cause you know what you are when you stop thinking, don’t you?”

“What?”

“You’re dead.”

TopSecretGrandpaAlthough Allen acts like he’s carrying out the lipstick project, with his parents’ help, he continues studying photosynthesis on the side. When Allen gets stuck on what to do next, his grandfather advises him to “think crazy,” to just let his mind explore possibilities and see what it comes up with.

What Allen comes up with is that, in order for a person to experience photosynthesis, the hemoglobin in human blood would have to act like chlorophyll in plants, and the difference between the two substances is magnesium. By experimenting with kitchen leftovers, especially (and unfortunately), the liver his mother made, Allen discovers that he is beginning to experience photosynthesis. He is no longer hungry for food, he craves water, loves sunlight more than ever, and he is turning green.

When his parents realize what he’s done, they panic and take him to a hospital, but the doctor can’t find anything wrong with him. He thinks that Allen is green because of allergies. When he goes to school, people notice right away how weird he looks, but they think that it’s just makeup. Miss Green is furious, sending him home to wash the “paint” off.

Trying to get everyone to believe what he’s done, Allen goes to the local newspaper. They do a story about him, but people still aren’t convinced. However, the President of the United States happens to be visiting the city. Allen writes to him, hoping to convince him of his discovery. In the end, Allen’s discovery is recognized by the government (whose scientists also figure out how to turn him back into a normal human), but it’s also, unfortunately, now considered top secret. Allen won’t be allowed to talk about it anymore or claim credit for it. Putting it in the science fair is completely out of the question. Allen could keep quiet about the whole thing . . . but he doesn’t want to.

TopSecretDoctors

Allen’s discovery has problems. One of which, as he learns for himself while he’s a plant person, is that with photosynthesis, he’s completely dependent on sunlight. During a spell of bad weather, it’s only his desk lamp that keeps him alive. Then, the government people point out that if people aren’t dependent on food, society as we know it would break down. Industries that produce food or food-related items would no longer be necessary. In fact, people wouldn’t really have to work at all because they would no longer need to buy food. Allen thinks that sounds pretty good, but the world would no longer be the same. To the government, the economic and social repercussions of Allen’s discovery are the most important, but personally, I think it’s just as well that the project does end because I think bad weather would be an insurmountable problem.

The humor really makes this story.  I love Allen’s grandfather, who loves coming up with odd ideas and fully supports Allen’s project to turn himself into a plant person.  He matter-of-factly sprays his grandson with bug spray when he gets aphids and has a spot for Allen reserved in his garden, if he needs it.  I’m glad that Allen didn’t remain a plant person because I found his state a little disturbing, but Allen’s description of his experiment is pretty fun.

Posted on by TracyC

The Plant That Ate Dirty Socks

PlantDirtySocksThe Plant That Ate Dirty Socks by Nancy McArthur, 1988.

Michael and his younger brother, Norman, share a room, but it’s not a peaceful arrangement.  Norman is a neat freak, and Michael likes things messy.  Michael’s always saving random things that might turn out to be useful later, although how useful they are is questionable because it’s hard to even find anything in his pile of junk.  Michael also likes sending away for random things in the mail, like toys that require him to save a certain number of box tops.  Often, by the time these things arrive, he’s forgotten what he sent away for.

One day, Michael gets a couple of seeds in the mail that he doesn’t remember sending away for.  He plants one himself and gives one to his brother to plant.  The seeds come with a set of instructions, but Michael soon loses them, and the boys are left to care for their plants themselves.  Norman is very regular in his habits, watering his plant daily with his squirt gun and giving it the proper amount of plant food.  Michael is more experimental, dumping plant food on his plant haphazardly and even giving it bits of human food from time to time.  The boys have fun with their plants, treating them like pets, but soon, it becomes obvious that these aren’t normal plants.

