Phyllis Whitney Vanishing Scarecrow and Scowling Boy

In The Vanishing Scarecrow, Joan and her mother go to live on Rainbow Island, where Uncle Agate built an amusement park.  If Joan's mother can manage the park for three years, they will inherit the island.

Something is lacking in this book.  The story idea is interesting, and the setting should have been interesting.  The book didn't grab me, and finally, I began skimming it.  Considering how the story works out, I wish I had found the story more interesting.  It could have been outstanding and had great potential, but everything about it is flat and boring.

The book even has a plot twist, but I cared so little that even the plot twist didn't affect me at all.

In Mystery of the Scowling Boy, Jan and her brother spend the Christmas holiday in Pennsylvania with their grandparents in the mountains near the ski resorts.  Jan soon learns that Alanna Steven, her favorite actress, is staying in a house just below them on the mountain.  Jan's dream is to become an actress, so she yearns to become acquainted with Alana.

Jan soon learns that some mystery surrounds Alana and her son.  Their house is gloomy, and the others staying with them are unfriendly and suspicious of Jan and her brother.

I didn't like how Jo refused to defend herself while facing accusations.  My biggest problem in books is when characters hide things from each other.  I lost patience with Jo when she refused to tell what really happened.  Sure, they wouldn't have believed her, but she didn't even try.

Once the adults knew the truth, I began to greatly enjoy the story.  The last part of the book is excellent.

The last two Phyllis Whitney books that I read were Secret of Haunted Mesa and Secret of the Stone Face.  I did not write reviews of those books when I read them due to lack of motivation, which as I have explained before sometimes happens to me.  Since I am placing this post into the queue to be published around two months after I read the books, I am not interested in writing up reviews.  I recall that I did overall greatly enjoy both books. 

Phyllis Whitney Crimson Ghost and Missing Footprint

In The Mystery of the Crimson Ghost, Janey wants a horse of her own more than anything.  Her parents cannot afford to buy her a horse, and her father gets annoyed each time Janey talks about her desire.  Janey's family is spending the summer on a lake in New Jersey, and Mrs. Burley, who lives across the lake, owns a beautiful horse.  Janey hopes to get a chance to ride the horse, but Janey's aunt was responsible for injuring the horse.

I wasn't very interested in the book at the very beginning, but gradually, I became thoroughly engaged.

The part about Aunt Viv injuring the horse bothered me.  It seemed that Aunt Viv felt that Mrs. Burley should have already gotten over it, since Viv paid the vet bills and did everything she could.  I was thinking about how I would feel if I had a horse that I considered valuable, if a neighbor had ridden the horse without my permission, and if that neighbor had caused the horse to be injured where it would never completely recover.  I'd still be upset even after the vet bills had been paid.

Aside from my discomfiture about Aunt Viv's attitude about the horse, I greatly enjoyed this story.

In Secret of the Missing Footprint, Marcie's parents have decided to travel in Europe—without Marcie!  Marcie is forced to stay with Uncle Evan and his wife, and she feels that they don't want her.  Marcie is full of resentment, and soon, she is drawn to Timothy, a resentful boy who lives next door.

Marcie is mesmerized by Timothy.  Both of them have been abandoned by their parents, so she can relate to him.  He is troubled, and Marcie allows herself to get pulled into Timothy's scheme, which is to hurt their families.  Too late, Marcie realizes that Timothy's scheme is wrong, and she suffers the consequences.

This is an excellent book.

Phyllis Whitney Angry Idol and Goblin Glen

In Mystery of the Angry Idol, Jan Pendleton stays with her grandmother and great-grandmother in Mystic, Connecticut.  Jan finds both Neil, who lives next door, and Patrick, who lives in Jan's grandmother's house, to be very annoying.

Jan becomes acquainted with her great-grandmother, Miss Althea, and learns about Miss Althea's jade collection.  One piece, called "Old Fang-Tooth," is ugly and hated by Miss Althea.  She can't get rid of it since her father gave it to her.  A mystery surrounds Old Fang-Tooth, and Jan decides that she will be the one to solve it.

I found this book kind of annoying.  I enjoyed the overall story, but several characters got on my nerves.  I had to skim parts of the book.

In Secret of Goblin Glen, Trina is spending the summer with friends of her parents in a town in New Hampshire.  Trina's Great-uncle Will Horst robbed a bank many years ago, and the stolen money has never been found.  Trina soon learns that she is unwelcome, so she decides to try to make amends by finding the stolen money.

This is an excellent story.  I found it very interesting from the very beginning, and the book held my attention all the way through.  I did not skim this book.  I read it very quickly, and the faster I read a book, the more I like it.

The book has a plot twist that occurs partway through the story, which makes it all the more interesting.

