Nancy Drew: The Phantom of Pine Hill

    "When Nancy Drew and her two close friends arrive for the Emerson University June Week celebration and learn there has been a mix-up in their motel reservations, the confusion leads to a baffling mystery.

    Uncle John Rorick, a descendant of the early settlers of the town of Emerson, invites the three girls to be his guests at his historic mansion on Pine Hill. Shortly after their arrival, he tells them about the phantom who haunts the mansion’s library. Uncle John also relates the weird family saga of a lost French wedding gown and valuable gifts which went to the bottom of a nearby cove in the sinking of the Lucy Belle a hundred years before. Could there possibly be some connection between the phantom and the old ship disaster? Nancy wonders.

    In between enjoying the university’s June Week boat races, river pageant, and fraternity dances, Nancy and her friends work diligently to solve the mystery of Pine Hill and to find the long-lost wedding treasures.

    The exciting climax will be as much of a thrill for the reader as it was for the teen-age detective herself."

    As I've said before, my opinions on many Nancy Drew books have changed for the worse. Since I had given this book a 5 star GoodReads review upon my first reading I was very interested to see if my opinion changed.

- I feel like Ned is overly rude to Fred. It seems that Fred is more clumsy than careless and Ned's belittling seems quite unnecessary.

- Bess and George's prank on Ned was kind of cute but also a little strange. Nancy was attempting to catch the Phantom aka intruder, what if the intruder has showed up? The girls' prank would have made quite a mess of the situation.

- I don't understand the giant thumbprints. What is the point of this? Are thumbprints suppose to be scary?

- The president of Ned's fraternity is named Chuck Wilson. The name Chuck Wilson was also used in Mystery at the Ski Jump, it was the name of Carson's client. I thought it was interesting the name was reused.

- Nancy decides to search the house for hideaways and secret passages. Since the only room entered has been the library on the ground floor Nancy obviously decides to start searching in...the attic? This isn't the only book that's done this and it always drives me crazy. Why would Nancy waste so much time searching the attic and second floor first when that's no where near where the mysterious phantom has been.

Trudy Phillips, New Girl

    Trudy Phillips father has been relocated for work and Trudy will be starting at a new school. Although she's worried about fitting in she quickly makes friends with a whole group of kids, with her closest friends being Spooky, Stephen, and Mike.

    Over the next few months Trudy works as prompter for the school play, is elected class secretary, does a bunch of babysitting to purchase a puppy, throws a scavenger hunt party, and most importantly helps the principle discover who has been stealing money from the school and students.

    All the while Trudy tries to build a friendship with Gloria, the wealthy and glamorous queen bee of Tylertown High School who, for some reason, turns a cold shoulder to Trudy.

    There is only 2 books in the Trudy Phillips series. The second, Headline Year, was one of the first Whitman books I had. While piecing together a Donna Parker collection I ended up with about 6 other books that were included in "lots". I ended up really liking the book and wanted to read the first book as the second talked about the first book but didn't explain much, however it was hard to find and I didn't get it until much later when I found it in a book store. I only read it once so let's see if it's as good as I remember.

- Mike seems cool. To be honest I'm not completely sure what "DP" means. I believe it means Displaced Person because this book falls into the time frame of the Displaced Persons Acts following WW2 but it's a little strange that he's referred to as "Mike the DP".

- In Trudy's English class she has to partake in a debate on the voting age being lowered from 21 to 18. I didn't know the voting age had once been 21. Also funnily enough one of the arguments made for changing it made me think changing it back would be a good idea.

- I like that Mike is shown as just a normal student and that him and Trudy bond over being the new kids in school. Other Whitman books with foreign born people usually have them be mysterious exchange students or really eccentric, wealthy adults.

- Trudy saves her allowance so she can go to Sunday School. Why would she have to pay for Sunday School?

- I really don't understand how Trudy could want Gloria to move in with her after Gloria just tried framing her for theft. What was Gloria's end goal, to have Trudy expelled? That's very serious and could have altered Trudy's whole future.

- The illustrations in this book are lovely and I personally think Trudy is the most beautiful of the Whitman girls. Most of them seem to be drawn quite frumpy (Polly French, Donna Parker, Ginny Gordon, etc.) but Trudy is actually strikingly pretty and competes with Gloria who is the school beauty. The illustrations were done by Dorothy Grider and I think she did a wonderful job.

    I really didn't have many notes for this book. It's just a nice, enjoyable, little book. The mystery is a light high school mystery and doesn't involve any adult criminals which makes it feel a lot more laid back and less stressful than say a Ginny Gordon book or something.

Ginny Gordon and the Broadcast Mystery

    Ginny and her friends are still in business with their lending library and have a big book sale coming up. The profits of the sale will go to the school library so all the town citizens are donating books. One of these books is a rare and valuable copy of Rhyme? And Reason? which Mrs. Arnold accidentally donates and needs back immediately. But uh oh, the book has disappeared and every Hustler swears they didn't sell it. Did someone steal it? And if so, who?

