halfcentreader's review against another edition
4.0
A new youngster to add to the mix. Not my favorite plot but still commendable.
govmarley's review against another edition
4.0
The Bob-Whites plan a super fun carnival to raise money for Mexican earthquake victims, Trixie jumps to conclusions and gets into trouble, and all is well in Sleepyside. More to come.
imzadirose's review against another edition
3.0
This is a case of where I wish I could rate parts. The story on the whole is good but I think the adults are stupid in it. If they had just told the BWG's who Dan was and to see if they could befriend him, none of the stuff that happened would have happened. But of course then there wouldn't be a mystery. It was still the stupid adults faults!
klynn1775's review against another edition
5.0
as entertaining as I remember. Now I'm going to have to start collecting them too!
bev_reads_mysteries's review against another edition
4.0
Trixie and the Bob-Whites are getting ready to hold an ice carnival on the Wheelers' lake. Trixie and Honey's pen pals in Mexico have been through an earthquake. The disaster destroyed their school library and they don't know how the books will ever be replaced. So, Trixie comes up with the idea of the carnival to raise money and seek book donations. You'd think she'd be too busy to get mixed up in a mystery...but not our Trixie.
Regan, the Wheelers' groom, is acting oddly. Trixie overhears him asking her mom for advice for some sort of situation and then later she accidently sees a paper in the tack room that indicates some sort of legal trouble. Regan has to go into New York City on some sort of business and the next thing the Bob-Whites know there is a new boy at school. A boy who apparently came from the city and who wears a black leather jacket, cowboy boots, and a peaked black cap. He spends the lunch hour talking about how he and his "club" deal with people.
He struck a fist into the palm of his other hand forcefully. "Pow!"
Despite the Bob-Whites making efforts to be friendly, he remains stand-offish and even a bit rude. Trixie speculates that his club must really have been a gang and when Honey's watch comes up missing and is found sold to a local store, she suspects Dan of being responsible. Then the clubhouse is broken into and their petty cash stolen. But there are conflicting clues--while there are cowboy bootprints in the dirt floor of the clubhouse, they look to be too big for Dan's foot. But who else could it be? No one else in Sleepyside wears pointy cowboy boots. It's a mystery Trixie just has to solve.
This story represents both a thing I like least about Trixie and something I like best about her and the Bob-Whites. One of the most annoying things about the girl who wants to grow up and have her own detective agency is the way she jumps to conclusions. Jumps, did I say? How about takes a running, flying leap at them. For a girl who has a heart big enough to want to host an ice carnival to to raise money to replace books destroyed in an earthquake, she closes that heart up right quick the minute she sees Dan Mangan in his black jacket and cowboy boots. She decides on little evidence that he must have "stolen" (picked up out of the snow) Honey's watch and then broken into the Bob-Whites' clubhouse. And even when the evidence found proves it couldn't have been him--the footprints are too big and the boots which made the prints are the wrong color--she immediately jumps right back on the "Dan's a bad boy" band wagon the next chance she gets.
But as mentioned, she does have a big heart. And I love the way she and the others are always finding ways to those in need. Having the ice carnival for their pen pals in Mexico who need to replace their school library books, is a wonderful idea. It was great fun to watch the show come together. I just wish Trixie could be a little bit more open to people right in front of her. Yes, Dan is acting rude. But both Honey and Mart notice that he looks more scared than tough. I'm glad that Trixie did come round to seeing that Dan just really needed the right kind of friends. ★★★ and 1/2 (rounded up here)
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
Regan, the Wheelers' groom, is acting oddly. Trixie overhears him asking her mom for advice for some sort of situation and then later she accidently sees a paper in the tack room that indicates some sort of legal trouble. Regan has to go into New York City on some sort of business and the next thing the Bob-Whites know there is a new boy at school. A boy who apparently came from the city and who wears a black leather jacket, cowboy boots, and a peaked black cap. He spends the lunch hour talking about how he and his "club" deal with people.
He struck a fist into the palm of his other hand forcefully. "Pow!"
Despite the Bob-Whites making efforts to be friendly, he remains stand-offish and even a bit rude. Trixie speculates that his club must really have been a gang and when Honey's watch comes up missing and is found sold to a local store, she suspects Dan of being responsible. Then the clubhouse is broken into and their petty cash stolen. But there are conflicting clues--while there are cowboy bootprints in the dirt floor of the clubhouse, they look to be too big for Dan's foot. But who else could it be? No one else in Sleepyside wears pointy cowboy boots. It's a mystery Trixie just has to solve.
This story represents both a thing I like least about Trixie and something I like best about her and the Bob-Whites. One of the most annoying things about the girl who wants to grow up and have her own detective agency is the way she jumps to conclusions. Jumps, did I say? How about takes a running, flying leap at them. For a girl who has a heart big enough to want to host an ice carnival to to raise money to replace books destroyed in an earthquake, she closes that heart up right quick the minute she sees Dan Mangan in his black jacket and cowboy boots. She decides on little evidence that he must have "stolen" (picked up out of the snow) Honey's watch and then broken into the Bob-Whites' clubhouse. And even when the evidence found proves it couldn't have been him--the footprints are too big and the boots which made the prints are the wrong color--she immediately jumps right back on the "Dan's a bad boy" band wagon the next chance she gets.
