Posted on by TracyC

The Case of the Gobbling Squash

The Case of the Gobbling Squash by Elizabeth Levy, illustrated by Ellen Eagle, 1988.

This is the first book in the A Magic Mystery series, which is about a couple of kids who like magic tricks. In every book in the series, there is a section in the back with direction for performing the magic tricks in the story.

It’s Thanksgiving, and all of the kids at school are participating in a Thanksgiving Fair. Different kids are doing different things for the fair, and Kate has a booth where she is advertising her services as a detective. Unfortunately, she gets more teasing than people approaching her with mysteries to solve. Then, Max tells her that he needs her help.

Max is an amateur magician, and he keeps a couple of rabbits to use his act. One of his rabbits is missing. When Kate goes to his house to investigate, it doesn’t take her long to figure out where the missing rabbit is … and the rabbit has become a mother, which presents the kids with a new problem to solve. Max’s mother won’t let him keep that many bunnies.

Fortunately, Kate comes up with an idea to use Max’s magic act in their Thanksgiving play at school to provide the bunnies with new homes. However, when she and Max are preparing for the show, the bunnies disappear in a non-magical way. Someone has stolen them! Max points out that they were supposed to give the bunnies away anyhow, but Kate says they can’t let the matter rest until they’re sure that the bunnies are safe in a good home.

Once again, Max and Kate use Max’s magic tricks to expose the bunny thief and to turn their Thanksgiving magic act into something extra special!

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

My Reaction

The mystery is a little cheesy, but I thought that the kids were clever in the way they used concepts from magic tricks to solve their problems. Whether they would work so well in real life is questionable, but I though the concept was creative. The first mystery about where the missing rabbit is was easily resolved, but they have to figure out who took all the bunnies. I thought that the solution to that mystery was also obvious because there was really only one person who seemed to have a reason to mess up their magic act, but the mystery may seem more mysterious to young children.

The story gets some credit from me for being set at Thanksgiving because it’s a less popular holiday for kids’ books than Christmas or Halloween. Like other kids’ Thanksgiving books that aren’t set at the First Thanksgiving, this one is set at a school and involves a cheesy Thanksgiving celebration. The Thanksgiving play in the story involves some of the kids being dressed as Pilgrims and Native Americans, and the Native American aspects are also cheesy and stereotypical. It actually reminds me of actual school plays from my own childhood, which were equally cheesy and embarrassing to me when I was a kid.

I really liked the section in the back of the book that explained how all of the magic tricks in the book were done, even the one for their grand finale! The tricks include a card trick, making a coin disappear, and pulling a rabbit out of a hat.

Posted on by TracyC

Meg Mackintosh and The Stage Fright Secret

Meg Mackintosh Mysteries

Meg Mackintosh and The Stage Fright Secret by Lucinda Landon, 2004.

The mystery club at Meg’s school is putting on a play, and Meg’s friend, Liddy, says that they should try out for parts. The play is a Halloween mystery called The Trick or Treat Mystery with a detective called Sureluck House. Meg is nervous during the try-outs and rushes through her lines, so she doesn’t get the part of the detective. However, the club’s advisor, Ms. Morse, gives her the role of announcer. The announcer is like a narrator, introducing scenes of the play. Meg still wishes that she had a regular part in the play, but being the announcer gives her a chance to be involved.

The kids begin assembling costumes and props. Meg creates signs for each scene, including signs to invite the audience to figure out clues during the performance. Once the play gets started, the story takes the form of the play itself. All of the dialogue is presented as part of the play and other information as stage directions, and Meg’s signs invite readers to figure out clues to the mystery.

In the play, Sureluck House gets a letter from Old Jane, a woman who lives in a spooky cottage near a cemetery, asking him to find who stole her stuffed raven. The raven has glowing red eyes, and Old Jane likes to put him on her porch on Halloween to scare away trick-or-treaters.

Sureluck and his friend Witson visit Old Jane, who tells them that three trick-or-treaters have visited her: a witch, a mummy, and a pirate. Then, Old Jane got distracted, chasing one of her kittens, and when she returned to her porch, the raven was gone. She thinks one of the trick-or-treaters stole it. Sureluck and Witson interview the three trick-or-treaters and point out evidence that each of them left at the scene, but they all deny taking the raven.

Then, there is a spooky part of the play where the actors are scared by lightning and thunder, and the lights go out. Readers and the audience can tell that the actors are also confused at this part of the play, and the Ms. Morse sticks her head out from behind the curtain to say that they’re experiencing technical difficulties.

When the lights come back on and the curtain opens again, Sureluck is lying on the ground, having apparently fainted from fright, and only Witson and Old Jane are on the scene. Witson says he thinks he can solve the mystery and invites the audience to guess which suspect stole the raven and where it is. When the audience says where they think the raven is. They guess the correct suspect, but the raven isn’t where it’s supposed to be. Also, Meg has suddenly disappeared, leaving her sign behind. Now, everybody, audience, actors, and Ms. Morse seem really confused.

