Posted on by TracyC

The Twenty-Four Hour Lipstick Mystery

24hrlipstickmysThe Twenty-Four-Hour Lipstick Mystery by Bonnie Pryor, 1989.

Cassie Adams, who is eleven years old, has never been happy with her looks, and now that her friends are starting to shave their legs and get interested in boys, she feels plainer than ever. One day, she sees an ad for Mrs. DuPrey’s School of Beauty and Charm and thinks that it might help her improve her appearance and develop confidence. The only problem is that she doesn’t have the money for it, and her parents won’t give her any. She decides that she needs to look for odd jobs in the neighborhood to help raise the money that she needs.

By coincidence, old Mr. Murdock’s granddaughter has recently moved into the old family house, which is huge and reputed to be haunted. In spite of the creepiness of the old place, Cassie finds a job there, helping Miss Murdock with cleaning and unpacking. Miss Murdock’s father made his money in cosmetics, and Miss Murdock employs a secretary named Victoria Presser, who used to be a model. Cassie admires Vicky for her beauty and elegance and looks forward to picking up some beauty tips from her. She also makes friends with Jason, a new boy in town, who also works for Miss Murdock, helping the gardener fix up the grounds. However, it isn’t long before Cassie, Jason, and Cassie’s younger brother, Danny, begin noticing that there is something odd about the old Murdock house.

lipstickmysterypicDanny is the first to notice that there is an octagonal window in the wall of the house, but none of the rooms has a window in that shape. Sometimes, lights can be seen through this window at night. Also, Cassie finds what looks like lab equipment among Miss Murdock’s boxes. Is Miss Murdock involved in something illegal? Does it have something to do with the burglaries that have been occurring around town? Why is the grumpy old gardener sneaking around? Just what is in that hidden room?

The book is currently available online through Internet Archive.

My Reaction

This is a good mystery for tween and early teen girls, who can identify with Cassie’s worries about being beautiful and popular. The moral of the story is that appearances are deceiving, and in the end, Cassie reconsiders what beauty really is and develops more confidence by appreciating the good qualities she already has and developing new interests.  While some of the other girls try to show how grown-up they are by looking grown-up, Cassie really grows up by taking responsibility for her life and the direction she wants it to go, making decisions about what she wants and who her real friends are.

Posted on by TracyC

Number the Stars

numberstarsNumber the Stars by Lois Lowry, 1989.

Annemarie Johansen is ten years old and living in Copenhagen in 1943.  Denmark is now occupied by the Nazis, and she and her little sister Kirsti have become accustomed to the sight of German soldiers in the streets and the food rationing and curfews that have come with the war.  But, there are still worse changes to come in their lives. Jewish people like Annemarie’s best friend, Ellen Rosen, are in danger.  The Germans have been closing businesses owned by Jews, and worse still, some Jewish families simply . . . disappear.

Annemarie comes to understand the disturbing truth behind many of the things that have been happening around her, including the sudden death of her older, grown-up sister, Lise.  Although she had earlier been told that Lise had been killed in an accident, what happened to Lise was no accident.  Lise and her fiance, Peter, were both part of an underground Resistance movement, working against the Nazis.  Peter is still part of the Resistance, and he calls upon Annemarie’s family to help him save not only Ellen’s life but the lives of other Jews who are in danger.

When the Johansens learn that the Nazis are looking for Jews from the register at the Rosens’ synagogue, Annemarie’s family takes in Ellen and pretends that she is their third daughter, Lise, while Peter helps to hide her parents make preparations to get them out of the country.  They journey to the seaside, where Annemarie’s Uncle Henrik prepares to help take the Rosens and others to safety on his fishing boat.  At first, Annemarie is angry that the adults are telling her things that she knows aren’t true and keeping secrets from her about their plans, but they tell her that it is for her own good not to know too much because they don’t want her to be too frightened with the details.  She soon comes to see their point because, as they set their plan into motion, Annemarie must perform an act of bravery for it to be successful.

Besides being an historical novel, this is partly a coming-of-age story as Annemarie goes from being an innocent young girl to being more fully aware of the problems and dangers surrounding her, her family, and her friends.  The title of the book comes from a Biblical quotation about how God “numbers the stars” and Annemarie’s thoughts as she considers her situation and the danger everyone is in.  Ellen’s mother said that she doesn’t like the sea because it is too big and too cold, and on a starry night in the middle of their peril, it strikes Annemarie that night sky and the whole world is like that, too: too big and too cold.  Annemarie thinks that sky is full of more stars than anyone can count, and the world situation and its complexities seem too great for Annemarie to fully grasp.  The immensity and  dangerous nature of it all frighten her.

Annemarie’s older sister, the grown-up child in their family, understood the complexities and dangers of the world and risked her life to fight for their country’s freedom, ultimately losing her life in the process.  Annemarie’s younger sister is still largely unaware of the risks her family is taking to save their friends, still thinking in her innocence that the explosions from the destruction of the Danish naval fleet when the Nazis invaded were “fireworks” for her birthday.  At the beginning of the story, Annemarie is between her two sisters: more aware of what is going on than Kirsti is but not aware of what her older sister did or knew.  By the end of the story, Annemarie has moved to a more grown-up understanding but uses her innocent, little-girl appearance to fool the Nazis into thinking that she is just an ignorant child so they will be less suspicious of her.

