Minnow Vail

    What's I remember about this book: girl saving a bird caught in a net on the beach, girl getting her picture painted, girls cousin visiting and wearing a bunch of petticoat to school, boy bailing on girl for cousin. That's it. I also recall not finding it too special but I gave it 4 stars on GoodReads so I guess I'm not sure.

    As this book starts out we find Minna Vail, who people call Minnow because of her small frame, down on the beach one winter evening. She's gone there to sulk over being asked to be a Grunion in Carnival Of The Sea, a local yearly event. However what Minna really wants is to be one of the Mermaids aka beauty queens. She's 15 and feels it's time for her to start being seen as a woman but understands the difficulty in this because of her flat chest and old fashion father who refuses to let her wear makeup or perfume.

    The next day at school Minna befriends a Dutch foreign exchange student and, after finding out he's staying with an uptight elderly couple, makes an attempt to help him fit in more and give him a normal American teenager experience. She asks Bob, a longtime friend, to invite Hans to the beach on Saturday which is where all the kids go. After a little roughhousing Hans is accepted by the boys and later Minna invites him over for dinner, afterwards he teaches her how to Tango. Minna's parents take a big liking to Hans since they very much miss their son who is away at college and Hans enjoys being in a family's home rather than the elderly couple he stays with.

    During this time Minna's best friend, Laura, goes on her first real date. While visiting an aunt in Palm Springs she gets set up on a blind date with a boy and receives her first kiss while decked out in her aunts black sheath dress, rhinestone jewelry, and mink stole. Minna feels childlike compared to her friend so she decided to do something womanly of her own; perform the Tango with Hans at the Friday afternoon dance. It goes over well with everyone except Laura who is mad Minna hadn't let her in on her secret plan. Laura and Minna don't talk for several days but after Laura disappears from school for a week and no one at Laura's home answers the phone, she heads over to check on things. At the door she is greeted by Laura's father who tells Minna that Laura has a serious case of polio and isn't expected to live. Laura is unvaccinated because she didn't want to get a shot so her parents didn't force it. However the next morning we get news that her condition has improved a little.

    It's now Easter break and the town is dreading the arrival of the "Easter bunnies" which is what they call the out of town kids who come to spend their vacation partying at the beach. One of the Easter bunnies is Minna's cousin Lucia who stops at the Vail house to inform her Aunt and Uncle that she's only checking in because her father thinks she's staying with them. Lucia is Mr. Vails worst nightmare; she has bleach blonde hair, heavy mascara, reeks of perfume, and is accompanied by ill-mannered boys. Mr. Vail wants to call Lucia's parents but Mrs. Vail suggests having Minna join their beach party to keep an eye on Lucia. 

    Minna, against her will, goes and without warning received her first kiss from one of the boys to which she immediately slaps him. Lucia and her friends are gone by the end of the week but now George, the college freshman next door who Minna pines after, has arrived home. She ends up spending an afternoon helping him work on his car and is ecstatic when he asks her to play tennis the next day. 

    

    She arrives late after getting held up at school and George is no where to be seen, apparently having stood her up. They reschedule for the next day but at the end of the school day Minna sees George at the entrance talking to two senior girls. She breaks down crying thinking he must be standing her up again as there's no way he would have came to meet her at school. But here she's wrong and when he sees her crying he instantly consoles her and takes her out for a hamburger.

    Over the Spring Minna spends more time with Bob seeing him as a good opportunity to practice being more ladylike and less of a pal around males. They snorkel and swim together and when Laura is fast recovering they drive up to Los Angeles to visit her in the hospital. Bob also promises to help Minna win a position at one of the Mermaids at the Carnival and arranges for a family friend to paint her as a mermaid for posters (hence the cover).

    As summer is beginning Lucia comes to spend it with the Vails. Minna is miserable over having to share her room with Lucia and even more miserable when she finds out she is sharing boys with her too. All the boys flock to Lucia who begins to date Bob in secret but then abandons him when she meets George, although George doesn't last long either when an old friend of Lucia's shows up in town and Lucia ditches George mid-date.

