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Beware the Fish!

bewarefishBeware the Fish! by Gordon Korman, 1980.

In spite of MacDonald Hall’s prestigious reputation, it is continually plagued by money problems.  The students can’t help but notice all the budget cutbacks, and now, there are rumors that the school might even have to close permanently.  The last thing anyone wants is to leave MacDonald Hall.  Bruno, the school’s resident idea man and master prankster, decides to spearhead a movement to raise money and publicity for MacDonald Hall so they can save the school!

Bruno, his best friend Boots, and their other fellow students try everything they can think of to spread the word about what a great place MacDonald Hall is so that enrollment will go up and the school can earn enough money to stay open.  They enlist the help of the girls at the nearby finishing school to help them break a world record.  The school’s science whiz, Elmer, shows the boys some of his inventions in the hope that one of them will make the school famous.

Unfortunately, as usual, nothing turns out as planned.  World records are extremely difficult to break, and Elmer’s inventions backfire.  One of his inventions backfires in such a way that it comes to the attention of the local police, and even the government becomes convinced that a gang of terrorists may be operating somewhere in the vicinity of MacDonald Hall.

The boys try to keep their activities secret from their headmaster, Mr. Sturgeon (or, as the boys nickname him, “The Fish”), while government agents snoop around, looking for the head of the organization that’s been issuing cryptic messages over television signals, a shadowy figure known only as “The Fish.”

This book is part of the MacDonald Hall Series (or Bruno and Boots series).  It is currently available online through Internet Archive.

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This Can’t Be Happening At MacDonald Hall

macdonaldhallThis Can’t Be Happening at MacDonald Hall by Gordon Korman, 1978.

Bruno and Melvin (called Boots) have been roommates ever since they began attending boarding school at MacDonald Hall.  The two of them are best friends, and they do everything together.  Quite a lot of what they do involves practical jokes.  But, they’ve really been pushing the limit with their antics, and when they go a little too far during a hockey game, the headmaster gives them the ultimate punishment: they can no longer share a room.  Mr. Sturgeon thinks that they’re a bad influence on each other.  Each of them is assigned to a new roommate, and they won’t even be able to hang out together.

The prospect of losing each other as best friends is too much for Bruno and Boots. Besides, neither of them likes their new roommates.  Boots has to share a room with George, who comes from a wealthy family and is only interested in money.  George is also a germophobe who hates it that Boots sneezes every morning when he wakes up.  Bruno’s new roommate is Elmer, the school’s supreme science nerd.  Elmer isn’t happy about Bruno’s presence, either, because Bruno and his belongings take up valuable space that Elmer requires for his many projects.  Obviously, the situation is completely intolerable for everyone.

Bruno, the idea man of the duo, declares that he will find a way for him and Boots to become roommates again.  They meet secretly at night to discuss their plans.  The boys try every tactic they can think of.  They try making themselves completely obnoxious to their new roommates so that Mr. Sturgeon will have pity on them and give them their old room assignments.  They try framing George and Elmer for some outrageous pranks of their own so Mr. Sturgeon will think that they’re a bad influence on Bruno and Boots.  Bruno and Boots even try (as an extreme measure) behaving themselves!  What will finally work?

This is the first book in the MacDonald Hall Series (or Bruno and Boots) series.  It is currently available online through Internet Archive.

Posted on by TracyC

Cranberry Thanksgiving

cranberrythanksgivingCranberry Thanksgiving by Wende and Harry Devlin, 1971.

Maggie and her grandmother like to invite friends to spend Thanksgiving with them.  Grandmother always tells Maggie to invite someone who doesn’t have anyone else to spend the holiday with.  This year, Grandmother has invited Mr. Horace, a pleasant man with an elegant manner staying at the local hotel.  Maggie has invited Mr. Whiskers, a friendly but somewhat scruffy sailor who has been on his own for years.

Grandmother has never really approved of Maggie’s friendship with Mr. Whiskers (whose real name is Uriah Peabody, but is called Mr. Whiskers because of his long, busy beard).  Mr. Whiskers’s unkempt appearance and lack of refinement have always bothered her.  She also suspects Mr. Whiskers of wanting to steal the secret recipe for her famous cranberry bread because he often shows up when she’s making it.  Some people have offered her a great deal of money for her recipe, but she insists that it’s a family secret that she’s leaving to Maggie.  Still, Mr. Whiskers has been a good friend to Maggie, so she allows him to come to Thanksgiving dinner.

As it happens, someone is out to steal Grandmother’s recipe, but not the person that she suspects.  It’s a nice holiday story about how appearances can be deceptive and real friendship is shown through honest behavior.

This book is part of a series, and like all the other books in the series, there is a recipe in the back.  The recipe in this book is for Grandmother’s Famous Cranberry Bread.