    As all this is happening Ginny is offered the position of emcee for the new radio program "Author Meets Teen-Age Critics". A show where a teenage panel will interview an author about a book. Not only is Ginny the emcee but she's also in charge of selecting the panel, picking the book, and contacting the author. Can she do all this while also searching for the missing book, work at the lending library, keep up school, and basketball practice or did Ginny "bite off more than she can chew"?

    Writing that summary without going into a rant of everything wrong with this book was quite hard. This book got me more heated than anything I've ever read before. At one point I was tempted to ripped the book apart, no joke, I was that frustrated with it.

    Here are the notes I took while reading:

- In the last book Ginny gives Joe the idea to turn his big, old, empty family house into apartments as there's an affordable housing shortage in Harrisville. Joe has ran with Ginny's idea and the apartments will be ready in a week...so it only took Joe about 2 weeks to convert a whole house into apartments. Joe, who the heck are your contractors?

- Once Ginny tells Mrs. Arnold about the missing book Mrs. Arnold insists it's a mystery and wants Ginny to solve it. Ginny has to refuse because her parents told her one more mystery and she's getting shipped off to boarding school. But for some reason Ginny doesn't tell Mrs. Arnold this, she just says no and Mrs. Arnold has a hissy fit and withdraws her patronage from the lending library.

- Really its Mrs. Arnold's fault the book has gone missing. She shouldn't have "accidentally" donated it. This is the same plot for the first and second books and seriously, could Julie Campbell not think up any other plot?

- Mrs. Arnold claims the book is worth $500 and both the Hustlers and Carson feel they morally owe Mrs. Arnold the money which is beyond ridiculous. Again, it was Mrs. Arnold's fault the book was donated. Also how do they know it's worth $500? Just cause Mrs. Arnold says so? She's very eccentric and could be fibbing to make the situation more exciting, as she's known to do. Also she said that was the price last time she had it appraised but book prices go up as well as down.

- Alicia Golden clearly wrote My Heart is in the City. Campbell's not even trying to make that a good mystery.

- No one wants to be on Ginny's panel for the radio show because they won't be on a show run by a girl, even the other girls. Oh please.

- I don't get why everyone is against Ginny doing the radio show. Ginny can simply study/do homework at the stall. Since they're portable not a lot of people come in so she'd have the time. And Ginny said basketball practice is mostly during gym class. So she has plenty of time to do the show. Are the people who disagree with her being the emcee simply jealous that Ginny was picked and not them?

- Why is Ginny, a 14 year old, responsible for contacting the author and not Mr. Adrian or someone at the radio station? It seems really inappropriate. The excuse Mr. Adrian gives is that he wants the show to be ran by teenagers but in that case at least pay Ginny. She had to spend her allowance on long distant phone calls to the authors agent so she's not only not making money, she's losing it to do Mr. Adrian's job for him.

- Honestly the way Lucy turns on Ginny really makes her seem jealous. The radio show is actual work that Ginny could put on a resume and the experience could give her a leg up in a future career, something that Ginny herself realizes. But Lucy, and everyone else, just turns on her instantly and is so bitter towards her about the show. They act as though she's a two-faced, spoiled, brat for wanting to work outside the lending library where, by the way, she does the most work and everyone else just delivers books and then goes and does whatever they feel like. Ginny is in the stall from opening until closing, does the files, organizes and inventories the books, handles the money and the memberships, and deals with customers. She does more than anyone else, she's like the Cinderella of the lending library; they make her do the hard and unwanted jobs but when she wants one night at the ball she's suddenly selfish and spoiled. They even make her go retrieve a book from Mrs. Arnold when they know Mrs. Arnold is mad at her and told her to "never show her face at her house again".

- The worst part is that Ginny starts to believe all the terrible things people are saying to her and blames herself/is constantly apologizing. Ugh Ginny stop, you didn't do anything wrong.

- The Hustlers even blame Ginny for the theft of Rhyme? And Reason? when it was as much their fault as hers, which is not at all. It was Mrs. Arnold's fault and she needs to take responsibility for it.

- John acts so immature at the meeting, refusing to acknowledge anything Ginny says and pretending like she's not there. Why is everyone taking his side? Of right, jealousy.

- Ginny's parents want her to quit the radio show because she is a little behind in one class and they believe the radio show is interrupting her school work... but the show hasn't even started yet, it's her having to do everything at the lending library with no help from the others, which is making her fall behind in class. Yet they don't want her to quit the lending library.

- This is all an excuse for Ginny's father to tell her she must have John hired as her co-emcee because John supposedly wont fall behind in school like Ginny, a girl, would. My goodness, imagine your own parents trying to take away your opportunities and achievements and give them to your friend who they like more. Is John secretly Mr. Gordon's son or something, jeez. Also the Gordon's maid is getting married and so wont be working for them anymore. Instead of hiring a new maid they just make Ginny take over and they worry the radio show wont leave anytime for Ginny to clean the house. Why the heck can't Mrs. Gordon just do the housework? She doesn't have a job so what is she doing with all that free time? Make a damn bed yourself lady.

- John is immediately nice to Ginny once he gets hired as co-emcee which proves he was jealous all along.

- Johns dad says all bibliophiles are thieves which is quite strange.