    The beauty pageant for the coveted mermaid positions arrive and Minnow wins first place by preforming in her skin diving suit instead of an evening gown. However the next day she arranges for Laura, who now has to use a wheelchair, to take her place on the mermaid float so she can join in the parade and Minna instead takes a role as Grunion leader, a position she is now content with until she hears that Lucia is going to be chosen by the Octopus (the elected king of the carnival) to be his Queen. 

    

    Feeling overwhelmed by how lovely Lucia life always seems to end up Minnow hides in a gas station bathroom during the parade. She steps out to get a Coke from the soda machine when the Octopus approaches her. He reveals himself to be George and asks Minnow to be his Queen. Minnow suspects George is only asking her in an attempt to embarrass Lucia and begins to think of all the ways Bob has helped her that George never would. When the parade is over Minna goes to see Bob at his fathers hardware store where he is working, she offers him all her dances for the Ball that night, then has her first meaningful kiss.

- Minna's best friend Laura has her own telephone which Mr. Vail thinks is absolutely ridiculous, remarking "I suppose the next thing the Adams will do is get a phone for their dog". I found his attitude really funny.

- Minna takes the phone into the clothes closet to call Laura and they talk about the Grunion situation and begin to discuss becoming old spinster together when her mother tells at her to " come out of the closet". It made me laugh. I know, I'm immature.

- Minna's school is pretty intense with hazing and superiority. The freshman all have to wear caps and do whatever the seniors says. They also are forced to eat on the steps and not allowed to eat at tables. This kind of stuff is so creepy and inappropriate in this day and age that it just makes me uncomfortable.

- Laura nonchalantly mentions that she gets paid a dollar for every half a pound she loses. This seems odd.

- Minna is always making observations which just seem weird. Like when she's on the beach looking at the sea and think it will be here after people are gone, when she stands outside her house and acknowledged that it has character, when she sits in her fathers lap before the fire and thinks how cozy her home is, when she sees her parents joke with each other at the dinner table and realizes they're people and "lovers". Its just weird and clearly for the benefit of the reader but it comes off so awkward because this is Minna's everyday life and there's no reason for her to be acknowledging these things for the first time. It's not like any eye opening event has happened yet to make her see things in a new perspective, we're only on chapter three.

- Its not until chapter three that we're told Minna has an older brother in college. That seemed kind of weird not to mention when were introduced to her parents.

- While Hans is over at the Vails for dinner he "matter-of-factly" mentions that his father was killed in a concentration camp. It was thrown so suddenly into the dialogue that I stopped in shock for a minute.

- Minna's school has a dance every Friday afternoon which seems very extravagant.

- Mr. Adams announcement that Laura has polio and isn't expected to live is so sudden that at first I thought he was joking.

- On page 99 Mr. Adams is mistakenly called Mr. Vail. Second book I've read in a row that had that kind of mistake.

- Mrs. Vail comforts Minna about the possibility of Laura dying by saying there's fate worse than death, Laura might live and be a "cripple". I think most disabled people would disagree.

- When it comes to Carnival by the Seas the Mermaids have to be picked by judges but there are certain rules such as a girl can not compete if she is a model or a "professional beauty". I think that's a pretty great way to give a fair chance to all the girls.

- Minna's mother remarks that she is glad Minna is spending more time with Bob lately since he's "possible" i.e. attainable. That's so weird and rude to say to your insecure teenage daughter. 

    Mrs. Vail is actually very rude to Minna. She gives her no sympathy or understanding when Minna is distressed over things with Lucia. Mrs. Vail claims Lucia is visiting to help her learn not to be such a spoiled brat yet when Lucia does stuff like claim she's allergic to housework, Minna then has to do it all. How is this teaching Lucia anything?

- I really like Bob. In these type of books there's always a boy next door who sees the main character as a chum and they partner up for dances and the like out of convenience. The boy always teases the girl terribly but by the end he has a romantic interest in her. I expected this book to be the same but was pleasantly surprised. Bob, although he sees Minna as a pal, is very kind to her. When they go out swimming she gets frightened and wants to head back but worries he will call her a coward but instead he readily agrees and doesn't tease her. He begins to see her as a woman without any prodding from her, even calling her cute in front of his friends at the beginning.

