Dana Girls #27 The Secret of the Silver Dolphin

In Dana Girls #27, The Secret of the Silver Dolphin, a reward has been offered to anyone who can recover a lost silver dolphin.  Jean and Louise decide to try for the reward.  They become acquainted with Judy Platt, who is the heiress to whom the silver dolphin was willed.  The girls follow a series of clues that eventually lead them to Florida.

On pages 36 through 40, Judy brings the Danas a box that someone gave her to give to the Danas.  While Judy is on the porch with the box, a scorpion crawls out and is quickly killed.  The girls bring the box inside without checking for additional scorpions.  During a conversation, another scorpion crawls out of the box, causing another scare.  I don't understand why the box was brought inside or why it wasn't checked for more scorpions.

On page 42, Judy is quite upset.  Without anybody speaking, "Wisely, the whole family decided that for Judy's sake they should change the subject."  Apparently, the Danas have perfected their telepathic skills.

On page 76, the girls are at a suspect's apartment.  Jean randomly decides that under the cushion of the rocking chair would be the perfect place to hide something.  She checks and discovers some missing stock certificates.

On page 109, the Danas visit the Seaquarium.  While watching a dolphin, Jean decides to lean down and offer the dolphin a little plastic dolphin.  The dolphin grabs the toy and pulls Jean into the water.  On page 110, the trainer finds the entire escapade to be funny.  Jean should have been scolded for being an idiot, but instead the trainer winks and suggests adding that trick to the dolphin's act.

Sometimes Harriet Adams explains things that I'm not sure really need to be explained.  On page 140, Anne mentions, "We can always eat roots and berries, Mother, if push comes to shove."  The Dana Girls are puzzled, not understanding the phrase.  Anne explains, "If worst comes to worst.  That's how some of us Floridians say it."

The whole silver dolphin thing puzzled me.  As far as colors go, silver and gray are extremely similar.  I looked up dolphin colors, and silver is not one of the colors.  There is a pink dolphin, however, and a pink dolphin would have been more interesting in this story.

This book has a psychic in it.  The girls are skeptical, but Aunt Harriet fully believes everything that the psychic predicts.  Since Harriet Adams projected herself into Aunt Harriet, I conclude that Harriet Adams believed in the abilities of psychics.

The title of this book should have been The Search for the Silver Dolphin.  The story is all about the search, not about what the secret might be.

This is an overall good book, but I did get bored toward the end of the story.