carstairs38's Full Review: Julie Campbell - The Red Trailer Mystery
This is the second book in the Trixie Belden Mystery series. The series is aimed at kids who enjoy such series as The Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew, but I don't let that stop me from enjoying it, too.
Trixie is a thirteen year old who lives with her family in Westchester County, New York. In the first book, she meets her new neighbor, Honey Wheeler. Together, the two of them make friends with Jim Frayne, a run away. As the last book ends, Jim has inherited five hundred thousand dollars. However, he ran away again before he could find out.
This book picks up minutes after the girls find out that Jim is no longer the ward of his cruel step-father. Knowing that Jim would run from any hint that a man was searching for him, they decide they need to find him. After all, Jim won't run from them.
So Trixie, Honey, and her governess, Miss Trask, set out in the Wheeler's trailer to find him. The first night out, they stop next to a mysterious red trailer. The family stays inside with the curtains closed. Why? The mystery only grows every time they run into that trailer.
When they arrive in upstate New York, they learn that trailer thieves are operating in the area. Will Trixie and Honey be able to find Jim before he leaves New York for good? What is going on in that mysterious trailer? And have the girls stumbled on the thieves' hide out?
The fact that this book is really a continuation of the first is unusual in kid's books, and I rather enjoyed it. There's enough of a recap that anyone new to the story will feel right at home, although it's obviously best to read book 1 first.
The first time I read the story, I knew the ultimate outcome of their search for Jim since I read the series out of order as a kid. However, the sub-plots kept me interested the whole way through. Trixie and Honey are more themselves then in the last book. Trixie takes more time to think about others. Honey, while still afraid, is more willing to take risks.
And, like the last book, so much happens that it's hard to put the book down. This book also contains one of my all time favorite scenes from the series. I always laugh when Trixie and Honey are trapped in the loft by Al. Honey especially is funny while being perfectly in character.
The book was originally published in 1950. While it does show its age with some of the word choices and amounts of money, it won't hinder most kids from getting into the story. They might need a few words defined, but that's all. For their reprints, Random House has included the original black and white illustrations. Again, the styles give away the age of the original text, but the one picture a chapter is really charming.
Julie Campbell took her time setting up the characters and events of the series, so these first books are really needed to fully enjoy what follows. But that's no trouble since they are so much fun to read. I've been reading them since I was a kid myself, and I don't plan to stop.
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