Mandie and the Dark Alley

Mandie #33

by Lois Gladys Leppard

After Mandie and Celia hear suspicious noises coming from an alley on their way back to school one night, and thinking that it is somehow connected to a missing heirloom, Mandie decides to investigate.

Genres: Mystery, Christian, Historical Fiction, Childrens, Christian Fiction, Fiction, Young Adult

Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 2000

About the author

Lois Gladys Leppard was the author of the Mandie series of children's novels. Leppard wrote her first Mandie story when she was only eleven and a half years old, but did not become a professional author until she was an adult. Leppard has also worked as a professional singer, actress, and playwright. At one time, she and her two sisters, Sybil and Louise, formed a singing group called the Larke Sisters.
There are forty Mandie books in the main series, an eight-book junior series and several other titles. Leppard said that she could write a Mandie book in two weeks, barring any interruptions.
The eponymous heroine lives in North Carolina in the early 1900s, encountering adventure and solving mysteries with help from her friends, family, and pet cat, Snowball. These young reader novels are meant to teach morals as well as be fun and captivating stories to read. Leppard stated that her books contain "nothing occult or vulgar", and Mandie is depicted as a faithful Christian. The Mandie books often deal with issues of discrimination and prejudice relating to race (particularly with regard to the local Cherokee), class, and disability.
Lois Gladys Leppard based some of the incidents in her Mandie books on her mother's experiences growing up in North Carolina. The dedication in the first book is: "For My Mother, Bessie A. Wilson Leppard, and In Memory of Her Sister, Lillie Margaret Ann Wilson Frady, Orphans of North Carolina Who Outgrew the Sufferings of Childhood".

Reviews

[Lindsey (Books for Christian Girls) · Rating 3 out of 5]

About this book:

“Mandie and Celia travel with Mrs. Taft to visit Senator Morton in his hometown of St. Augustine, Florida, which is the oldest city in the United States. Among the senator's many servants is a man named Juan, who can't hear or speak. Mandie feels there is something sinister about the man, and his mysterious ways give her and Celia plenty of reasons to be concerned.
Why is someone sneaking into the girls' wardrobe and rearranging their clothes? Did Mandie and Celia really see the strange woman, Miss Lucretia Wham, from the top of the lighthouse on Anastasia Island? And why do even grown-ups in St. Augustine believe in ghosts?
Who's really behind all the mysteries taking place in St. Augustine?”


Series: Book #33 in “Mandie” series. (To read the reviews of the previous books in this series, click the number to be taken to that review: #1! #2! #3! #4! #5! #6! #7! #8! #9! #10! #11! #12! #13! #14! #15! #16! #17! #18! #19! #20! #21! #22! #23! #24! #25! #26! #27! #28! #29! #30! #31! and #32! ) {There also is the “Young Mandie Mystery” series, (Book #1 review Here and Book #2 review Here!) but they do not connect together well.}


Spiritual Content- Ecclesiastes 12:12 at the beginning; A Scripture is mentioned & quoted; A couple Prayers; Church going & a hymn; Mentions of Bibles, being raised on it, & preachers; Mentions of churches, church going, services, & Sunday School; A couple mentions of God; A couple mentions of thanking God;
*Note: Mentions of ghosts.


Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘dumb’ and three ‘shuck’s; Mandie pushes the rules a bit by going somewhere she’s been told to stay away from; Sneaking out & mentions of sneaking out without an adult knowing; Many mentions of thieves/crooks, burglaries, stolen items, & an illegal operation; Mentions of a girl causing trouble for Mandie & Mandie wanting to get her back; Mentions of breaking rules & finding ways around them; Mentions of fighting; A few mentions of lies & lying; A couple mentions of tobacco.


Sexual Content- A tiny bit of noticing a handsome boy;
*Note: A few mentions of Mandie baby brother that died & her mother who almost died.

-Amanda “Mandie” Shaw, age 14
P.O.V. of Mandie
Set in 1902
124 pages (also available in a collection with two other Mandie books.)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Pre Teens- Three Stars
New Teens- Three Stars
Early High School Teens- Three Stars
Older High School Teens- Three Stars
My personal Rating- Three Stars
While I’ve read this whole series year ago, I honestly can’t say I remember this or the next two books very well. Mandie didn’t quite feel like herself in this one. Mandie just a little bit too stubborn and doesn’t listen well. There also was—at least, I felt like—there was more (or maybe there was more of it) in this book, but there was a lot of written accents, which can be difficult for new readers.
Overall it was an okay Mandie read, but probably a reason I didn’t remember it.


Link to review:
https://booksforchristiangirls.blogsp...


*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.

[Caleb · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book you will read about an alley that captivates Mandie and she becomes obsessed with traveling through it on all her trips to her grandmother's house and the school. It is not a safe place, but it seems that no matter who tells her this she does not care. There are a lot of thefts going on around the neighborhood and she is determined that she has to solve the mystery and catch the criminals with zero help from the authorities and limited help from adults.

This was hilarious to read and laugh at how Mandie's mind works. I liked the final outcome and how Mandie was way off on most of her assumptions.

[Twyla · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite part was when Mandie's grandmother's silver set was found and returned to her. My least favorite part was when Mandie broke the rules by going back to the alley and not only that, but she got caught doing so and got in trouble for it. I wish that they had explained how the thieves had gotten into Mandie's grandmother's house, but they didn't.

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

this series needs to be talked about more

[AshPotatoes · Rating 1 out of 5]

As per usual, starting with a warning for offensive depictions of minorities in Leppard's writing.

What even was this story? The whole thing is driven by Mandie's inexplicable desire to return to a dark alleyway that she had never seen before. They briefly heard a noise, so she just had to go back multiple times? It was bizarre.

This book also had some blatant filler that was very boring and difficult to get through. Mandie would fabricate a problem, like her missing locket or Celia not wanting to be friends anymore and within a page the problem was resolved.

We got action at the tail end! But we rushed through it (classic) to get Mandie feeling sorry for herself despite misbehaving once again. In this case, misbehaving and nearly getting 5 people killed. We also get a resolution on the dog from the alley but not for April? We're not going to spend more time working on an April redemption arch?

Sigh... 7 books to the end. I'm almost done.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Mandie books are fun Christian mysteries for children, but I still love reading them. Even though she doesn't age very quickly and seems to get far too many breaks from school during the year, she's a lot of fun.

[Tarissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun adventure in the Mandie series. I love how all of these books show that loving and honoring God is the best way to go in life. Plus, it comes with entertaining and mysterious intrigue. Young Christian girls especially will eat these books up.

[Melissa]

I like to finish book series that I start, if they're not bad.

[Partridge Public]

Leppard, Lois G. PB