It starts when socks start disappearing from Michael’s half of the room.  With Michael’s messiness, he often has to dig out his dirty socks from the rest of his stuff, but even after Michael cleans up his room, he still can’t find all of his socks.  The boys suspect that someone is stealing them, so they try to sit up at night (disguised as a robot and a gorilla, as if that would help) to find out who the thief is.  That’s how Michael discovers that his plant is actually eating his socks.  They try an experiment and discover that Norman’s plant also eats socks, except that Norman’s plant prefers clean socks, and Michael’s plant only eats the dirty ones.

When the boys demonstrate to their parents that the plants are eating socks, their mother wants them to get rid of the plants immediately, but the boys plead for their pet plants (which they name Fluffy and Stanley).  Michael promises to keep his half of the room neat from now on to keep his plant from eating anything it shouldn’t and proves that keeping plants for pets, even ones that eat socks, would be less expensive than keeping a dog or a cat, especially if they only buy cheap socks.  Reluctantly, their mother agrees to let them keep the plants, but their father forbids them to tell anyone about them because everyone will think they’re crazy.

However, with people at the store wondering why they’re buying so many socks, Michael’s friend Jason spending the night, and the upcoming science fair, for which Michael still needs a project, can Michael keep their weird plants a secret?  Does he even want to?

One of the things that I remembered from reading this book as a kid was the part where they invent Fudge Ripple Pancakes.  It starts because they were making up code words to use when talking about their plants, and someone overhears them saying “Fudge Ripple Pancakes,” so they have to make up a recipe to go with it.  The recipe isn’t exactly included in the book, but basically, it involves adding chocolate syrup to regular pancake mix.  The boys try it themselves and decide they like them.  Norman has a large squirt gun, kind of like a Super Soaker (but called by a different name), and he uses it to both water his plants and squirt syrup on his pancakes.

This is the first book in a series.

Posted on by TracyC

The Cuckoo Clock

CuckooClockStolz

The Cuckoo Clock by Mary Stolz, 1987.

Erich was a foundling, taken in by the Goddhart family as a baby after he was found on their doorstep. Frau Goddhart has a reputation for kindness, but sadly, that reputation is really all she has. She is outwardly kind, participating in local charities, only to enhance her reputation. At home, she is selfish and cruel, ruling the house with an iron fist and having tantrums when things don’t go her way. She sees Erich as an unwanted responsibility, only grudgingly raising him along with her own children because if she refused, it would ruin her reputation. Her husband is kind to Erich, but Frau Goddhart treats him more like a servant.

Erich only comes to know real love when he becomes Ula’s assistant. Ula is the town clockmaker, a master in his craft. Ula teaches Erich his craft and how to play the violin.

 

When Ula dies, leaving Erich his carving tools and his violin, the selfish Frau Goddhart tries to take them away, thinking that such things are too good for a mere foundling, a charity case. Before she can get these precious things, Erich runs away to seek his fortune elsewhere, but he leaves behind something that convinces the town that, although he may be the ungrateful wretch that Frau Goddhart says that he is, he has a talent that will lead him on to greater things.

 

One of the fascinating things about this book is the pictures, which are charming pencil drawings in a realistic style.  There is also a note in the back about the unusual typeface of the book.

CuckooClockStolzType

Posted on by TracyC

General Butterfingers

GeneralButterfingersGeneral Butterfingers by John Reynolds Gardiner, 1986.

Years ago, the Spitzers, an elite rescue force in the armed services, saved the life of General Britt.  To thank them, he invited the surviving members of the team to live with him in his house, taking care of them until his own death, along with his housekeeper Mrs. Wilson and her son Walter.  Walter is a bit of a klutz, so the old men kid him about being a “Butterfingers.”  But, Walter likes the old men and admires them.

After the General’s death, the General’s nephew, Ralph, claims his estate as his only living relative.  Unlike his uncle, Ralph is mean and selfish and sees the old men as nothing but leeches, using his uncle’s house and money.  He fires Mrs. Wilson and tells the old men that they only have a few days to get out of the house.  The old men have no other place to go except for the Veterans’ Hospital, and no one likes it there.  The men who are currently in the hospital keep hoping that the Spitzers will somehow figure out a way to rescue them.

