Judy Bolton #26 Clue in the Ruined Castle and #27 Trail of the Green Doll

In Judy Bolton #26, The Clue in the Ruined Castle, Judy and Peter go on a picnic near an old, ruined castle.  The castle is owned by John Dent, who is in a feud with Granny Joerg over some missing money.  John Dent hasn't been seen in some time, and rumors abound that he might be deceased.  The Joerg grandchildren disappear, and Judy helps search for them.

All of the story except for the last 18 pages occurs in just one day.  The story is paced well and is quite interesting.  This is a very good to excellent book.

In Judy Bolton #27, The Trail of the Green Doll, Judy decides to take in boarders, which leads to her becoming acquainted with the Riker family.

Judy learns that some type of green doll was stolen from Mrs. Riker and that the Rikers were planning to visit old Uncle Paul Riker.  Uncle Paul has disappeared, and his house has burned down.  Judy is puzzled by the seemingly disconnected events.

I found it odd that Judy decides to open her home to tourists without asking Peter's opinion.  He lives in the home as well, and he should have input into such an important decision.

This book would not have been a mystery at all if the characters had actually revealed what they knew.  I had read the book before, so I knew the big secret.  The magician is constantly called the "magician" throughout the text, and Margaret did that to hide the truth from the reader.  Also, Peter knows the secret and keeps it from Judy.  I find the whole thing to be obnoxious.  The story is also boring.

I do not like this book.

Judy Bolton #24 The Forbidden Chest and #25 The Haunted Road

In Judy Bolton #24, The Forbidden Chest, Judy goes with Holly to get her belongings from Cousin Cleo's house.  Holly insists on taking a chest that she calls the "forbidden" chest.  The next day, Cousin Cleo accuses Holly of theft, since her antiques have been stolen.  Judy knows that Holly is innocent, since Judy was present.  Holly can prove her innocence by opening the chest, but Holly refuses.  Judy tries to find the thief so that Holly can be cleared.

This is another one of those strange coincidences where Peter's FBI case and Judy's mystery turn out to be the same.

I always liked this cover art until other collectors pointed out the flaws.  I won't point out the problems, but this cover is one that should not be examined too closely if you wish to enjoy it.

I really like that Judy goes west on a train with Hal.  I enjoy her independent adventures.  She is worried, and that makes the story compelling.

This is a very good book.

In Judy Bolton #25, The Haunted Road, Peter learns that Frank Caffero's father, a truck driver, has been threatened.  Peter and Frank unsuccessfully try to prevent Mr. Caffero from being hijacked, and Peter disappears.  The only clues are ghosts—people dressed in sheets—seen on the haunted road where the truck was hijacked.  Judy desperately tries to determine what happened to Peter.

On page 20, the reader learns that the Roulsville dam broke five years ago.  This puts Judy's age at about 20.

This story moves too slowly.  Everything about it creeps along.  The text is full of excessive reminiscing about Judy's past cases.  The reminiscing continues through the entire book.

I began skimming by the last one-third of the book.  The plot moves way too slowly with way too much discussion about what happened on Halloween night.  The discussions are quite realistic to what any of us would do when trying to figure something out, but they are way too boring for a book.

I do not like this book.

New Bulk Lots on eBay + eBay Sale

I am still working on clearing out stagnant inventory.  Approximately half of my books on eBay are 15% off for the next week.

Jennifer's Series Books on eBay

I also created some new bulk lots today.  Some of the bulk lots are not new listings, since I changed some of the previous bulk lots.  All of my bulk lots can be seen in my bulk lots category.

Bulk Lots on eBay

The ones created or edited today are priced low just to cover my eBay fees and shipping costs. 

I have also recently listed many books on Etsy.

Jennifer's Series Books on Etsy

On both sites, orders of $35 or more will receive free shipping to United States addresses. 

Judy Bolton #23 The Black Cat's Clue

In Judy Bolton #23, The Black Cat's Clue, Holly Potter has returned to Roulsville to see her Uncle David Potter during a family reunion, to which she was not invited.  Judy must tell Holly the bad news, that her Uncle David has passed away.  Holly decides to attend the reunion anyway along with Judy masquerading as her sister, Doris.

The girls soon learn that Uncle David's will is missing, and strange sounds come from a locked room inside the house.  Is the house haunted?  And why does Holly keep thinking that she sees Uncle David?