Phyllis Whitney Hidden Hand and Emerald Star

In Mystery of the Hidden Hand, Gale Tyler stays in Greece with her mother and brother.  A mysterious figure dressed in a black cloak runs through their hotel.  Meanwhile, Gale finds a strange package in a closet, and soon learns that a mystery is connected to a nearby house in which distant relatives live.

This book is a travelogue.  I'm not interested in all the great detail about Greece.  I found most all of the information boring, because there is way too much of it.  "Less is more" is applicable.

I also have an aversion to books set in Greece because of The Greek Symbol Mystery.  I really hate that book.

The tone of this book reminds me of Golden Horn.  Too much is kept from the reader, and it is annoying. 

I was quite dissatisfied and bored with this book until page 111 when Gale learns the truth about the tiles, except at that point secrets about the hand and the significance of it are then kept from the reader.  I was dissatisfied again, but gradually, I gained interest in the story.  I intermittently skimmed the text, as I wasn't interested in all of the descriptions of Greece.

It look me longer that it should have to read this book.  The book did not interest me greatly, and I take longer in finishing books when I don't find them as compelling.

This is an overall good story, but it was somewhat lacking.  After reading this and the previous book, I was not very interested in continuing to read the Phyllis Whitney books.  I wanted to quit.

In Secret of the Emerald Star, Robin Ward and her family have moved to Catalpa Court on Staten Island.  Robin becomes friends with Stella, a blind girl who lives next door.  Stella's grandmother doesn't understand blindness and treats Stella like she is helpless.  Stella's grandmother is also prejudiced against people of Jewish faith.

This story is slow to get started, and I was partially bored.  I was concerned that I was not going to be interested in this book just like with the previous two books.  Finally, on page 53, discussions about prejudice and labels begin, which are very interesting and insightful.  Whitney mentions how a blind girl shouldn't be labeled as a blind girl and how she is a girl like all other girls.

This is an excellent book.  I greatly enjoyed it.

Phyllis Whitney Tiger's Eye and Golden Horn

In Secret of the Tiger's Eye, Benita Dustin stays with her aunt at her home in Cape Town, South Africa.  Joel Monroe, the son of Mr. Dustin's editor, is also staying with Benita's aunt.  Joel is very annoying, and Benita and Joel do not get along at all.  Benita notices some strange events that bother her, and Joel teases her relentlessly.

This book contains an excellent lesson about racism and about how one should try to understand others who are different, whether that difference is religion or simply a difference in personality.

The conflict with Joel is quite interesting and takes an unexpected turn partway through the story.

This is a really excellent book, and I found it quite satisfying.

In Mystery of the Golden Horn, Vicki Stewart's mother is ill, so she must stay with her father in Turkey.  Vicki does not want to live in Turkey, so she approaches everyone and everything with as much anger as possible.  Vicki becomes friendly with Adria, who is staying in the same house.  Adria is obsessed with a golden horn, which later goes missing.

The beginning of this book is interesting, but towards halfway through the book, it began to bore me.  Adria's distant and mysterious behavior wore on me.  I dislike it when the companion of the protagonist won't tell what is going on.

Vicki covers for Adria's behavior.  I don't have a problem with Vicki covering for Adria, except that Vicki has no idea what Adria is doing.  She has this conviction that Adria isn't crazy and blindly covers for her.  This blind faith is what bothers me.  We don't know what Adria is doing.  I don't like not knowing what is going on, so the book gradually bored and annoyed me more and more.

This book isn't a mystery.  It's a coming-of-age story.  It's one of those books that presents itself as a mystery, but there would be no mystery if the characters had communicated with each other.  That kind of story annoys me and is my least favorite book to read.  By the time I finished the book, which was only possible with a lot of skimming during the second half, I didn't like the book at all.

Phyllis Whitney Samurai Sword and Haunted Pool

In Secret of the Samurai Sword, Celia and Stephen Bronson spend the summer in Japan with their grandmother.  The ghost of a samurai walks in their garden.  The samurai is said to be the ghost of an ancestor of their neighbors.  Celia soon learns that a samurai sword is missing, and she sets out to find it.

This book caught my interest from the very first page.

I learned several things about the culture of Japan.  Some of the content was too much for me, but I overall greatly enjoyed the book.

In Mystery of the Haunted Pool, Susan Price stays with Aunt Edith, who is trying to finalize a deal that will allow Susan's family to purchase Captain Dan's house.  Captain Dan's grandson, Gene, does not want to lose his home, and he is determined to do whatever he can to block the sale.

Gene wants to keep his home, yet Susan wants to live in his home.  Both sides are compelling, which makes this book interesting.  However, I found the premise slightly distasteful.  Normally I am on the side of the protagonists, but this time, I felt more for Captain Dan and Gene and how Gene feels about the prospect of losing his home.  To me, Aunt Edith and Susan come across as opportunists.  They must get a home near where Susan's father grew up, so they move in on Captain Dan and his home.

