Dana Girls #3 In the Shadow of the Tower

In Dana Girls #3, In the Shadow of the Tower, Jean and Louise try to help Josy Sikes, an orphaned hunchback who has lost a $1000 bill.  Josy's money is found by a hunter, who unintentionally makes Josy feel bad because of her deformity.  Josy and the hunter both run away in separate incidents.  The Dana Girls try to find both missing people.

This story is a mess, but I like it.  The first two books in the series read very much like early Nancy Drew books.  This book reads more like the typical crazy Kay Tracey book.

The idea of a young girl carrying around a $1000 bill is absurd.  Even for today, carrying around a $1000 bill sounds stupid.  Consider that the $1000 bill would now be worth $19,000, which is a ridiculous amount of money for a young girl to be carrying around.

This story is full of racial stereotypes that come across as too stupid to be believed by the modern reader.  I read these things and am appalled that people who were not white were actually portrayed in such a horrible fashion.  All of the colored people roll their eyes and are scared to death over practically nothing.  They see Josy with her hunchback and actually think she is a monster.  The hunchback could not have been that bad.  It is ridiculous and hard to believe.

Despite the craziness of the story, I thoroughly enjoyed it.  This is an excellent book.