Has an actual raven theft occurred in the middle of the play? Is Meg the culprit? Where is she?

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

My Reaction

I liked the unusual format to this book, having most of the mystery be in the form of a play within the story. Like other books in this series, readers are given the opportunity to spot the clues and solve the puzzle along with Meg. Because of the play format, we are also like part of the audience, watching the play and trying to figure out where the mystery in the play leaves off and where the mystery that Meg needs to solve begins. The ending is a little unusual because Meg seems to disappear briefly. I didn’t think it was too hard to figure out where Meg went, but I still enjoyed the story, and I though a spooky mystery play was a nice idea for a Halloween story!

Posted on by TracyC

The Mystery on Stage

The Boxcar Children

#43 The Mystery on Stage by Gertrude Chandler Warner, 1994.

Boxcar Children Mystery on Stage play announcement

Jessie decides that she wants to try out for a part in a local stage play of The Wizard of Oz. She wants to try for the role of Dorothy, but many other girls also want that part. A spoiled rich girl named Melody is sure that she will get the part because she’s had professional training, and her mother is very pushy. Another girl, Sarah, ends up getting the role by giving an excellent, heart-felt performance. However, Jessie gets the role of the Cowardly Lion, and Melody is offered the role of the Scarecrow. Melody is very upset about not getting the role of Dorothy, but she takes the role of the Scarecrow anyway. The other Alden kids also help out with the play in various ways, like building scenery and making costumes.

Boxcar Children Mystery on Stage threatening message

Soon, strange things start happening at the theater. Someone calls the play’s director and threatens that something bad will happen if he directs the play. Then, someone crosses Sarah’s name off a casting list and writes a note saying not to go on with the program. Props are stolen, a costume is destroyed, and lettering on a poster is changed. So many things are going wrong, people are starting to wonder if this play is going to happen after all.

Who could be responsible? Was Melody so upset about not getting the lead that she or her mother have decided to sabotage the whole play? Could the grumpy actor playing the Wizard have a reason to want to shut down the play? What secrets is Sarah hiding? Why does she seem to disappear suddenly at times? Or could more than one person be responsible for what’s happening? And why does the actor playing the Tin Man never want to remove his helmet?

My Reaction

Boxcar Children Mystery on Stage fallen light

I thought the mystery was pretty good, and the author did a good job of making a number of people look guilty. I had the feeling from the beginning that Sarah didn’t have her parents’ permission to be in the play, and that’s why she seems to run off or disappear suddenly, because they wouldn’t approve of what she’s doing. I was partly right, but it’s more complicated than that, and it’s important to the mystery.

I laughed out low at one point when the Aldens were talking about the grumpy and fussy actor who is playing the wizard, saying how he seems good at his part, but “it’s too bad about his personality.” It sounds like a serious slam, and honestly, there are some times when I’ve had similar thoughts about some people. In a way, though, that’s a sort of secondary theme to the story. There are some people involved with the production of the play who are really difficult to work with. They’re very good at what they do, like how Melody has had acting and singing lessons and does well on stage, but at the same time, they’re also disagreeable, self-centered, or pains to work with.

Boxcar Children Mystery on Stage Dorothy holding bouquet

Another theme of the story is the idea that things that seem like a disappointment can work out for the best. Jessie is a little disappointed at first that she didn’t get the role of Dorothy, but she turns out to like being the Cowardly Lion, and she realizes that she’s actually having more fun with that role than she would have with the role of Dorothy. Melody almost refuses to take the part of the Scarecrow because it isn’t the starring role of the play, but she does anyway. She likes it better than she thought she would, although she still wishes that she had a part where she could wear a pretty dress, like Dorothy.

Posted on by TracyC

Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman, 1991.

Grace loves stories, both hearing them and acting them out. She is imaginative, and likes playing games of pretend and acting out adventures.

When Grace’s teacher tells the class that they are going to perform the play Peter Pan and will be holding auditions for parts in the play, Grace wants the title role of Peter Pan. A couple of the other kids think that it’s odd for her to want to be Peter Pan because she is both a girl and black, which is exactly the opposite of how they usually see the character.

However, Grace still wants to play Peter Pan. When she tells her mother and grandmother what the other kids said, they reassure her that she can get the part if she really wants it and puts her mind to it.

To prove to Grace that a young black girl can get starring roles, her grandmother takes her to see a ballet where the granddaughter of a friend of hers from Trinidad is playing the role of Juliet in Romeo and Juliet.

Seeing the performance cheers Grace up and gives her the confidence to audition for the part of Peter Pan. When her classmates see how good she is when she performs, they all agree that Grace should have the role of Peter Pan.