- Ginny was gonna have to take on less duties at the Stall once the radio show starts airing so would have less time-consuming responsibilities and could have emceed alone. This was all just a ploy to get John on the show but it's a weak one considering John could have simply been a panel member.

- Everything gets fixed for Ginny simply when her friends help her get a panel and write a letter, Chuck joins the Hustlers, etc. John really didn't have to be an emcee, her friends just needed to be kinder.

- The hints to let you know that Alicia's mystery man is Tim O'Leery are painful. Yes, we get it, moth as in Timothy.

- Ginny gets criticized for waiting so long to get an author for the radio show even though she was only brought on about 2 weeks before airing.  Also this should not be her responsibility! Mr. Adrian is terribly   unprofessional.

- Chuck claims to have had a portable lending library and been emcee of a radio show at his old town. Sure, Jan.

- It's annoying that the Hustlers weren't picked for the panel from the start cause we all know it's gonna be them. Also the book cover gives it away.

- After the first show Ginny hands over her, and Johns, emcee job to Chuck. First off it's not Ginny's place to give the job away, second she doesn't talk to John before giving his job away, and third it's irresponsible of her to quit after one show.

(It's now months later and I realize I was so heated over this book I never even finished the review.)

Ginny Gordon and the Lending Library

    This was the first Ginny Gordon book I had ever read. I was ecstatic when I found it at a book store because at the time I believed I had already read all of Whitman's series for girls. After reading it I bought the rest of the series online and read them in order. But this is my first time reading Lending Library in order. Interesting how the title simply says "and the Lending Library" instead of Mystery of the Lending Library.

- As the book starts we find out its still October. It's been less than 2 months and Ginny is solving her 4th mystery and the Hustlers are onto their 3rd business venture. Things really move fast in Harristown.

- I don't really understand the point of the lending library. It's like a normal library except you have to pay to borrow books. The only other benefit is that books get delivered to the customers which is supposed to be helpful to shut-ins. But how many shut-ins could one town have and if they couldn't get themselves to the library for any health reasons you think the library employees would be nice to deliver a book to them once in awhile. I just don't understand renting a book when you can get it from the library for free.

- The illustrations are slightly better in this book than the last. The strange close ups of characters faces is gone however the rest is the same including Ginny's big medallion necklace and matching belt buckle. Also check out how old John looks in this illustration and he's supposed to be 15!

- The book Ginny is trying to hunt down was sold to The Hermit who lent it to Joe Dakor who lent it to Doctor Bascom who lent it to Mrs. Blaketon. Honestly, how rude. Why would they all think it's okay to lend something that doesn't belong to them to someone else.

- The Hermit calls Babs a "brazen hussie" which I find absolutely hilarious.

- Babs causes a lot of problems at the Lending Library; she takes out books without marking down what she's taking, she locks the keys to the display window in the display window, and she leaves the shop unlocked and unguarded. They complain about her messing things up so much that I felt like they might as well kick her out of the Hustlers. I personally adore Babs because I admire her appetite but this is a business and she doesn't take it seriously so bye bye Babs.

- "Ginny quickly grabbed the book and put it behind her back. "Both or none. That's our agreement according to your terms Mr. Barker. And I will now make some terms of my own. If you do not behave like a gentleman, I shall not permit you to come inside this Stall again.  I'm not accustom to having strange men come here and order me about. You have no right to come in here and demand anything. We don't want your kind of business in our Book Stall. And, furthermore, I don't have to sell you the books, you know."" 

    My notes simply contain this paragraph and the words "you tell him Ginny".

- The problem of finding Mrs. Arnold a companion is absolutely ridiculous. It's very obvious Mrs. Dakor is going to be her companion but we have to wait until 2/3rds of the book and endless baiting for Ginny to realize Mrs. Dakor is the solution.

- Ginny is actually not very smart but to make her appear smart, everyone around her is extremely dumb, to the point that I feel Lucy might even be a little mentally disabled. That's not a joke either, that's truly how her character reads sometime. John is smarter than Ginny, he has to be so he can rescue her in the end but deducing the situation she is in without her telling him. But to cover up his intelligence Campbell has his character keep his thoughts and suspicions to himself.

- Ginny decides to spring a trap to catch the villain but decides against telling John because "John would only make fun of her" and so she, a 14 year old girl, confronts the big, male, professional criminal, all alone. C'mon Ginny this is your 4th time doing this in 2 months, you know it ain't gonna end well!

- And another book goes by where we don't find out Whiz's real name.

Overall this book is pretty good. The one thing I really like about Ginny Gordon books is how much Harristown is used. I love when Ginny and the gang are constantly on the move going from one person's house to another. That was the problem with the last book, most of it took place in the old barn.

- Ok I have one more note to make. As I'm getting this post put together I'm realizing that this book has way too many pictures! I remember thinking that when I was reading it but I didn't realize just how many it had until I had to scan them all. It has 31 illustrations and a lot of them are unnecessary. For example the first 4 illustrations (shown below) all show the same scene; members of the Hustlers on Ginny's porch talking. There really didn't need to be so many. I'm curious about why there were so many more than other books.