The Barbara Ann Series #3 and #4

I have continued reading the Barbara Ann series by Ruth Grosby, and I have liked each book better than the last. The third book is Mystery across the Border. In this book, the young people travel down into Mexico. What floored me is that the boys named their car Susabella, which is the name of the boat in the Beverly Gray series. It makes me wonder whether the name was chosen on purpose. In fact, some of the things that happen to the young people in Mexico, like discovering ancient ruins, are rather like some of the things that happen in the Beverly Gray series.

I also noticed that the brand name, Coca-Cola, is used repeatedly in the third book. In most series books, there are no brand names mentioned. If a soft drink is mentioned, it is normally called "soda" or "pop" rather than given a specific name, like Coca-Cola. By what is said about the soft drink, it is definitely not used as a generic name; the author specifically means the brand, Coca-Cola. This reminds me of the remarks I made in a recent post about the book, Junior Miss. That book has quite a few pop culture references. Reader's Digest is also mentioned by name in one of the Barbara Ann books.

The front flap synopsis of Mystery across the Border is an example of a synopsis giving away too much information. The synopsis mentions a girl who has been missing for 13 years and how Barbara Ann spots her in a small Mexican town and eventually reunites her with her uncle. Why don't they just give away the entire plot? It isn't a big deal since we already know that in every single series book that a missing person is always reunited with his or her family thanks to the hero or heroine. It still irks me, however. It reminds me of one of the Nancy Drew Files (there is no way I can remember which one since they all run together in my mind) in which the back cover synopsis mentions a murder that does not happen until 100 pages into the story! The Nancy Drew Files are around 160 pages, so 100 pages is not that far from the end.

To go back to Barbara Ann, they don't even see the missing girl until halfway through the book and not until later do they draw any connection. A book's synopsis should not mention specifics that are that far into the book. Rather, it should have mentioned the suspicious behavior of certain characters and perhaps some of the young people's harrowing adventures that occur in the first part of the story. For instance, one of the boys is arrested and accusing of being a revolutionary! Doesn't that sound exciting enough for a synopsis?

Aside from my problems with the synopsis, which is the publisher's fault, the book is great.

I am nearly finished with the fourth and final Barbara Ann mystery, The Clue in the Camera. In this book, Barbara Ann is now a college student at Midwestern. Barbara Ann joins the photography club, and photos are used to solve two different mysteries in this book. It is all very interesting, especially since infrared light was used for one of the photos. Additionally, there are some rather technical descriptions of photography techniques.

In summary, I highly recommend the Barbara Ann series. I saw bits and pieces of Nancy Drew, Beverly Gray, Judy Bolton, and Trixie Belden in these books. The kidding around between Barbara Ann and her friends made me think of the Bob-Whites of the Trixie Belden series. One of the boys is named Mort, which I wanted to read as Mart. The dust jacket art makes Barbara Ann look like Judy Bolton, and Barbara Ann has gray eyes like Judy Bolton. I have already mentioned some of the similarities to Beverly Gray. The books are also similar to Nancy Drew, especially as there are a couple of friends who love to eat, one boy and one girl.