    One of the best things about this book is that Wise has added a touch of realness; when Minna is described as being flat chested rather then just having it hinted at by saying she was petite or something, when reading an article about boys it mentions "sex appeal" to which Minna thinks sex is too far ahead to think about, Lucia stays out till 4am necking with a boy in the backseat of a car, and when Hans goes off in rapid Dutch it says he could have been swearing.

    Overall this book is very lovely. Characters like Minna and Bob are very likable, it's realistic, and it's just overall heartwarming. Winifred E. Wise did a wonderful job and I very much enjoyed this book.

The Charmed Circle

    Lauralee Larkin is nervous about starting high school. Not only does she feel in the shadow of Maxine, her seemingly perfect senior sister, but her best friend, Jenny, has moved away. Lauralee has to deal with her anxiety over making friends as well as her guilt and confusion over her new found interest in boys.

    This was the first book in the Whitman Novels For Girls/Teen Novels Series I ever read I really can't remember anything about it. I'm currently already reading 4 other books but why not just start a fifth one I guess even though it's 11:58 on a Thursday night.

- I love the cover a lot. I like how the background is all in pink and the purple text is very retro.

- I'm laughing at how the author is trying to say Lauralee isn't beautiful but refuses to give her any physical flaws. She's slim but it's bad cause she's almost thin, she's suntanned and has beautiful light brown hair but it's bad cause it makes her look too healthy, she has big pretty eyes but it's bad cause her eyelashes are long and thick, her brows are perfectly shaped but it's bad because they're natural looking. Like seriously just give her some real flaws, omg.

- When Maxine leaves for school her father says "bye kitten" to which Lauralee thinks how she wishes her dad would call her kitten but that she can't be called kitten because of her looks. I actually found this so sad. Lauralee, your dad doesn't care what you look like, he loves you.

- It's the end of chapter one and so far I'm not a fan of Lauralee. She seems to love self pity. She complains to herself about how it's not fair her older sister is so efficient and she's not, yet she doesn't try to be efficient. Maxine wakes up and makes her bed, hangs up her clothes, gets ready for school, makes sure she has plenty of time to eat breakfast, and gets to the bus stop early. Lauralee, however, wastes her time sitting around, doesn't do any of her responsibilities like making her bed or washing her breakfast dishes, and then when she leaves late for the bus stop and misses the bus she thinks "was the whole world arrayed against her?". She didn't even remember to bring her notebook and other school supplies with her. When her little brother brings them to her on his way to school she complains about him being too unconcerned with her unhappiness. He's 10 and nice enough to bring her things to her. She needs to chill.

- I'm not sure what to make of Lauralee and Jenny's friendship. It doesn't seem very healthy to be honest. They were best friends but to the point that they didn't want to socialize with anyone else. They also not only were uninterested in boys but to the point of being annoyed when other girls were interested in boys. "they felt no need for the company of boys; they had each other.".

    Lauralee also gets jealous when Jenny mentions having a new friend named Wanda as well as feels guilty for going to the dance with Robert Lee and not Jenny saying "I'll be thinking about you all evening".

    It seems like the two were extremely codependent and, based on Lauralee's anxiety, I would guess that their fear of rejection by others led them to place each other into any roles other people would normally fill. Yeah, when I started reading this book I was laughing over how they were, unintentionally, being described as a couple but no, that's really how it is. They were relying on each other for the emotional intimacy you get from romantic relationships. I think the fact that both of them are so quick to develop an interest in boys once they're apart is proof of that.

- There's a boy who moved there from Alabama and just to make sure we're aware he comes from the south his name is Robert Lee.

- We're introduced to Eloise Fisher, a very popular and beautiful girl who is super nice and friendly to everyone...oh except Elena Sloshek, who Eloise and her friends mock and ignore because ew, she's a poor foreigner. Lauralee, who realizes she needs to make some friends now that Jenny's gone, momentarily thinks about befriending Elena but decides against it because she doesn't want to look "too conspicuous".