Although this story is fiction, similar incidents happened in real life when people took great risks to help Jewish people escape from the Nazis. In the back of the book, there is an Afterword that explains more about the historical events behind the story.

This book was a 1990 Newbery Award winner.  It is currently available online through Internet Archive.

Posted on by TracyC · 1 Comment

The Battle for the Castle

battlecastleThe Battle for the Castle by Elizabeth Winthrop, 1994.

This is the sequel to The Castle in the Attic.

William is growing up.  As William’s twelfth birthday approaches, he feels like he and his best friend, Jason, are growing apart. Actually, what he fears is that Jason is out-growing him. Jason has grown taller than William and much more muscular, thanks to his off-road bike training sessions with his father. William, on the other hand, is still short and feels like a shrimp next to Jason.

In their town, it is traditional for boys to “jump the trains” when they turn twelve. It involves grabbing hold of a ladder on the side of one of the cars as the train reaches a point on the track when it slows down, climbing over the top of the car, and jumping off the other side. It’s a dangerous trick to pull, and parents try to keep the kids from doing it. Still, the boys who don’t do it are considered to be wimps by the others. When Jason and William try, Jason makes it, but William gives up when his hand starts to slip. William is not hurt, but he is embarrassed at his failure.

To show Jason that he’s not just a wimp, William decides to let him in on the secret of the castle in the attic. Mrs. Phillips decided not to drop the magic token into the sea along with Alastor as she said she would (see previous book), and she sends it to William as a birthday present. After William explains to Jason how the token works, he convinces him to become small with him and visit Sir Simon and William’s other friends. When the boys arrive, they are welcomed by Sir Simon, who is about to leave for a tournament. William and Jason agree to help look after Sir Simon’s castle until he returns, along with his friend Dick, Dick’s son Tolliver, and Dick’s niece Gudrin. Sir Simon’s old nurse, Callendar, has died, but before her death, she made a prophecy of death and danger. Almost everyone believes that she was just raving, but Gudrin knows that danger is approaching. A strange ship of skeletons has been seen approaching the town, and bones have been floating down the river. Sir Simon had the ship towed out to see again, and Dick thinks there’s nothing more to fear. However, the ship has returned, and the boys and Gudrin know that something must be done in order to keep Callendar’s prophecy from coming true.

There is an army of rats aboard the ship, led by a giant rat that walks on its back legs like a human. The boys and Gudrin attempt to burn the ship, but the rats escape and begin attacking people across the countryside. When one of these people makes it to the castle to warn everyone, Dick finally believes them that something needs to be done. Most of the people are sent away from the castle, Tolliver is sent to bring Sir Simon back to help, and the others stay to wait out the siege. Although William is scared, he manages to keep his head and come up with a plan that defeats the rats once and for all.

In the end, when the boys return to their own world, William declares that he will never jump the trains because he thinks it’s a crazy stunt. Jason doesn’t mind because, as he says, “there’s more than one way to jump the trains.” William doesn’t need to prove that he’s grown up by performing a crazy stunt because he’s already behaved with courage and maturity while facing real problems and saving the lives of other people.

Posted on by TracyC

The Ghost on the Hill

ghosthillThe Ghost on the Hill by Grace Maccarone, 1990.

This is the last book in the Third Grade Ghosthunters series.

The kids take another field trip, this time to a state park. Native Americans used to live on that land, but most of the tribe died from disease many years ago. There are stories about spirits that live in the hills and the forest. Young boys from the tribe used to perform a ritual where they would dance with the Great Spirit in order to become men.

The third graders have been studying Native American history and customs to prepare for the field trip.  Norma wrote a report about Native American names, which tended to describe some significant characteristic of the person.  Their teacher tells the students that they should think of names for themselves which describe something significant about themselves.  Most of the kids think it sounds like a fun idea, but Joey doesn’t.  He’s just one kid in a family with a dozen other kids, and he’s never felt like there was anything particularly special about him.  That’s why he makes up tall tales about himself that all the other kids find weird and annoying.

ghosthillpicWhen they reach the state park, Dennis Ten Foot Bridge, who is the last of his tribe, tells the students about his tribe, teaches them wilderness skills, and leads them in group activities.  One evening, Joey goes out to practice some rowing on the lake by himself, and he sees what looks like a large ghost at the top of a hill  However, everyone knows that Joey lies about a lot of things, so at first, no one believes him.  At least, no one except Adam.

Adam agrees to help Joey investigate the mysterious spirit. Eventually, all of the members of the ghosthunting group decide to go up on the hill together to see the ghost for themselves.  There, Joey finds the courage to face the spirit directly, and everyone sees the truth. Together, Joey and his friends end up repeating the ancient coming-of-age ritual that the tribe that used to live there would perform.

The solution to the mystery is a little strange, but the book is great for the characters alone. This final book in the Third Grade Ghosthunters series is a coming-of-age story. The other books in the series addressed personal issues and personality quirks in the characters as side-plots, such worrying about not being as smart others, worries about making and keeping friends, and the trouble with teasing. This one focuses on Joey and his sense of identity. He’s always felt that there is nothing special about him compared to his brothers and sisters. In this story, he develops his own character more and gains new confidence. In the process, he ends up becoming more comfortable with his role as a kid in a family with many children as well as appreciating his own uniqueness.  He also finds a name for himself that expresses his new sense of identity.