The plot of this book is rather similar to the plot of Penny Nichols and the Mystery of the Lost Key by Mildred Wirt Benson.  Benson wrote the Penny Nichols book under the pseudonym of Joan Clark.  I have read both books.  The main plot points are the same, and anyone who has read either book knows the solution to the other book.

Several years back, a collector stated in a discussion that Sutton copied entire passages from the Penny Nichols book and that The Black Cat's Clue is a "carbon copy" of the Penny Nichols book.  I found no evidence of copied passages.

This time when I read The Black Cat's Clue, I also skimmed through Penny Nichols and the Mystery of the Lost Key.  I read two or three chapters of The Black Cat's Clue, then I skimmed through a few chapters of the Penny Nichols book.  I did not find any passages that are the same.  I also did not find any sentences or phrases that are the same.  I could have missed something minor, but I do not believe any of the text was copied.  Margaret Sutton had to have read the Penny Nichols book and was inspired by it.  She used a number of plot points, but she did not copy the text.  Let's put that to rest.

Page 243 of A Guide to Judy Bolton Country states, "Inspiration unknown, Sutton freely admitted using the basic plot of Penny Nichols and the Mystery of the Lost Key by Joan Clark (Mildred Wirt) as the basis of this story."  That's all it is, no more and no less.

On this reading, I found that this story starts out way too slow.  The banter between Judy and Horace at the beginning of the story is excruciating.  I couldn't stand it.  Once Holly enters the story, the book is excellent.  I still love it, and it has always been one of my favorite Judy Bolton books.

Judy Bolton #22 The Spirit of Fog Island

In Judy Bolton #22, The Spirit of Fog Island, Judy receives a note from Peter while waiting for him on the pier in Chicago.  The note tells Judy that Peter will be waiting for her on the beach of Fog Island on Friday evening.  Judy is mystified, especially since she has never heard of Fog Island.  Judy learns that the island is on an Indian reservation.  She makes the journey and is immediately plunged into a strange mystery.

Margaret Sutton teaches about Indians in this book.  She sets the stage with Judy's thoughts on page 19.

She knew nothing about Indians, really.  What she had learned in school had not greatly impressed her.  Neither had the few Indians she had seen in shows and rodeos.  They were not people to her, but vague shadows out of America's past. 

On page 44, Judy begins to learn that Indians are in fact people just like everyone else.

"They don't teach us much about modern Indians either," Judy said.  "I didn't expect to find you so very much like everyone else," she added rather shyly.

"Do you mean in the way we talk and dress?" Winona inquired.

"I mean in every way," declared Judy.

Judy learns how rude the tourists are to the Indians.  Some of the other girls remark that the Indians were rude to them when they were looking in their windows.  Another girl replies that they were actually trespassing while looking in the windows.  Indeed.  They were also invading the Indians' privacy.

By page 93, Judy understands.

As she walked back toward the government building a feeling of sadness overwhelmed her.

"We took this whole beautiful country away from them and left them so little, so very little," she thought.

After spending hours on Fog Island, Judy is finally back at the inn.  On page 192, Judy reflects, "Somehow, I felt safer with the Indians."

This book is remarkable for how well it teaches about Indians and their culture.  The book is also very spooky, especially when the reader is unaware of what is really happening.  This used to be my favorite Judy Bolton book, but it isn't my favorite now, simply because it has lost the mystique that it once had.  Even so, I still find the book to be excellent.

Vintage Japanese Judy Bolton Books Part 2

Here are two editions of The Yellow Phantom.

Front of 1968 and 1971 slipcases

Back of 1968 and 1971 slipcases

Here are various editions of The Riddle of the Double Ring.

Front of 1965 and 1972 slipcases

Back of 1965 and 1972 slipcases

1980 dust jacket

Here are various editions of The Clue in the Patchwork Quilt.

Front of 1964 and 1971 slipcases

Back of 1964 and 1971 slipcases

1981 dust jacket

Here are two editions of The Secret of the Barred Window.

1969 slipcase

1988 dust jacket

Vintage Japanese Judy Bolton Books Part 1

Judy Bolton was published in Japanese in hardcover with either slipcases or dust jackets during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.  The bare books have generic covers, seen in the photo below.

The following books are various editions of The Haunted Attic.

Front of 1966 and 1972 slipcases

Back of 1966 and 1972 slipcases

1983 dust jacket

Here are various editions of The Invisible Chimes.