- When Lauralee accidentally makes eye contact with Elena she thinks "that foreign-looking girl needn't think she was going to be a friend of hers!". I think Lauralee is suppose to be a likable character but her treatment of Elena is just so gross, same with Eloise. 

    It's said that Elena speaks "some sort of Slavic tongue" at home so Lauralee doesn't even know what country she comes from, I guess it doesn't matter to her and any foreigner is bad? I don't know, it's just so strange how terrible mean everyone is to this really nice and friendly girl all because she foreign.

- I do have to say that Snow did a great job at describing Lauralee's anxiety. They way she feels so conspicuous and that everyone is laughing at her. I've definitely experienced that, especially when I was at a new school and far apart from my best friend. Though I do think Lauralee mentally turning on everyone who doesn't beg for her friendship is taking things a bit far.

- Elena's mother says "Kipferdln" which, according to Google translate, is not a word. Of course google translate isn't always accurate but I think it'd be really hilarious if Snow just made up a foreign sounding word (nevermind, its the name of a pastry!).

- Lauralee apparently was only enjoying Elena's company because of her cutely decorated house and her mom's yummy pastries. The moment those are gone and Lauralee steps outside she remembers that Elena is a poor foreigner, eww.

- Lauralee secretly resents her mother for making a pie of crushed wafers and instant pudding, complaining that Elena's mother would make a proper pie. Ugh, Lauralee is a spoiled brat. Her mother takes care of three kids, a house, all the cooking, makes Lauralee and Maxine's clothing, works on the PTA, and does fundraiser work. Lauralee is lucky her mother finds the time to make any kind of pie.

- Maybe it's because I'm in a bit of a reading slump but I feel like this book is starting to drag. Lauralee has decided to run for class president and school elections are always boring plot material to me. I'm also confused on how Lauralee was so shy at first and now she goes up to the most popular kids in school and asks them to run for school government with her.

- Lauralee is so sure The Mavericks aren't going to win the election that it makes it very obvious they're going to win. Also Lauralee is so stuck up the way she judges the other campaigners, makes me glad she didn't win.

- Wow ok, I don't care what kind of growth Lauralee has by the end of this book, I don't like her. She blames losing the election on her running mates, especially Elena who she basically claims lost the election for them because she's ugly. Yet she can find no fault with her self at all. Instead of seeing it as they ran together, they lost together she sees it as they caused her to lose.

    Ok, I took a month long break from reading. This book was just dragging too much and I really had no interest in the class election. I thought a lot about leaving this book unread which is something I really hate to do. But after picking it back up last night I found it's moving along much better now. Stunt Night was interesting, Elena finally got that makeover we knew was coming to her, Bud seems romantically interested in Lauralee, and Jenny's coming to visit.

- I just realized school work is never mentioned. There's nothing about homework, tests, assignments, or anything. It seems school is purely for socializing.

- Lauralee is so worried about Jenny showing up looking sloppy and hating boys that it's making it very obvious Jenny is going to show up completely changed.

- While working on the float in Mr. Calhan's garage Lauralee and Helen ride a tandem bike that's in there, down the driveway and back. While putting it back in the Garage Binky and his friend Ted see and say they want to ride it too. Lauralee says no because Mr. Calhan had said not to touch anything in the garage and it has been rather irresponsible of her to ride the bike. Later Binky and Ted sneak the bike out and later hide it in the Larkin's garage. Long story short Binky has to announce his theft to the entire freshman class and apologize. Lauralee then says she responsible for the theft because she road the bike...what? That makes no sense. She then makes a big announcement to the freshman class which looks more like a grab for attention than anything else.

- Lauralee is such a brat that it's lucky people were so patient and nice with her, maybe that was only cause they didn't know her true thoughts and opinions of them and situations. But what if Lauralee wasn't so lucky, what if she hadn't gotten lucky enough to win homecoming queen and be accepted by Bud and Eloise. What if she had been treated the same way as Elena was treated by everyone else. Lauralee would have become a monster in that case.

    This book was a mixed bag, the end is a lot better then the beginning but maybe that's because I took such a long break from it. I think I'll let this book go from my collection since its not remarkable and is quite easy to acquire for cheap.