But as mentioned, she does have a big heart. And I love the way she and the others are always finding ways to those in need. Having the ice carnival for their pen pals in Mexico who need to replace their school library books, is a wonderful idea. It was great fun to watch the show come together. I just wish Trixie could be a little bit more open to people right in front of her. Yes, Dan is acting rude. But both Honey and Mart notice that he looks more scared than tough. I'm glad that Trixie did come round to seeing that Dan just really needed the right kind of friends. ★★★ and 1/2 (rounded up here)
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
markmeavery's review
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
nday's review against another edition
3.0
The eighth book in the Trixie Belden series and the introduction of Dan Mangan to the series.
I have to say, I didn’t like Trixie’s judgemental attitude in this one – they all have shades of it from time to time as you read the books, but she was particularly bad in this one.
There were some good twists and turns with the story on this one, and I really quite enjoyed the story aside from Trixie’s attitude towards Dan.
I have to say, I didn’t like Trixie’s judgemental attitude in this one – they all have shades of it from time to time as you read the books, but she was particularly bad in this one.
There were some good twists and turns with the story on this one, and I really quite enjoyed the story aside from Trixie’s attitude towards Dan.
clare_burke's review against another edition
5.0
Okay let me just say how FRICKEN ANNOYED I HAVE TO GO LOOKING FOR THE NEXT BOOK BECAUSE I LOVE THIS SERIES TOO MUCH. I legit feel like I may die trying to find these books cause they are that old. First of this is the 8th book of the Trixie Belden and you don't even have to bother reading the first 7 books(EVEN THOUGH I TOTALLY RECOMMEND THEM). There are sometimes you may feel a little lost, but Kathryn Kenny always explains after. In this book a mysterious character named Dan Mangan comes to stay with Mr. Maypenny, just in time for the ice skating show Trixie and Honey produce to help raise money for their pen pals in Mexico. The Bob-Whites clubhouse is messed up and trouble comes up at every turn. Is Dan to blame, READ TO FIND OUT!
mayhap's review
2.0
According to this article examining the Trixie Belden Authorship Question, the unknown ghostwriter who penned this particular volume never contributed any further efforts. Which is probably for the best.
- It's got to suck when you're forced to leave New York City for a small town in the Hudson Valley and then all those hicks you look down on make fun of your cowboy boots.
- Wait, cowboy boots? Yeah, Dan Mangan belongs to a gang called…The Cowhands. They wear cowboy boots and have their gang name painted on the back of their eponymous cowboy boots. It's pretty embarrassing. To be fair, [b:The Mysterious Visitor|183102|The Mysterious Visitor (Trixie Belden, #4)|Julie Campbell|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1266490743s/183102.jpg|2054006] depiction of Skid Row was also pretty embarrassing, so it's not just ghostwriters perpetuating bizarre depictions of the criminal underclass.
- All of a sudden Trixie and Honey have always had penpals in Mexico. And sent them books for their school library. Which subsequently burned in a fire. It's ice carnival time!
- Actually this book reads as though its plot elements were drawn directly from the previous ghostwriter's maiden effort: the gang element, the fundraising event, the one boy in particular who bickers with the Bob-Whites throughout the book. Unlike Tad Williams, however, Dan Mangan gets rushed into full-on club membership, and equally quickly shuffled offstage at the beginning of nearly every subsequent book. I bet the editors really wished they had penciled in a change to the ending of this book.
- It's got to suck when you're forced to leave New York City for a small town in the Hudson Valley and then all those hicks you look down on make fun of your cowboy boots.
- Wait, cowboy boots? Yeah, Dan Mangan belongs to a gang called…The Cowhands. They wear cowboy boots and have their gang name painted on the back of their eponymous cowboy boots. It's pretty embarrassing. To be fair, [b:The Mysterious Visitor|183102|The Mysterious Visitor (Trixie Belden, #4)|Julie Campbell|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1266490743s/183102.jpg|2054006] depiction of Skid Row was also pretty embarrassing, so it's not just ghostwriters perpetuating bizarre depictions of the criminal underclass.
- All of a sudden Trixie and Honey have always had penpals in Mexico. And sent them books for their school library. Which subsequently burned in a fire. It's ice carnival time!
- Actually this book reads as though its plot elements were drawn directly from the previous ghostwriter's maiden effort: the gang element, the fundraising event, the one boy in particular who bickers with the Bob-Whites throughout the book. Unlike Tad Williams, however, Dan Mangan gets rushed into full-on club membership, and equally quickly shuffled offstage at the beginning of nearly every subsequent book. I bet the editors really wished they had penciled in a change to the ending of this book.
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