Posted on by TracyC

Triple Trouble

TripleTroubleTriple Trouble by Michael J. Pellowski, 1988.

Randi and Sandi Daniels have a cousin named Mandy who is only slightly older than they are and who looks very much like the two of them.  Their two fathers were brothers, and their two mothers were sisters, which is why they look so much alike. When the three of them were young, they used to get along well and they were almost like triplets. However, when Mandy comes from California for a visit, it becomes apparent that she’s changed a lot.

The three of them still look a lot alike, but Mandy has become stuck up and snobbish. More than anything, she wants to be a big Hollywood star. Because she’s an only child, her parents have indulged her, but now they’ve become concerned that she’s become too wrapped up in her ambitions. She doesn’t really have any friends and isn’t interested in anything besides acting. They think that if Mandy spends some time with her cousins, it will encourage her to slow down and act her age more.

TripleTroublePicBut, Mandy’s snobbish attitude rubs Randi and Sandi the wrong way. Mandy doesn’t want to do anything because she might get dirty or break a nail, and she keeps bragging about how grown up she is compared with her not-much-younger cousins. The twins argue with their cousin, and they play tricks on each other. When Mandy takes advantage of acting skills and her similar appearance to the other girls to try spending time with a boy they like by pretending to be them, Randi and Sandi decide it’s the last straw! They decide to show Mandy that playacting is a game that three can play at.

Like the first book in this series, this one is also filled with black-and-white drawings.

This book is currently available through Internet Archive.

Posted on by TracyC

Double Trouble

DoubleTrouble

Double Trouble by Michael J. Pellowski, 1986.

Sandi and Randi Daniels are identical twins with a younger brother, Teddy, who is in his Terrible Twos. Although Sandi and Randi look alike, they are still very different people. Sandi loves to read and is a good student, and Randi is loves sports, especially soccer. The problem is that Randi’s place on the soccer team is in danger because of her poor grades. Their father has told her that if she doesn’t improve her spelling, she won’t be able to play soccer anymore, and the championship game is coming up!

The two girls come up with a possible solution to the problem when Teddy accidentally mistakes Sandi for Randi one day because Sandi is wearing her sister’s favorite shirt. Since Sandi is much better at spelling than Randi is, Sandi will dress as Randi and meet her teacher for her special tutoring in spelling while Randi goes to play soccer with her sports team.

DoubleTroublePicBut, everything goes wrong when Randi’s coach talks to her teacher about the championship game, and it turns out that her teacher is secretly a soccer fan. When Sandi arrives for the tutoring session and the teacher and coach tell her the happy news that “Randi” can play in the championship game, Sandi has no time to tell Randi about it and switch places with her again. Will their hoax be exposed? Will the girls be able to switch places again in time to save the championship?

There are black-and-white drawings throughout the book.  This is the first book in a series.

It is currently available through Internet Archive.

Posted on by TracyC

The Case of the Lost Lookalike

LostLookalike

The Case of the Lost Lookalike by Carol Farley, 1988.

“I want to swoop in and spout out the answers to baffling mysteries while everyone around me blinks in befuddlement.  I want to reveal the amazing solutions to puzzles while everyone gasps in admiration.  Except the criminal, of course, who gasps for other reasons.”
— Flee Jay Saylor

This is the second book in the the Flee Jay and Clarice Mysteries.

In The Case of the Lost Lookalike, Flee Jay and Clarice are spending the summer at a lake with their aunt, and someone there says that Clarice is the very image of a little girl named Caroline who was apparently kidnapped 40 years ago.  Little Caroline disappeared from her own bedroom one night after her mother died under rather suspicious circumstances.  Most people assume that Caroline is dead, too.  The girl’s father is now a strange recluse who lives on an island in the middle of the lake.

LostLookalikePic

But, as the girls puzzle over this old mystery, other mysterious things begin to happen.  A woman produces pictures of the missing girl which look nothing like Clarice.  Then, her shop is broken into, and the pictures of Caroline disappear.

When someone persuades their aunt to let the girls visit the old recluse on the island, the man’s reaction is surprising, and they come to realize that Caroline’s disappearance might not be the real issue at all.  Clarice takes some frightening risks to get to the bottom of the mystery!

My Reaction

In a way, this story is two mysteries in one because Clarice figures out what really happened to Caroline when she disappeared years ago at the same time that the girls unravel the mystery that is affecting people who live in the small town by the lake now.  The mystery of what happened to Caroline would not have resurfaced at this particular time if someone else hadn’t brought up the issue as a distraction from something else.

What I like best about this series is the sense of humor and the way that Flee Jay says things as she narrates the story: “I mean, new cottages and magic lakes are terrific and all that, but nothing can ever take the place of a peanut-butter, brown sugar, and banana sandwich.”