GeneralButterfingersChessMrs. Wilson and Walter talk to a lawyer, but he says that, since the General apparently didn’t leave a will, the estate has to go to his nearest relative, which is Ralph.  As far as he’s concerned, there’s nothing they can do about, even though the General made a verbal promise to the men that they could stay in his house for the rest of their lives.

Walter tries to talk to Ralph and appeal to his better nature, but that doesn’t work, either.  Ralph has always been a selfish person, disliked even by his own family, and now, he’s bitter about it.  He sees Walter’s attempts at kindness just as a ploy to get the house and money and sends him away.

The more he thinks about it, the more Walter’s convinced that the General must have left a will somewhere.  When he and the men try to visit the General’s safe deposit box at the bank, they discover that someone using the General’s name visited the box on the day that the General died.  Walter realizes that it must have been Ralph.  He is convinced that Ralph knew that the General had left a will, but he stole it so that he could claim the General’s estate himself.  The question is, how are he and the men going to prove it?

GeneralButterfingersHospitalIn some ways, you could feel sorry for Ralph, who is a very unhappy person.  Because of his meanness and selfishness, his father spent years giving him pretty much anything that he wanted on the condition that he not come around to see him.  Ralph is hurt at his family’s avoidance and disdain for him, which is why Walter, at one point, invites him to come for dinner and be their friend.  However, Ralph’s motives are always selfish, and that causes him to suspect that the same is true of everyone, so he refuses their kindness.  It gives the impression that he’s probably done the same for many others over the years, for the same reasons.

Ralph wanted everyone’s approval, especially his family’s, but because of his self-centered nature, he never had any idea of how to go about earning it.  He didn’t know what would matter to others and earn their respect because he was only ever concerned with what mattered to him and what he wanted.  At one point, he angrily tells Walter that his uncle was impossible to impress.   He once tried proving to him that could fight, thinking that would impress an old soldier.  When he further elaborates that his “fight” involved beating up a girl solely to impress his uncle, it leaves little question of why his uncle was unimpressed.  So, Ralph was never able to relate to other people and what mattered to them, which is the root of his problems, but still entirely his own fault.

Ralph has stolen his uncle’s will as a last act of revenge, getting the better of his uncle and acquiring all of his uncle’s things because his uncle would never give him his respect.  In the end, however, his uncle did outsmart him.  Because he didn’t trust his nephew, he left a second will, which is discovered when Walter and the Spitzers stage a last battle against Ralph for their house.  But, the General left them more than just the house.  It turns out that Ralph, who says that he doesn’t believe in charity, has been living on his uncle’s charity for years.  The General’s final legacy allows the Spitzers not only to save themselves but all the other veterans in the hospital as well.

Posted on by TracyC

Clever Tom and the Leprechaun

CleverTom

Clever Tom and the Leprechaun by Linda Shute, 1988.

This picture book is based on an Irish folktale, The Field of Boliauns.

Tom Fitzpatrick thinks that his fortune is made when he is lucky enough to catch sight of a leprechaun one day.  If a person can manage to catch hold of a leprechaun and frighten him, the leprechaun will hand over his gold.  Tom thinks of himself as a clever man, so he doesn’t see how he could fail.

CleverTomCapture

Tom does capture the leprechaun, and the leprechaun does promise to show him where his treasure is buried.  The leprechaun directs Tom to a field of boliauns (a kind of weed, also known as ragwort or ragweed) and points out the plant which marks the place where he buried his treasure.

CleverTomField

Tom needs to get a shovel to dig for the treasure, but he worries about whether he’ll correctly remember the spot when he gets back.  He takes off one of his red garters and ties it on the plant so he’ll be able to find it again, making the leprechaun promise not to touch it while he’s gone.

CleverTomGarter

The leprechaun promises not to touch the garter, but Clever Tom isn’t quite as clever as the leprechaun.  When Tom gets back to the field with his shovel, he’s in for an unpleasant surprise.

CleverTomTrick

Clever Tom might not have his fortune made after all, but he has a great story to tell to the younger generation.

