American Adventure #1 Crossed Trails by Margaret Trent Chapters 1-7

I scanned the first three chapters of the first American Adventure series book.  Read this post for information about the books.  Since the books are in the public domain and impossible to find, I thought I should scan the first book.  I feel strongly that it is well worth reading.

The one copy of the second book, Hollywood Ho!, that was on eBay sold after I published the above mentioned post.  Two people bid on it.  There were a few other copies of Hollywood Ho! for sale online last week.  I am not sure how many copies were available, but I think there were at least two in addition to the one more expensive copy that was still available when last I checked.  I conclude that at least three to four people might want to have the text of the first book due to copies of the second book that have now sold.  You really need to read the first book in order to appreciate the second book.  Besides, the first book is quite good.

The second book is the only one that seems not to be too hard to find, relatively speaking.  Of course, most copies of it have now sold, so now it's effectively as scarce as the first and third books.  This is where you come in.  Should I finish putting up scans?  Does anyone actually care?

You see, sometimes I think people care, and they actually do not.  Sometimes people only want a book if they can have an actual vintage physical copy.  Does anyone actually want to read the story just for the sake of reading it, if only in scanned images?

Who wants for me to scan the rest of the book?  Please don't ask for a digital conversion of the images.  I'm not going to do that.  But I can scan the rest of my book if you want.  Do you want?

The American Adventure Series
#1 Crossed Trails
by Margaret Trent
Published by A. L. Burt
1932

This text is in the public domain.

In order to read the book, use a web-based browser on a desktop computer, laptop, or tablet.  Click or tap on the first image.  You will see an enlarged version of it as well as a sliding picture bar down at the bottom of the screen.  You can use the picture bar to move from image to image.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Continue to Chapters 8-14.

The American Adventure Series by Margaret Trent

I have a saved search for "A. L. Burt" on eBay due to my fascination with the books published by the A. L. Burt Company.  A. L. Burt published some outstanding juvenile series with very pretty dust jackets, and all Burt books are scarce.  I am attracted to both scarcity and beauty, which enhanced my interest in all Burt books.

While I do not collect any of A. L. Burt's books for adults, I do enjoy looking at the dust jackets and bare books.  The bare Burt books for adults sometimes have unusual designs on the covers.  If I had unlimited space, I would love to own all books published by A. L. Burt.  That is not feasible, so I am content to own some Burt juvenile books while I admire all of the books, both juvenile and adult, that come up for sale on eBay.

I also keep a lookout for any Burt series books unknown to me that could be worth reading.

In early February, I saw the following picture of three A. L. Burt books in my eBay feed.  

Hollywood Ho! caught my eye.  Actually what I thought I saw was Hollywood Ho, so I thought it was a book for adults about a "Hollywood ho."  Amused, I clicked on the listing to check it out.  I noticed the exclamation point and realized that the title meant "Hollywood bound."  My mistake was rather funny.  I posted about the listing on my Facebook page.

Throughout that evening, I kept thinking about the books, wondering about the two books by Margaret Trent.  Finally, I ran a Google search and learned that the books are two of the three volumes in the American Adventure series, which is a juvenile series.  I was intrigued.

The American Adventure series consists of three books written by Margaret Trent.

1.  Crossed Trails, 1932

2.  Hollywood Ho!, 1932

3.  The Hills of Home, 1932

I decided to purchase the listing since I had never even heard of the series.  The Margaret Trent books were obviously very scarce.  The only copies with dust jackets up for sale online were the two in the eBay listing.  There were only a very small number of bare books available online.  I wasn't going to miss out on the opportunity to check out an extremely scarce series previously unknown to me.

I didn't know if the Margaret Trent books would be readable, but it was worth a shot.  Sometimes A. L. Burt books are wonderful, and other times they are awful.  The dust jackets are always pretty, but the actual content of some Burt books is nearly unreadable.  I have long suspected that A. L. Burt took whatever authors sent without making any changes to the manuscript.  That's likely how Harriet Pyne Grove happened.

The books arrived, and I looked at the first few pages of one of the books.  The text seemed like it was of a type that I might enjoy, but I could tell immediately that I needed to start with the first book, which I didn't have.  Fortunately, I found just one copy of the first book for sale online and purchased it.  The book didn't have a dust jacket and cost more than the lot of three Burt books did.  It always seems to happen that way.

