Julie Tatham (1908–1999)

This is book #2 of the Trixie Belden series, and it is the continuation of the story from book #1.

Trixie travels along with her friend, Honey, and Honey’s governess Miss Trask to an autocamp in upstate New York in an attempt to find Jim Frayne, a teenager who has runaway to escape his abusive stepfather. Jim has unknowingly inherited a vast fortune from his great-uncle; Trixie and Honey are determined to find Jim so he can claim his inheritance and become a part of Honey’s family. Along the way, Trixie and Co. encounter a gang of RV thieves and a runaway eleven year old whose family behaves very suspiciously.

This installment of the Trixie Belden series is an enjoyable little mystery/adventure for pre-teens and younger teenagers. The story is engaging and dramatic without being too disturbing; and, of course, everything ends happily—except for the criminals!

The only objectionable content in this book that should be of concern to parents is the girls’ neglectful treatment of their pets. Trixie and Honey each bring their dogs along on their trip and treat them appallingly; for the most part, they simply ignore them! They let the dogs (Trixie’s Irish Setter, Reddy, & Honey’s small puppy, Bud) roam around unleashed and unsupervised; along the highway, through the autocamp, in the forest…Reddy & Bud are allowed to run wild everywhere. It’s no wonder Trixie & Honey are constantly losing their canine charges. At one point, Trixie even forgets to give food and water to the dogs! Then, to make matters even worse, Honey carelessly gives Bud away to a family that has already had one puppy die under their care…Yikes!

And there are never any consequences for the girls’ lack of responsibility. In real life, the dogs would have been run over or seriously injured a million times over by book’s end! Wandering around alone in the woods, Bud—who is only a weeks-old puppy—would have been attacked & probably killed by wild animals. At the very least, both of the dogs would have gotten lost and vanished without a trace at some point. It boggles the mind!

Parents whose children read this book might want to have a serious conversation about the nature of responsible pet ownership so their children don’t think that Trixie’s and Honey’s (mis)treatment of their dogs is appropriate or acceptable.… (más)

Trixie Belden is a thirteen year old girl who lives with her family on a farm in affluent, rural New York state. Trixie is facing the prospect of a long, lonely summer because her two older brothers are off to summer camp, and she is left behind to do chores and look after her obnoxious little brother Bobby as she tries to save up enough money to buy a horse. Reprieve from boredom comes in the form of a new neighbor called Honey Wheeler; Trixie quickly forms a friendship with the wealthy girl & they are soon having adventures.

Trixie’s other neighbor-- eccentric Old Man Mr. Frayne-- is found unconscious at the end of his driveway and is ferreted away to the local hospital where he is not expected to survive. Honey sees someone lurking in the old man’s house, so the two new friends set off to investigate the intruder. They discover Old Man Frayne’s young nephew Jim who has runaway from his abusive stepfather in search of help from his great-uncle. Trixie and Honey try to help Jim and join him in the search for the fortune Old Man Frayne has supposedly stashed away in his dilapidated old mansion.

Overall, this would be a charming mystery story for young readers. Trixie is a fun and relatable character for young girls. For the most part, Trixie’s life and adventures are harmless fun.

Unfortunately, this particular story has some disturbing elements of violence that might make it unsuitable for younger children. Fifteen year old Jim is the victim of horrendous beatings at the hands of his stepfather. Jim himself carries a gun; at one point Jim shoots and skins a rabbit for food, and later Jim shoots an emaciated, abused dog & buries him. Those sections of the book really are horrific, and my ten or twelve year old self would have been in tears and traumatized for days after reading it. For that reason, I don’t think children under the ages of fourteen or fifteen should be reading it…even though most of the rest of the book would be highly suitable for any child over ten.

The funniest thing about The Secret of the Mansion is Trixie’s insistence that her family is poor. Trixie lives in an isolated area comprised of only three estates; Trixie’s own extensive farmland is surrounded on either side by two mansions owned by millionaires. Trixie’s father is a bank officer who easily hires a doctor and private nurse when his youngest child is sick, and then sends his child and wife off to the seashore for a couple of weeks to recover. Trixie’s family may not rise to the level of wealth that enables them to employ a personal chef, governess, and chambermaids like Honey’s family, but they still seem to be doing all right. It’s hilarious (& kind of offensive, too!) that Trixie bewails her family’s ‘poverty’ at several points throughout the story…her worldview is genuinely a delusional rich person’s definition of being poor.

The end of this book implies that Jim's story will be continued in book #2, and I am looking forward to reading it. I just hope that it is a little less cruel and violent than this one.… (más)