The message that young girls like Grace can do what they set their minds to, even if the roles they want in life aren’t quite traditional, is a good one. As I read the story, I was also thinking that the objection that Grace can’t be Peter Pan actually doesn’t make much sense if you know that Peter Pan, of all roles in plays, is one that is often played by a female. I remember that when I was a kid in elementary school, there was a girl who played the part of Peter Pan, and one of the teachers explained that women sometimes play Peter Pan, especially when the actors are all adults, because women have the higher-pitched voices that the part really needs. I would liked it if the teacher in the story also mentioned that. Also, acting is about capturing the spirit of the character in the story, thinking and feeling like they would think and feel and acting the way they would act. I would have liked it if they had mentioned that. Grace may not look quite the way people might picture Peter Pan, but if she can capture the character in her performance, she’s a good actor.

I liked the pictures in the book for their realism. In a couple of the pictures which show how Grace like to act out fantasies, she is shirtless, but she is very young and it isn’t possible to really see anything, so I don’t consider it inappropriate, but I thought that I would mention it.

This is a Reading Rainbow Book.

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Stage Fright

SBStageFright

Stage Fright by James Howe, 1990.

A well-known actress, Michaele, who is also an old friend of Sebastian Barth’s mother, has come to town to be in a play. She’s staying with Sebastian’s family, and Sebastian has a role in the play as Michaele’s son. His friends will be working on the sets for the play, and everyone is really excited. However, Michaele herself is nervous because she hasn’t done live theater for some time. She is also struggling to get to know her nine-year-old son, who has recently come to live with her.

Then, someone begins sending her strange notes. At first, they come in the form of secret admirer notes and are accompanied by little presents. Later, the notes take a nasty turn, and Michaele becomes the victim of suspicious accidents. Someone even calls her son pretending to be his father, who lives in another state, to get him to go off on his own to meet him somewhere. Although nothing bad happens to the boy and no one comes to meet him, his sudden disappearances cause Michaele to worry that he has been kidnapped. Someone seems to be trying to frighten Michaele out of doing the play, but who is it and why?

The theme of the story is the difference between what people imagine is true and what is really true. A lot of the people in the story have unrealistic expectations of others. For instance, Michaele is impatient with her young son, who has had a troubled history of being torn between his divorced parents, who are both busy with their careers. By the end of the story, she has come to understand him better and plans to spend much more time with him.

Michaele, as a well-known actress, also attracts many admirers, most of whom have different illusions about what she is really like and what she really wants. In the end, after Sebastian reveals the culprit, Michaele decides not to let what happened stop her from going for what she knows she really wants, whether her efforts succeed or not. Michaele’s confidence is restored, and she’s looking forward to a brighter future with her son.

The book is currently available online through Internet Archive.

Posted on by TracyC

The One in the Middle is the Green Kangaroo

GreenKangaroo

The One in the Middle is the Green Kangaroo by Judy Blume, 1981.

Freddy Dissel hates being the middle child in his family. Before his younger sister, Ellen, was born, he had his own room. Now, he has to share with his older brother, Mike. Mike gets new clothes, while Freddy has to wear Mike’s hand-me-downs. Mike and his friends won’t play with Freddy because he’s too little to play their games, and Freddy can’t play with Ellen because she’s too little for him. Freddy hates always being caught in the middle with nothing special to distinguish him from his siblings.

Then, Freddy finds out that there’s going to be a play at his school. Seeing it as his chance to do something special that his siblings haven’t done, he asks his teacher if he can be in it. At first, she tells him that the only kids in the play are older kids, around his brother’s age, but seeing his disappointment, she says that she’ll talk to the teacher in charge of the play, Ms. Matson, and see if there’s a part for him.

When Freddy gets his chance to try out for a part, he demonstrates to Ms. Matson that he can speak up loud and isn’t afraid to hop around on stage in front of everyone. He’s thrilled when she gives him the part of the green kangaroo. Now, his family and everyone else can see him do something that his brother and sister don’t get to do!

GreenKangarooTryOut

Even though he does get a little stage fright right before the performance, working through it and playing his role as the green kangaroo gives Freddy new confidence. From then on, he’s not just Freddy the middle child but Freddy, the one and only green kangaroo!

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The Secret at the Polk Street School

The Polka Dot Private Eye

SecretPolkStreet#3 The Secret at the Polk Street School by Patricia Reilly Giff, 1987.

Dawn’s class is competing against other classes in a contest to see which class does the most for the school.  All of the classes are working on their own special projects, trying hard to keep them a secret until the judging.  Dawn, as the class’s resident detective, suggests that she could solve a mystery on behalf of the class, but unfortunately, there is no mystery for her to solve.  Yet.

