Fear not dear reader!I do not intend to reread and review the entire Trixie Belden series of 39 books.
However I was curious to remind myself why it was that I reread some of the Trixie's many more times than some of the others.
I always thought that #2 The Red Trailer Mystery was not one of my popular Trixie rereads simply because it took me ages to actually find it way back when. As a result, I reread #1 and #3 time and time again and basically made up my own story about how Trixie and Honey found Jim after he ran away again.
When I eventually found #2 and read it, it didn't stand a chance of living up to the high emotional level of reunion that I had imagined all on my own.
But I see now it was more than that.
The Red Trailer Mystery was basically about Trixie and Honey. There wasn't enough relationship stuff going on for me. This story didn't really advance our understanding of Trixie and Honey. We didn't meet any new characters that would continue on with us, except for a brief mention of Mr Lynch and his family of five children.
It made me realise that I read my Trixie's over and over again not for the mysteries or the crime solving, but for the connections, the friendships and burgeoning romances of the main characters.
The whole way through The Red Trailer Mystery I was impatient with the whole secrecy surrounding the red trailer. I wanted to get past all that annoying amateur sleuthing, which I considered mere fluff, and just find Jim!
And get back to Sleepyside and meet Brian and Mart and start the Bob-Whites and befriend Diana and eventually Dan.
The Red Trailer Mystery feels like a bridging book - a stop gap story or a teaser to keep us wanting more.
The cute childhood moment, to prove how obsessed I really was with Trixie, came when I discovered a folded piece of yellowed paper half way in.
My childhood self had taken the time to research all the states of America and their capital cities. I had typed them up in alphabetical order. I also went through all the first twenty or so books and noted down which month each one was set in.
For instance, books #1, 2, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19 and 23 all took place in the heat of a northern July, but only two books - #6 and 22 - took place in December.
A lover of lists from way back!
Trixie Belden #1 and the Secret of the Mansion
Trixie Belden #3 and the Gatehouse Mystery
Ahaha, we were made to learn that list of capitals but you did it on your own! I can't remember where Trixie lived--what state was it? Somewhere a lot more Eastern than I lived, I think. I'm still none too sure what a bob-white looks like (mostly I just thought Bob-Whites of the Glen was a dumb name, but I wanted those horses!). Anyway, waving hello from close to Sacramento, capital of California...
ReplyDeleteTrixie lives in a fictional town called Sleepyside in New York State, but in #1 they reference the Washington Irving Sleepy Hollow legend, so I always figured it was meant to be near there. They also mention the Hudson River regularly and obviously live close enough to NYC to visit sometimes.
DeleteI was planning on rereading #3 as well before handing them over to my niece, so I will research the whole bob-white thing for that one :-)
Waving hello back from Sydney, capital of NSW...!
Oh that's right. Sleepyside. I've been to that area and indeed it's the right setting. Zillions of trees, very green and a bit hilly.
DeleteThese books look familiar, but I was obviously not obsessed with them the way you were. What fun to find your lists though, and to finally solve the mystery of why you loved them.
ReplyDelete