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The Tap Dance Mystery

eeetapThe Tap Dance Mystery by Susan Pearson, 1990.

The kids in Ernie’s class are assigned to groups to plan different acts for the show that they will have when their parents visit the school on Parents’ Night. The Martians are assigned to different groups. R. T.’s group is going to do magic tricks. Michael’s group is going to pretend to be a music group from Jupiter and play different homemade instruments. Unfortunately, William and Ernie are in the same group as Marcie, a mean and bossy girl who always smells sticky and sweet, like Juicy Fruit gum.

Marcie convinces the others that their group should tap dance because she has been taking lessons and can teach the others. William and Ernie struggle to learn the steps and make homemade tap shoes by tacking washers onto the bottoms of their shoes. Jason, the fourth member of their group, really likes dancing and shows a lot of talent for learning the moves. Still, only Marcie really looks the part of a dancer in her fancy costume and beautiful tap shoes.

Several kids ask Marcie if they can try on her tap shoes, including Jason, but she refuses to let them. Every day, she hides her shoes in a different place in their classroom when she isn’t there to watch them. When the shoes disappear, Marcie is convinced that Jason took them, but he says he didn’t. Ernie believes him, but she has to hurry if she is going to find the shoes and clear his name before Parents’ Night.

The solution to this mystery is fairly simple, but the story also has some interesting insights into the reasons why Marcie acts the way she does and the effect that parents’ expectations can have on their children.

This is part of the Eagle-Eye Ernie series.  The book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive.

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The Bogeyman Caper

eeebogeymanThe Bogeyman Caper by Susan Pearson, 1990.

This is part of the Eagle-Eye Ernie  mystery series.

Everyone says that the old yellow house in their town, White Bear Lake, Minnesota, is inhabited by a bogeyman, but Ernie doesn’t believe it. She decides to prove to her friends that there is no bogeyman in the old house.

Ernie finds ways for her and her friends to keep an eye on the house.  At first, all they see is a creepy-looking old cat. Then, William finds a strange bone in the yard, and Ernie sees a red glow inside and hears tapping sounds. Are her friends right about the bogeyman, or is there another explanation?

Ernie uses her powers of observation to determine that many of the spooky things about the house and its new owner are actually familiar, both to herself and her friends.

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

Posted on by TracyC

Eagle-Eye Ernie Comes to Town

eeetownEagle-Eye Ernie Comes to Town by Susan Pearson, 1990.

Ernestine Jones, better known as Ernie, is upset because her family has moved from Newport News, Virginia to White Bear Lake, Minnesota. She has no friends at school, and the other kids all think she’s strange and that she talks funny because of her southern accent.

Worse yet, someone has recently started stealing things from people’s lunches at school, and some of the kids think that Ernie might be the thief. Ernie has a knack for finding things, and her father says that she has an eagle eye. To save her reputation and any chance she might have of making friends, Ernie needs to use her eagle eye to find the thief so everyone will stop blaming her.

Ernie not only figures out who the real thief is but even helps the person find a solution to a bigger problem.

This is the first book in the Eagle-Eye Ernie series. The book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive.

My Reaction

The books are easy, beginning chapter books. The series starts with Ernie moving to her new town and making some new friends. These friends, William, Michael, and R.T. (Rachel) end up calling themselves the Martians because Michael is interested in outer space and likes calling everyone a Martian.

One of the cute parts of this book was when Ernie painted her saddle shoes to look like little bears in honor of “White Bear Lake.”  For a long time, this was the part of the story that I remembered best.

Posted on by TracyC

The Red Trailer Mystery

Trixie Belden Series

trixietrailer#2 The Red Trailer Mystery by Julie Campbell, 1950.

This story picks up immediately where the previous book in the series leaves off.  Jim Frayne, although heir to a great deal of money, ran away to keep himself and his fortune out of the hands of his scheming stepfather.  He plans to find work to support himself until he’s old enough to return and claim his inheritance in his own right.

However, his uncle’s lawyer has collected enough evidence that Jim’s stepfather is an unfit guardian that he says he can arrange for Jim to have another guardian.  Trixie and Honey travel in a trailer along with Honey’s governess, Miss Trask, searching for their friend Jim so they can tell him that he’s safe from his stepfather.

Along the way, they meet a family traveling in a red trailer. The family is dressed in ragged clothes, and they look half-starved. They seem to be very upset about something, and the parents discourage their children from talking to Trixie and Honey. For reasons the girls don’t understand, the oldest girl in the family runs away into the woods and her family leaves the trailer camp without her.

Later, the girls meet a state trooper who is looking for a trailer matching the description of the red trailer the family had. Apparently, there have been several thefts of trailers in the area recently. Could the family they met be involved in the thefts?  Will Trixie and Honey ever find Jim?

The book is currently available online through Internet Archive.

