Trixie Belden #19 Secret of the Unseen Treasure and #20 Mystery Off Old Telegraph Road

In Trixie Belden #19, The Secret of the Unseen Treasure, Mrs. Elliot struggles to make ends meet.  Her stepson, Max, helps her run the family's farm.  Meanwhile, social security checks have been stolen along Glen Road, but Mrs. Elliot's check was not stolen, since she has it sent straight to the bank.  Trixie suspects that Max is up to no good, and she wonders if Max is involved with the stolen checks, since he had advised Mrs. Elliot to have her checks sent to the bank.

This book was published in 1977.  On page 163, Jim remarks that a number of states are considering legalizing marijuana.  Hmm.  This surprised me since the legalization of marijuana is a current issue.

Oregon, Alaska, and Maine decriminalized marijuana during the 1970s.  New Mexico had a brief medical marijuana program in 1978.  However, the first state to legalize medical marijuana was California in 1996, 19 years after this book was published.  This shows how slowly things change.  It's interesting that this book centers around a topic that is still relevant today.

On page 185, it is stated that a certain person will not likely go to jail since it cannot be proved that they planted the marijuana.  This is silly.  That's why the laws were written so that possession of marijuana is illegal, so who planted the marijuana is a moot point.

This is an excellent book.

In Trixie Belden #20, The Mystery Off Old Telegraph Road, the Bob-Whites plan a bike-a-thon to benefit the art department of Sleepyside Junior-Senior High School.  Strangely, one of the art students, Nick, seems to be against the bike-a-thon.  Honey's visiting cousin, Ben Riker, makes fun of the bike-a-thon in front of other students.  Soon, the Bob-Whites receive warning messages telling them not to have the bike-a-thon.  Trixie suspects that someone is hiding criminal activity that is occurring somewhere near the path of the bike-a-thon.

On page 151, Honey talks about Ben's silly pranks, including making calls to Honey's home, which is the Manor House, and asking whether he was speaking to "Man or House."  He would then demand to know which one.

I have a similar story.  When I was young, people would make prank phone calls to my house.  They would ask if they had reached the White House.  After receiving an affirmative answer, they would ask to speak to the President.  Of course that prank quit working pretty quickly, since we learned not to fall into the trap.

This is also an excellent book.