Vicki Barr: The Hidden Valley Mystery

    When it comes to the Vicki Barr series I have read 8 out of the 16 books. Out of those 8 there was only 3 that I liked enough to keep: Silver Wings for Vicki, Behind the White Veil, and The Hidden Valley Mystery.

    I've already re-read Silver Wings for Vicki and was surprised to find I enjoyed it. I had recalled finding it long and boring upon my first reading years ago, only enjoying the mystery at the end. However when I re-read it I loved the whole thing and didn't find any of it boring.

    That makes me very curious to see how I receive this book. I also found this one long and boring in some places, I was eager to finish it and had planned on getting rid of it when I finished but, after placing it in my donation pile, I had second thoughts and put it back on my bookshelf.

Now a few years have passed and I can not recall if this book is good or not, I just remember wanting it to end yet giving it 4 stars on GoodReads. So lets find out.

- Vicki's figure is described as "small and frail" which seems a little odd to me. Frail gives the impression that she is old or ill. You would think a better choice of word would be dainty or something similar.

- One thing I have to say is that whether I find a Vicki Barr book good or bad I always find them wonderfully atmospheric no matter what the location, whether it's The Castle, on a plane, in New York, Hawaii, Mexico, etc.

- I always tend to like scenes set at the New York Airport. Vicki is so comfortable and confident in place that is considered hectic and strange to the average person.

- I think it was pretty messed up of Mr. Barr to keep Vicki in suspense of whether she was going to be allowed to go on the Mexico crew or not. He kept her in suspense until there was only half a day left. If he had said no, she couldn't go then that would have cause a ton of trouble for the whole airline.

He didn't seem to care how much trouble and embarrassment he was causing his daughter. Not to mention jeopardizing her whole career.

- I don't understand why Vicki and the crew are going to Mexico if their new route is solely traveling within Mexico. None of them seem to speak Spanish fluently and they all are having to relocate. Since the airline employs Mexican crews why are they bringing in Vicki and the gang? It just doesn't make sense to me. Now maybe if the airline was just opening in Mexico and the crew was going down there temporarily to train a permanent crew it would make more sense.

- This book is attempting to be social aware by talking about how Mexico has gone through oppression yet at the same time it uses offensive stereotypes. At one point Vicki wonders what her life would be like is she was Mexican and thus how it would feel to be "uneducated and ignorant".

- After arriving in Mexico Vicki, Dean, and Capt. Jordan eat a meal at their hotel. The bill is $16.50 in pesos. Vicki learns that 5 pesos is equal to 1 USD...so their whole 3 person meal only cost $3? That's crazy. The trio also waits until after their meal to have their currency exchanged which seems odd to me.

- Vicki goes to the floating gardens of Xochimilco and honestly, I'm so sick of this place. So many of the old series has a book located in Mexico and they always go to the floating gardens.

- I like how a bullfighter gets on Vicki plane with a case of swords and it's just like yeah, no big deal. Talk about a different time.

- Helen Wells claims that in Spain and Spanish speaking countries no one ever steals, ever...because they have too much pride (nevermind the fact that when giving a brief history of Mexico she focuses on how the Spanish stole Mexico and all its resources). What a stupid blanket statement. This reminds me of how in Clue of the Broken Blossom Vicki talks a business man into taxing his native Hawaiian workers because "making them pay taxes will give them a sense of pride and make them happy". It's things like this that annoy me about these books.

- The plane being shot at is an exciting event but I feel like it's irresponsible of them to continue with the flight after the airplane tail is tied on with rope. Shouldn't the passengers be given the option of unboarding the plane and waiting at the emergency field for other transportation. They could have crashed and killed all those people.

- Vicki, Dean, and Capt. Jordan have their rear tires shot out on a lonely road and make a hasty, although clumsy, getaway. Vicki calls Cissy to ask if she should report the incident to the American Embassy. Although Cissy says yes, she then makes a big effort to convince Vicki that it's not normal for Mexico to have "bandit gangs" and that can happen in any country. It's as though she's desperately trying to make sure that Vicki doesn't get a bad opinion of Mexico even though Vicki never said or thought anything of the sort. 