Gene and his grandfather move out of the house so that Aunt Edith and Susan can rent it.  Susan takes Gene's room and immediately makes changes, which I found disrespectful.  I was relieved, however, when it becomes apparent later that Susan does feel bad about taking his room.  But even at that, Susan changes things in Gene's room like it is given that she will be staying in the house for a long time.

I've been in a position where people have tried to pressure me into selling them books that I own.  It's not pleasant.  Some people are bullies who try to wear others down into doing what they want.  That's how I feel about Aunt Edith and Susan trying to buy the house without caring that the family does not really want to sell the house.

This is an excellent book, and I greatly enjoyed it.

Phyllis Whitney Isle of Skye and Green Cat

In Mystery on the Isle of Skye, Cathy MacLeod visits the Isle of Skye with her relatives, the Corbins.  Where Cathy will live in the future is uncertain, since her grandmother is quite ill.  On the trip, Cathy learns much about the isle and her family.

This book is a travelogue, and I found it boring.  I didn't care about Cathy or anything about the Isle of Skye.  I felt that the story was presented in a way that was not compelling nor very interesting.  If I wanted to learn everything there is to know about the MacLeods and Scotland, then the book would have been highly fascinating.  Since I didn't care, I found the book dull.

I began skimming the text fairly early in the book and completely quit reading by halfway through the book. I did read the last page or two to see where Cathy would end up living, but quite frankly, I did not care.

In Mystery of the Green Cat, two boys and two girls are brought together into the same family when their parents marry.  The boys are quite hostile to the girls.  Soon, a distraction is provided when a rock is thrown through a window from the neighboring property.  Jill and Andy join forces to investigate the mysterious events.

This book starts out very slowly, and I didn't find it interesting.  Once the plot gets started, the book is interesting.  From around halfway through the book to the end, the book is excellent.

Phyllis Whitney Strange Traveler and Black Diamonds

In Mystery of the Strange Traveler, Laurie and her sister visit their Aunt Serena on Staten Island.  Aunt Serena opens a book store on her property, and Laurie notices a prowler at night.  The prowler may be connected to Aunt Serena's mysterious neighbors.  After Laurie learns about a legend that links her family with the neighbors, Laurie finds a way to solve a mystery that ends up helping both families.

This book contains several quotes about reading and books that all readers will understand and enjoy. 

This book was slow to gain my interest, and I did not enjoy it very much. 

In Black Diamonds, Angie and Mark stay with their family in a ghost town.  While in the ghost town, Angie and Mark come into possession of a map that supposedly leads to a treasure.  Soon, the young people realize that others wish to prevent them from finding the treasure.

Black Diamonds is set in a ghost town in Colorado.  The setting and atmosphere of the book remind me of the Troy Nesbit books and the Secret Circle book, The Legend of the Devil's Lode.

I greatly enjoyed this book.

Phyllis Whitney Spotted Shell and Mystery of the Gulls

With this post, I will begin reviewing the Phyllis Whitney mysteries for young people.  I noticed as I read the books that several titles that are mentioned as others' favorites are titles that I did not enjoy.  The same happened with Cherry Ames.

While I did not enjoy all of Phyllis Whitney's books, I also avoided the same strong negative reaction that I had to Cherry Ames.  I did greatly enjoy a number of Whitney's books. 

I purchased The Secret of the Spotted Shell last year in a local store.  It was purchased so that I could try a book by Phyllis Whitney, since I have read such positive reviews of her work.  I will review it first, then I will proceed in the order that the rest of the books were published.

In The Secret of the Spotted Shell, Wendy Williams arrives in the Virgin Islands to live with her cousins.  Wendy's reception is not what she expected.  Her cousin, Gordon Cole, is missing and feared dead in Vietnam.  His wife, Marion, is in shock and in no condition to welcome a newcomer to the family. 

Wendy soon becomes aware that another newcomer, Mr. Helgerson, is interested in a spotted shell from Gordon's collection.  The spotted shell holds a secret message that could ruin Gordon's reputation if it gets into the wrong hands.

Wendy scowls all the time.  This annoyed me.

I enjoyed this book enough that I decided to purchase as many of Phyllis Whitney's juvenile mysteries as I could find.

In The Mystery of the Gulls, Tally Saunders and her mother arrive on Mackinac Island.  The Saunders will inherit a hotel provided that Mrs. Saunders can successfully run it for the duration of the summer.  If everything works out, the Saunders will sell the hotel so that they can purchase a house, which is what Tally wants more than anything.  Tally and her mother quickly discover that they are unwanted at the hotel and that someone is trying to keep Mrs. Saunders from being successful.

I enjoyed the setting of this book.  The tone of the book is just right, and I greatly enjoyed it.