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The Secret of the Mansion

Trixie Belden Series

trixiemansion#1 The Secret of the Mansion by Julie Campbell, 1948.

Trixie Belden, a thirteen-year-old girl who lives with her family on a small farm near a town called Sleepyside, is sure that her summer vacation is going to be boring. Her older brothers have gone away to be camp counselors, and she’s stuck helping her mother with chores and watching her little brother.

However, Mr. Frayne, the strange old hermit who lives down the road from Trixie Belden and her family, is suddenly taken ill. Trixie’s father finds him passed out by the side of the road and takes him to the hospital. It doesn’t look like he’s going to survive, and rumor has it that there is a fortune hidden in his big, old, boarded-up mansion.

Then, another girl Trixie’s age moves into a mansion called the Manor House near Trixie’s farm. Her name is Honey Wheeler. Her family is rich, but she has lived a very sheltered life and has not had many friends. She has been unwell recently, and her family is hoping that living in the country will help her to get better. The two girls become friends, and Trixie convinces Honey to come with her to take a look at Mr. Frayne’s mysterious old mansion.

While looking around the property, they meet Jim Frayne, who is Mr. Frayne’s nephew. Jim has run away from his abusive stepfather and is now hiding out in Mr. Frayne’s old house. He had been hoping to find a home with his uncle, but he arrived after his uncle became ill. Jim is next in line to inherit Mr. Frayne’s property if he dies, but his stepfather Jonesy is looking for him and will take control of anything he inherits. Is there really a treasure hidden somewhere in the old house, and if so, can the girls help Jim find it before Jonesy finds him?

This is the first book in the Trixie Belden series.  It is currently available online through Internet Archive.

Posted on by TracyC

The 123 Zoo Mystery

eeezooThe 123 Zoo Mystery by Susan Pearson, 1991.

Ernie’s class at school, Room 123, has some fun class pets. They have a duck, a boa constrictor, a pair of hamsters, a toad, a rabbit, and a worm farm. Mrs. Lettuce, the pet rabbit, is going to have babies soon, and everyone is excited about it.

After a new girl, Hisako, joins the class, strange things begin happening. Someone lets all the pets out of their cages, and some toads appear in the classroom. Ernie wants to figure out what is going on because she’s worried that all the chaos will upset Mrs. Lettuce when she should be resting.

At first, suspicion falls on Hisako, who really likes animals, but Ernie soon realizes that there’s another explanation.  William is the one who finds the clue that Ernie needs to figure out the mystery.  Part of this story is about the lengths that someone would go to for the sake of a friend.

This book is part of the Eagle-Eye Ernie series.

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The Master Puppeteer

masterpuppeteerThe Master Puppeteer by Katherine Paterson, 1975.

Jiro was born during a terrible time in the history of Osaka, Japan, during the 18th century. Around the time he was born, a plague swept the city, killing his other siblings, making Jiro the only child of Isako and Hanji, the puppet maker. His mother resents him for surviving when her other children didn’t and criticizes him for being clumsy when he tries to help his father make puppets. Now there is famine in Osaka, and Jiro’s family is on the verge of starvation. The only way they can support themselves is by making puppets for Yoshida’s puppet theater, the Hanaza.

The Hanaza has been doing well in spite of everything because the rice merchants are still wealthy enough that they can afford to spend money attending the theater. One day, when Jiro goes with his father to bring a puppet to Yoshida, Yoshida comments that the boy has spirit and offers to take him on as an apprentice at the theater. Hanji does not take the offer seriously, but Jiro does. He knows that he will not be able to help his parents by making puppets, and the people at the theater earn money and have plenty to eat. He joins the theater without telling his parents, introducing himself to the old, blind Okada, who chants the words of the plays.

masterpuppeteerpic1Okada was once Yoshida’s teacher, and he accepts Jiro into the theater. Jiro is fascinated with the world of the theater, studying alongside Yoshida’s son, Kinshi, who becomes his closest friend. However, he must first graduate from apprentice to puppeteer before he can begin earning enough money to support his family, and the news from outside the theater is grim. Word has reached him that his father is ill and his mother is starving. The poor people of Osaka, starving and oppressed by the wealthy merchants and tax collectors, begin rioting.

Saburo, the leader of a gang of bandits, has become a hero to the people, taking food and money from rich people in clever and daring raids and using it to feed some of those who are starving. Kinshi in particular admires Saburo and sets off on his own mission to save the poor people of Osaka. Jiro fears for Kinshi’s safety but does not know who to turn to for help until he finds evidence that seems to point to the true identity of Saburo.

One of the fascinating things about this story is the way the puppets are operated.  Unlike either hand puppets or marionettes, where the operators are never seen, the operators of puppets in Japanese theater are on stage with them.  However, the operators are dressed completely in black with hoods, so the audience will disregard their presence.  Because of the violent episodes in this story, I would recommend it for middle school level.