CleverTomTaleTelling

In the back of the book, there is a section with more information about the folk tale, Irish legends and leprechauns, and Irish culture and history.  One of the things I found interesting was the explanation that the leprechaun in the picture book is wearing a red coat because that’s how they are described in Irish folklore.  It’s usually the Trooping fairies who are described as wearing green, like we often see leprechauns depicted in St. Patrick’s Day decorations.  The stories of buried gold left by leprechauns may also may also be based on treasure hoards left by Viking raiders during the Early Middle Ages.  The leprechaun in this story also has ale made from heather, which is something that only Danish Vikings were said to know how to make.

Posted on by TracyC

Gila Monsters Meet You at the Airport

GilaMonsters

Gila Monsters Meet You at the Airport by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat, pictures by Byron Barton, 1980.

This is a humorous picture book about a boy moving from one side of the United States to the other and his misconceptions of what he’s going to find when he goes west.

At the beginning of the story, the boy lives in an apartment in  New York City.  As far as he’s concerned, he could live there forever, but his parents decide that they’re going to move “Out West.” (The book never really says what state they’re moving to, but it seems to be somewhere in the Southwestern United States, like Texas, New Mexico, or Arizona.)

GilaMonstersMoving

The boy thinks he’s going to hate his new home.  He thinks of all the things that he’s heard about the West, like there’s cactus everywhere so you hardly know where to sit down, everyone dresses like a cowboy and rides horses everywhere, all he’ll ever get to eat is chili and beans, and he’s bound to die of heat exhaustion in the desert.  His best friend in New York, Seymour, told him that Gila monsters would meet him at the airport.

GilaMonstersCactus

Of course, there aren’t any Gila monsters at the airport when the boy gets there.  Instead, he meets another boy whose family is moving East.  The two boys talk to each other for awhile, and the Western boy starts telling him that he’s not looking forward to heading East because he’s heard that it’s always cold there, the cities are overcrowded and full of gangsters, the buildings are so tall that airplanes fly through the apartments, and there are alligators in the sewers.  He expects to find alligators waiting for him at the airport.

GilaMonstersAirportBoy

Of course, things aren’t as bad as either boy is expecting.  The boy from New York realizes that Seymour and his other friends back East don’t know much about the West, and he starts realizing that things in his new home are actually pretty good, some of them not all that different from home.

GilaMonstersArrival

This book was featured on Reading Rainbow.

Posted on by TracyC

Mrs. Armitage on Wheels

ArmitageWheels

Mrs. Armitage on Wheels by Quentin Blake, 1987.

Mrs. Armitage loves to ride her bicycle with her dog, Breakspear, running alongside.  However, she sometimes runs into difficulties that require some minor repairs to her bike, and she can’t resist the urge to tinker further.

The more she thinks about it, the more ideas for improvements she has.  Each idea starts with the words, “What this bike needs . . .”

But, Mrs. Armitage goes well beyond what the bike really needs.  Beyond adding a seat for her dog and room for her lunch, she gradually turns her bicycle into a crazy, unwieldy contraption.

ArmitageWheelsSail

Was adding the sail and anchor where she went too far, or did she reach that point long before?  Even after she trades what’s left of her bike for some skates, one has the feeling that her tinkering is far from over.

The book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive.

ArmitageWheelsSkates

Posted on by TracyC · 1 Comment

Huggins and Kisses

HugginsKisses

Huggins and Kisses by Susan Creighton, illustrated by Ron C Lipking, 1985.

Mary has been wanting a dog for some time. She admires her neighbor’s dog, Sugar, who is so well behaved.

When her parents finally give her the puppy she’s been wanting, Mary is thrilled, and names the puppy Kisses. However, taking care of a dog and training it turns out to be a lot more work than Mary expected! Kisses doesn’t know how to walk on a leash, and he sometimes chews things he shouldn’t.

One day, Mary gets angry with Kisses for ripping the arm off of her favorite doll and yells at him. While Kisses is hiding under Mary’s bed, and Mary is crying, one of the Hugga Bunch, Huggins, appears to comfort them. Mary is surprised to see Huggins, and she explains to Mary that she is from Huggaland, which can be reached through her bedroom mirror. She invites Mary to see it for herself, and Kisses follows them.