    Honestly Helen Wells put so much of this kind of thing into the book. It feels like she was desperate to convince the reader that Mexico is a perfect place and the crime in the book is just for story value and there's actually no crime in Mexico and blah blah blah. I dunno, it just seems weird to me. I understand that a lot of people associate crime and gangs with modern Mexico, I'm not sure if the same can be said for when this was written, but Wells could have simple had a character say "people have the wrong impression of Mexico" instead of having this weird, awkward, preachy dialogue every time a crime occurs. It just comes across like Wells was suffering from some serious white guilt.

- I started to get bored with this book around page 160. At that point Vicki stops being suspicious of Perez and starts firmly believe he is mixed up with the bandit gang. From there forward she continues to needle and make it known to him they she knows exactly what's up which seems very stupid and dangerous. Like the whole thing with the mantilla and holding the double rabbit sculpture, that's just letting him know that she knows which is stupid considering his gang has shot at her multiple times. Does she not realize he could end up murdering her in a foreign country?

- The escape from the village by plane is really great. There's so much excitement. I feel like this book has enough excitement that it would really make a good movie.

    I still can't tell if I like this book, I guess I do even though it gets dull at one point. One of my favorite things was Cissy, she was a really fun character and even tho she's in the book a good amount I still could have used much more of her.

Nancy Drew: The Secret of Mirror Bay

    "Aunt Eloise Drew invites Nancy and her friends to Mirror Bay Bide-A-Wee cabin near Cooperstown, New York, for a visit and a chance to solve the mystery of the woman who glides across the water.

    Upon the arrival Nancy becomes mixed up in a vacation hoax because she resembles the young woman involved, and is nearly arrested for fraud.

    On the wooded mountain near the cabin further exciting events await Nancy and the other girls. There in the deep forest, a weird luminescent green sorcerer appears and threatens to cast an evil spell on anyone investigating his strange activities.

    In a dangerous twist of circumstances Nancy finds that solving one mystery helps to solve another.    What happens when the young detective and her friends uncover a cleverly concealed criminal operation makes thrilling reading."

    This is the last Nancy Drew book I'm reading for the first time. After this I will have read all 56 books of the original series. This is really big to me. When I was little I use to dream about having the whole series and having read them all. It took a long time to make it happen but I'll have finally done it and it just feels like I've accomplished something for my childhood self.

    Ok enough being sappy! The summary doesn't make this book sound very interesting. The two books before this one, Mysterious Mannequin and Crooked Bannister, are so totally weird (a living mannequin and an attack robot) that I am curious to see if this one is weird too. But the summary mentions a "luminescent green sorcerer" so I would stake my money on yes, this book is going to be weird as heck.

- When Nancy tells Bess and George about the trip to Mirror Bay the girls ask when they are to leave to which Nancy says "tomorrow morning". That is quite short notice.

- Of course Nancy is the one who happens to look just like a wanted crook. It's never George or Bess.

- The conversations in this book are quite awkward. They're very straight to the point and remind me of the dialogue in the Nancy Drew games.

- This book has a lot of words that seem out of place: instantaneous, infinitesimal, solicitousness.

These words seem out of place in a children's book . Nancy Drew books are usually kept to a simpler language.

- The scene where Nancy rescues a woman from drowning is much more intense than the average Nancy Drew rescue. The woman begins to drown, ceases breathing, and Nancy has to perform CPR.

- I found it annoying that the price that Nancy paid for the valentine wasn't listed, it just said she paid a lot plus $10 on top of that.

- The mystery of the "sorcerer" seems strange. I guess the mystery that Nancy wants to solve is why the man is there and scaring people away. Nancy believes it's because the mysterious Sam and Mike are concealing something farther in the woods but she doesn't really speculate or have a clue what it could be. She mentions that her criminal look-a-like could be hiding there but doesn't really seem too eager to find out. Also none of them seem to take Bess' attempted kidnapping very serious.

