From the back of the book - "Mr. Stratton straightened. His smile faded "Now, who is to be spoeksman?" "I am," said Trixie. Jim was co-president of the Bob-Whites, but Trixie usually did the talking. "Trixie, the School Board doesn't want secret societies to exist in Sleepyside schools, when clubs - really gangs - can be the source of so much trouble. The board feels... that your club will have to disband." "We couldn't!" Trixie almost shouted..."
So, with the first "Kathryn Kenny" installment of the Trixie Belden series we have a very interesting book, this one actually has a mystery and villains and all that jazz (unlike books 5 and 6). Due to vandalism and thefts at the school the school board is considering disbanding all clubs unless they can show how useful they are to the community. So Trixie comes up with an idea, the Bob-Whites will put on an antique show and have all the proceeds go to UNICEF. The Bob-Whites throw themselves into the show and Mrs Wheeler says they can have any of the items in one of the Manor Houses attic rooms. There they find some nice antiques and a key with a tag on it that has a stick figure code on it. They manage to decipher the code and the key is apparently the "Key To Riches". Thanks to Trixies snooping and her temper they find the box the key fits and inside is a beautiful jewellery box and inside that is two very expensive rings. With a little bit of investigation it is revealed that once they used to belong to Jims great-aunt and so are rightfully Jim's now. he donates them to the antique show. The story of the discovery gets out and soon a newspaper covers it and that brings some unwanted attention. Trixie and Bobby visit Mrs Vanderpoel, a nice old lady, who is donating some antiques to be sold at the show and some to be shown as well. One of the antiques is a beautiful little table that Trixie takes with her, having Bobby carry it on his sled while she pulls him. On their way home they are robbed by three men who steal the table and dump Bobby in the snow and the poor little boy ends up with pneumonia. Soon after someone attempts to break into the Bob-Whites club house where the antiques for the show are being stored and a burgalar break into Mrs Vanderpoel's house in an attempt to steal her antiques but is foiled by Trixie and caught by Tad Webster (Spider Websters little brother).
Things pick up and soon it's the eve of the show and Trixie is working late in the show room, putting on price tags when she is interrupted by men who have come to steal some of the valuables. With a gun pointed at her there's no way for Trixie to call for help or even let Jim know what's happening when he briefly checks on her. Or is there? Maybe that "Mysterious Code" could come in handy!
OH! And one of my favourite events happens in this book. Reddy disappears and Trixie, brian and Jim all head out to find him. They find him but end up stuck in an old shed in the middle of a blizzard with nothing to eat but bird seed that Mr Maypenny stores there. I loved it, just as good as I remember.
This book also takes the idea of the budding feelings between some of the Bob-Whites and makes it more obvious. Jim's respect and like for Trixie is stated and he even sends her an orchid corsage for her to wear to Di's valentines party. Speaking of Di, things heat up between her and Mart when her little brothers make her give him a kiss as part of a game.
Then there's Tad. Over the course of the book he seems to become a nice guy and he and his brother end up moving into Mrs Vanderpoel's house. Given Tad's helping the Bob-Whites a lot and the fact that his new place is within walking distance of the Belden's it seems as if he's being set up to become a new Bob-White. Unfortunately it seems as if the author runs out of space towards the end of the book and the ending is hurried and any invitation to Tad is left out. I think that's kinda sad :( but it does leave things open for Dan to arrive :)
The boys don't pick on Trixie quite as much in this book as in the previous couple but it seems obvious to me that with the way the romance blossoms and the way the girls vs boys mentality is portrayed in this book that the author is obviously a woman with a bit of girl-power on her mind (remembering that this published in 1961, the concept of "girl-power" probably wasn't around but the general ideas of women being equal were).
Also, harkening back to the whole "racist" thing I mentioned in an earlier blog about Jimmy Crow in book 2. The Japanese brothers who are interested in the samurai swords that are being sold at the show are very stereotypical, even calling Trixie "Tlixie" lol. Nothing that bothered me, just a note, I actually found it amusing in an "Wow, that's so stereotypical it's funny" kinda way :)
Anyway, next up is The Black Jacket mystery which I remember as being one of my favourites. Probably because I loved Dan and number 8 is when he arrives on the scene. See you here for that :)
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