HugginsKissesDoll

In Huggaland, Huggins repairs Mary’s doll, which makes her feel better. Then Kisses knocks over the birdbath at Huggins’s house, and Mary gets angry again. Huggins points out to Mary that Kisses hasn’t actually broken anything and that he was probably looking for water because he was thirsty. Huggins gives Kisses more water and a hug.

Mary asks Huggins how she can hug Kisses when he’s been bad, and Huggins explains the importance of gentle discipline. Dogs may be naughty sometimes, but what they really need is love and training. Mary just hasn’t been patient with Kisses and given him the time he needs to learn how to behave.

Mary remembers how much that she really loves Kisses and resolves to give him the time and attention he needs to learn to be a good dog.

It’s a cute picture book, and a nice story about learning to care for pets, giving them the training they need and the time to learn.

Posted on by TracyC

The Mystery of Sara Beth

SaraBeth

The Mystery of Sara Beth by Polly Putnam, illustrated by Judith Friedman, 1981.

This was one of my favorite books when I was young. It’s a nice mystery story for children in early elementary school.

When a new girl named Sara Beth joins their class, Becky and her friends go out of their way to make her feel welcome. However, Sara Beth barely acknowledges their attempts to make friends with her.

SaraBethPic2

Becky becomes concerned about Sara Beth and her lack of interest in making friends at school. Becky also notices some other odd things about Sara Beth’s behavior, which tends to change unexpectedly.  Sometimes, Sara Beth likes the class’s pet guinea pig, and sometimes she seems afraid of it.  One day, Becky catches Sara Beth taking a reading book home that was supposed to stay in the classroom.  Later, she sees Sara Beth hiding a cupcake from a class party to take home. Could these things help explain what Sara Beth is trying to hide?

The book is currently available online through Internet Archive.

My Reaction and Spoilers:

The solution to Sara Beth’s problem is quite simple, but it may seem bigger to younger children. The story presents a good example of the use of observation and logical thinking when approaching a problem. As Becky tries to determine why Sara Beth acts the way she does, Becky watches her closely and makes a list of her observations before coming to her final conclusion.  Becky is not only compassionate toward Sara Beth in trying to help her solve her problem and make friends at her new school, but she is also a very logical thinker.  I really enjoyed her as a character!

The artwork in the book is nice, and I thought it was clever how the borders of all of the images kind of give a hint to Sara Beth’s problem.  Even when the characters are indoors, the pictures are surrounded by snow-covered trees because it’s important to the story that it takes place in winter.  The snow is the root of Sara Beth’s problem.  The girls live in a cold climate and “Sara Beth” comes from a poor family.

(Spoiler: Becky correctly realizes that “Sara Beth” is actually a set of twins, Sara and Beth, which is why they behave differently each time they switch places.  Their family moved to the area from a warmer climate because the twins’ father is looking for work, but they only had enough money for one warm coat for the girls, so one of them has to stay home while the other goes to school.  They take turns going to school, and the one who goes to school brings the other one books, school assignment, and class treats so she can follow the lessons and not miss out.  When Becky confronts one of the twins, Beth, she admits that they were afraid of making friends at school because they knew that someone would find out the truth.  Becky persuades Beth to talk to their teacher, and the teacher arranges for the twins to receive an extra coat that was unclaimed from the school’s lost and found so that they can both come to school.)

In the back of the book, there’s a list of vocabulary words that appear in the story. It does not provide definitions for these words, though. I think that the most unusual words in the book were guinea pig and tetanus shot.

One more thing I thought that I would mention is that Becky, the main character, is African American. This is not mentioned at all in the text of the book and is not important to the story, but it is shown in the pictures.  I didn’t think about it much when I first read the book as a kid, but looking back on it, I found it interesting because it reminded me of the character of Adam in the Third Grade Ghosthunters series.  It fascinates me that there is something about these characters that people wouldn’t know without looking at the pictures, and I also like it that the characters themselves are not defined by race.  It’s just an interesting detail, not central to their characters.