- After encountering the mysterious glowing monster in the woods the gang spreads out around it but when they close in on it, it vanishes before their eyes. Dave explains this by saying the "monster" was probably wearing a special suit which glowed on one side and was dark on the other and that while they were encircling them the "monster" had taken off the suit, reversed it, and ran away. How could someone do all of that in plain site of 6 people who were circling them and have none of them notice? This book doesn't make any sense.

- The cliffhangers in this book are either very tame or non existent. I wonder if they were thinking about doing away with them.

- Ned decided to paint the rented sailboat which seems really inappropriate.

    I stopped taking notes on this book because it was too ridiculous. It actually kind of reminded me of The Flying Saucer Mystery which is a horrible, horrible book. Just absolutely terrible. So that kind of shows how much I enjoyed this one.

    However I do have to say the cover artwork is fascinating. Its the most unique and different one of the series and it really has a mysterious element to it.

    And now that's it, I've officially read the Nancy Drew series!  I own 9 more Nancy Drew books that I haven't re-read yet but I'm almost positive I'm going to keep them all so I think I'll postpone reading them for the time being. I have a ton of other books I'm more eager to get to at the moment. So I guess we are done with Nancy for now. Next up, Vicki Barr! 

Nancy Drew: The Mysterious Mannequin

    "The strange disappearance of Carson Drew's Turkish client and a strange gift of an oriental rug encoded with a message woven in the decorative border start Nancy on a difficult search for a missing mannequin. But then a robber tries to steal the rug from the Drew home. Nancy, Bess, George, Ned, Burt, Carson, and Dave travel to Istanbul to search for more clues, but then, Bess disappears during the search, after the chums meet a young Turkish woman." [x]

    This is the second to last Nancy Drew book that I am reading for the first time. I'm a little doubtful that I will like it because it was written in 1970, the 1970s books are the ones I tend to not like very much, and because Nancy and the gang travel to a foreign country. I do not like any of the books where Nancy travels to a foreign country with the exception of Fire Dragon.

- Mr. Drew gets sent a rug and Nancy's first thought is there must be a secret message woven into it. Oh please. I was rolling my eyes.

- I'm on page 36 and so much has already happened; the rug, the secret messages, Burt and Dave's flight almost crashing, going to the book store, going to the museum and the tailor shop and the locksmiths, Nancy's house being broken in. This books is trying to be action packed but it's resulting in it being choppy.

- The locksmith describes a suspect as wearing a bracelet then says "You wouldn't catch me wearing anything like that!" to which Bess replies "Why shouldn't a man wear a bracelet if he wants to?". Bess is such a sweetie.

- Nancy finds out that when Farouk left he purchased a plane ticket through a travel agent. If he was going back to Turkey why would he not just get one from the airport? Travel agents are more for tourist but Farouk is from Turkey and would know how to travel back there.

- Ned is working as an insurance salesman but he mentions his old job at a summer camp. I thought that was a cool little nod to some other books.

- River Heights suddenly has a big Greece/Turkey section. Exactly how big is River Heights?

- I was thrown when Aisha said her and Farouk had been in love because this whole time I thought Farouk was 40+ years old and Aisha around 18. So that was a little unexpected.

- The part where Nancy unrolls the rug and a scimitar comes flying out of it and stick into the wall was so ridiculous!

- Nancy gives an old man a heart attack by physically assaulting him and then complains that she can't ask him any questions because he's not conscious! This is so weird, I'm cracking up.

- I was surprised that Carson asked Nancy how she planned to pay for a trip to Turkey. Normally Nancy never thinks about the cost of flying around the world thanks to rich daddy Drew.

- Bess is referred to as Dave's "date" even when they're not on a date together. Why can't they just use the word girlfriend, ugh.

- Turns out the mannequin Nancy was suppose to find was actually Aisha. She would sit in the shop window everyday and pretend to be a mannequin. This is so stupid! Not only that but Farouk had absolutely NO reason not to write an actual letter to either Aisha asking her to come to Turkey or to Carson asking him to send Aisha to Turkey. The whole secret message in a rug was just absolute nonsense for the sole purpose of creating a fake mystery.

    This book is just so weird and stupid.