Front of 1966 and 1972 slipcases

Back of 1966 and 1972 slipcases

1976 dust jacket

Here are various editions of Seven Strange Clues.

Front of 1965 and 1969 slipcases

Back of 1965 and 1969 slipcases

1983 dust jacket

Here are two editions of The Voice in the Suitcase.

Front of 1966 slipcase

Back of 1966 slipcase

1982 dust jacket

eBay Forces All Fixed-Price Listings to Good 'Til Cancelled

Rumors began last year that eBay was planning to force all fixed-price listings to Good 'Til Cancelled (GTC).  The rumors began when eBay's mobile app quit allowing sellers to select any fixed-price duration other than GTC.  No word came from eBay on what was up, but sellers knew that they had just cause to be concerned.  eBay has a nasty history of abruptly forcing unwanted changes on sellers.

Late last week, eBay gave sellers about two-weeks' notice that all fixed-price listings will have to use GTC beginning in the middle of March.  How nice of them to give us just two weeks to try to figure out what to do.

This change is a big problem for many of us, and I have not seen such a large seller backlash about an eBay announcement in many years.  Sellers are upset and furious with some talking about closing their stores or leaving eBay.  In my case, I am dismayed and quite at a loss as to what to do.  I really do not know, and I do not have much time to figure it out.

Why is this change a problem?  

The change is a problem because many sellers float more than their allotted monthly free listings.  I tend to have between 250 and 300 listings that I float on my 250 free listings.  I do this by not renewing some ended listings until after my free listings reset at the beginning of each month.  I end up with extra listings when I take advantage of the occasional eBay free listings promotion, which gives me extra listings.  I guess I will never be able to take advantage of one of those promotions ever again.

The reason why is because GTC listings will auto-renew, taking away my control of when the items get relisted.  If the listings auto-renew, I will no longer have the float.  I will be forced to pay listing fees on all listings above 250 items.

Forcing sellers to use GTC is also problematic because listings go stale due to the auto-renewal.  The GTC listing will never show as a new item in search except for when it is initially listed, and it will never show as an item that is about to end.  Most of us who understand how eBay search works sort by "newly listed" and "ending soonest" so that we can make sure we spot everything.  GTC permanently keeps listings out of those results.  The only time a GTC listing will ever show in "newly listed" is when it is first listed.  Each subsequent month will be an auto-renewal which does not reset the start time.  The GTC item will never end, so it will never show up in the "ending soonest" search results. 

I have read anecdotal reports by sellers about how their sales increased when they changed their listings from GTC to 30-day fixed-price.  Other sellers reported that their sales went down when they changed their 30-day fixed-price listings to GTC.  This change is not good, even though eBay is trying hard to spin it as positive.

I have not followed the eBay message boards closely in the last few days, but most threads are about this change.  I read some comments about how eBay employees are shutting down threads and deleting them if they are too negative.  

My hope—which is most certainly in vain—is that somehow eBay management will realize in the next 10 days that this change is a very bad idea.

I am quite glad that I have been working on reducing my stagnant inventory and am now down to around 230 eBay listings.  At least I am not over 250, so this looming change is not an emergency.  However, I cannot abide by my listings being GTC, so I will have to figure out a schedule where I cancel them at day 29 so that I can relist them to keep them from going stale.  This is going to be very tricky and will require me to keep close track of my listings in the coming weeks. 

The easiest way to manage this is to get my listings on a schedule where I cancel and renew all of them in batches, like half of my listings on the 10th and half on the 20th.  In order to get on that kind of schedule, I will have to let ended listings remain ended until I am ready to relist the first batch of listings.  If I take this approach, I will likely have low listing numbers at times in the next month or so.

I have some books that I need to list on eBay, but I am completely unmotivated.  I am glad that I have a shop on Etsy, because it looks like Etsy will have to be the place where I list most of my books.  I need to consider closing my eBay store in the next six months.  I cannot do it immediately without penalty, since I am just halfway through the subscription that auto-renewed on September 1, 2018.  So, eBay has me trapped for now, but I could end the relationship in just under six months.

If eBay would just let sellers run their businesses how they want without trying to micromanage everything, sellers would have better sales and be more productive.

For a look at my online stores, visit these two links.

Jennifer's Series Books on eBay

Jennifer's Series Books on Etsy