Just yesterday, I started reading the first book.  It had me on the very first page.  Margaret Trent's writing style is interesting and engaging.  Some of the content is quite different from most books that I have read.  I am optimistic that all three books will be worth reading.  I hope so, but I haven't forgotten that some series start strong and then fall apart.  Harriet Pyne Grove's Adventures Allens series is an example of a series with a promising premise gone bad.

I scanned some pages in Crossed Trails to give an idea of the content.  These first pages feature Mary.  Remember that you can click on the images to see a larger version.

These pages feature Bob, who is reckless but likable.

I usually dislike fight scenes, but I rather enjoyed Bob's fight.

These next pages feature Bob's introduction to New York City.  I love the way the city is described.

Mary and Bob's journeys will converge, which is why the book is titled Crossed Trails.

Review and text for #1 Crossed Trails
Review and text for #2 Hollywood Ho!
Review and text for #3 The Hills of Home

Sweet Dreams #53 Ghost of a Chance and #54 I Can't Forget You

Sweet Dreams #53 Ghost of a Chance, Janet Quin-Harkin, 1984

Meredith Markham's not happy about spending the summer taking care of her sick aunt in Maine.  The weather is miserable, she's stuck inside a spooky old beach house, and worst of all, her boyfriend, Peter, is a thousand miles away.

Meredith resigns herself to daydreaming about Peter and writing to her friends back home—until she meets Nat Franklin.  He seems to be everywhere, haunting her thoughts and haunting her dreams.  She tries to put him out of her mind—after all, she has a wonderful boyfriend, and Nat has a girlfriend, too.  But it's not easy.  Will Meredith be able to stay true to Peter during her summer by the sea?  There's only the ghost of a chance.

This book is the kind of book that I like.  The story is told straight without excessive exposition, and the relationship builds naturally, instead of the reader being told that the girl likes a boy.  Don't tell us; show us.  Let us experience the relationship with the protagonist.  And this book does.

This is an excellent book.

Sweet Dreams #54 I Can't Forget You, Lois I. Fisher, 1983

When Jeri and Kemp went out together last year, they were always going to movies, parties, and dances.  It was wonderful, but Jeri could barely keep pace with the constant activity.  Her grades began to fall.  Finally, Jeri had to make a tough decision between her schoolwork and Kemp—she chose her schoolwork.

For a while, Jeri was sure she'd done the right thing.  Meeting serious, sensitive Ben made her even more certain.  She shared a lot of quiet good times with him, and her grades went up, too.

But lately, Jeri's been thinking about her old boyfriend.  And Kemp still seems interested in her.  She wonders if she was right to break up with him.  Now Jeri's afraid she'll have to make another decision—this time between Ben and Kemp.

And this is the kind of book that I don't like.  Don't tell me about some old boyfriend.  Don't have the protagonist pine after her old boyfriend.  I don't like being told about an old relationship that means nothing.  Let me experience an exciting new relationship with the protagonist.

I did not read this book.

Sweet Dreams #51 Magic Moments and #52 Love Notes

Sweet Dreams #51 Magic Moments, Debra Spector, 1984

As an amateur magician, Nicki knows a lot about sudden appearances.  So naturally she's delighted when handsome Perry Ingram walks into her life.  He's one of the best young magicians in the state and everything she wants a boy to be.

When Nicki's alone with Perry, she believes romance is in the cards.  But lately Perry has been appearing more frequently with Lana, his gorgeous assistant.  Nicki's afraid that her magic isn't enough to keep Perry from breaking her heart—and disappearing forever.

The book opens well and caught my attention.  By halfway through, I no longer cared and quit reading.

Sweet Dreams #52 Love Notes, Joanna Campbell, 1984

There's nothing Kirsten wants more than to be a concert pianist—unless it's Peter, the talented violinist she's met at the Greenacres Summer Music Program.  It's almost too good to be true when they're assigned a duet and must rehearse together every evening.

Though proud and distant, Peter also has a soft, sensitive side that comes out around Kirsten.  A dream romance is blossoming until Peter airs his views on girls and their careers.  Instantly the summer turns sour.  Will Peter ever admit he's wrong?

This book did not interest me.