Instead, Ms. Rooney’s class decides to put on a play for the rest of the school.  It’s Little Red Riding Hood, and Dawn is playing the starring role.  Jason gets to be the Wolf, borrowing an old wolf costume from his sister without her permission.

At the class’s rehearsal, Dawn gets mad when someone dressed in the wolf costume tries to scare her, and she thinks that it’s Jason, goofing off.  But, it turns out that Jason wasn’t even there, and the wolf costume is missing.  Suddenly, Dawn has a mystery!

Dawn starts receiving messages from “The Wolf” saying that someone is going to get her and Jason.  Then, someone takes a bite out of the loaf of bread that Dawn has been using as a prop (the food that she’s taking to “Grandma’s House” in the play).  Could “The Wolf” be someone in a rival class, hoping to sabotage their play so they can win the contest?

The book is currently available online through Internet Archive.

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The Case of the Visiting Vampire

VisitingVampireThe Case of the Visiting Vampire by Drew Stevenson, 1988.

This is the second book in the series about J. Huntley English, Monster Hunter, an extremely intelligent boy who also believes in real-life monsters and is determined to become a monster hunter so that he can find some. Along with his best friend, Raymond (who narrates the books), and Verna, a bossy girl who goes to school with Raymond, he investigates possible monsters around their small Pennsylvania town. The stories are humorous mysteries, and in a kind of Scooby-Doo fashion, there are other explanations besides monsters for the mysterious things that happen.

In this story, the Big Lake Theater in Barkley, PA, is putting on a play called The Count of Castle Dracula, and a visiting actor from Romania working at a local college is playing the part of the vampire. When Verna gets a part in the play, she becomes convinced that the actor, Bela Mezgar, is a real vampire. He behaves strangely and is never seen out during the daytime. Then, Verna overhears him talking on the phone to someone about his coffin and saying that “one heart must die so the other may live.” She tells Raymond and Huntley what she heard, and the monster hunter eagerly begins his investigation. However, a mysterious stranger also seems to be showing an unusual interest in the actor.

This book was written before the end of the Cold War, when Romania was still a communist country. Although things have changed since then, I don’t think that modern kids would have too much trouble understanding the situation. It’s a fun mystery for elementary school kids.

The book is currently available online through Internet Archive.

Posted on by TracyC · 1 Comment

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

christmaspageantThe Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson, 1972.

The Herdmans are the meanest, toughest kids in town.  They lie, cheat, steal, and when the mood strikes them, set things on fire.  Their father deserted the family, and their mother works all the time, so the six Herdman kids are pretty much left to their own devices, giving them plenty of opportunity to cause trouble.  Certainly, no one ever made the Herdman kids go to Sunday school.

But, to everyone’s surprise, the Herdmans suddenly show up at Sunday school in time to get cast for the annual Christmas pageant.  It wasn’t because the Herdmans suddenly found religion.  They were mostly there because they heard that there would be snacks.  Charlie told them so when they stole the dessert from his lunch at school.  In reality, Charlie exaggerated the snacks just to get back at the Herdmans.

christmaspageantpic1Although the Herdmans don’t get the cake Charlie mentioned and have little interest in Jesus, they begin to be fascinated by the description of the pageant and decide to stick around.  The Herdmans love movies, and the idea of being in any kind of play strikes them as fun.  Although the Christmas pageant basically goes the same way every year, typically using the same kids for the same parts, once the Herdmans make up their minds that they want the starring roles, they manage to push and bully their way right into the center of everything.

All of the other kids in Sunday school already know the story of Christmas and how the pageant usually goes, and they’re usually bored with the whole thing, but this year, the Herdmans make the pageant so unpredictable that even the kids the Herdmans tend to pick on find it fascinating.  The Herdmans are only hearing the story of Christmas for the first time as they assume their new roles of Mary, Joseph, the three wise men, and the angel.  Because they aren’t as familiar with the story and the routine of the pageant, they end up adding their own little twists to their performance.

christmaspageantpic2At first, the more conservative adults in the church are horrified at the prospect of what the wild Herdmans might do on Christmas itself, but the minister and the lady overseeing the pageant decide to give the Herdmans a chance.  As the title says, it ends up being The Best Christmas Pageant Ever as the Herdmans unexpectedly bring out parts of the Christmas story that the other people who had taken the story for granted hadn’t really thought about much: the simple human reactions of a poor young couple who were strangers in a new town, the fear and expectation that accompany doing something great but unfamiliar and confusing, and the sense of wonder and surprise that are at the heart of the Christmas season.

Parts of the book are laugh-out-loud funny, and parts are actually touching.  While the awful Herdman kids stumble their way through the Christmas pageant, changing things, is it possible that the play is also changing them?

This is the first book in a short series about the Herdmans.  It is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive (multiple copies).  There is also a movie version of the book.  Sometimes, you can find it on YouTube.