What do you think?
Rate this book
Trixie Belden 3-Book Set
Spunky tomboy Trixie Belden can't stay out of trouble . . . or stay away from mysteries And now Trixie's first three adventures are available in a boxed set of the retro books with Julie Campbell's text from the 1940s editions and Mary Stevens's original line drawings. After all, who can resist tomboy Trixie; her rich best friend, Honey; and their adventures with a runaway kid in a miser's mansion, a stolen red trailer, and a lost diamond in an rickety old gatehouse?
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1951
2 people are currently reading
142 people want to read
About the author
Julie Campbell
56 books179 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Julie Campbell Tatham
aka
Julie Campbell, Julie Tatham and Julie C. Tatham
Julie Campbell was born on the 1st of June 1908 in Flushing, New York and shares the same birthday as her character, Mart Belden. As the daughter of an Army Officer, she travelled widely during her childhood and, at the age of eight, won her first short story contest while living in Hawaii.
Campbell married Charles Tatham Jr. on the 30th March 1933 and they worked together on many magazine stories and articles. Campbell lived in a remodelled farmhouse in the Hudson River Valley with her husband and two sons when she began writing the Trixie Belden series.
She had her own literary agency in the 1940s when Western Publishing invited literary agents to find authors who could produce mystery and adventure books that would be marketed to children at an affordable price. Campbell proposed four series, two that would be written by herself and the others by two of her authors Hal Burton and John Henry Cutler.
Both series were published under her maiden name, Julie Campbell. The Ginny Gordon series consisted of five books published between 1948 and 1956, while her contribution to the Trixie Belden series consisted of six books between 1948 and 1958. At the same time, Campbell stepped in to take over the Cherry Ames and Vicki Barr series and wrote twelve books in total for these series over the same time period. It is believed that Campbell wrote Cherry Ames, Cruise Nurse in three weeks during the same period she was also writing the first Trixie Belden and Ginny Gordon books.
Campbell wrote the series under her married name of Julie Tatham. There are several similarities to the Trixie Belden series. Cherry Ames: Dude Ranch Nurse is set in Tucson, Arizona which is the setting of Campbell's last Trixie Belden Mystery. The last Cherry Ames book Campbell wrote in 1955, Cherry Ames: Country Doctor's Nurse, is set in Sleepyside-on-the-Hudson, the setting of the Trixie Belden mysteries. So is a wonderful book called To Nick from Jan, which has many similarities to Trixie Belden except the main character is almost 17 years old.
She is also credited for writing "Rin Tin Tin's Rinty" for Whitman in 1954, but in an article Campbell denied having written that book and wonders why Whitman credited her with the title.
The Trixie Belden series was set in "Sleepyside" but was based on the town Campbell was living in at the time in the Hudson River Valley near Ossining. Her home, "Wolf Hollow", was the model for Crabapple Farm and Campbell actually lived on Glendale Road.
After completing Trixie Belden and the Mystery in Arizona, Campbell decided to stop. Her experience as a literary agent assisted her in negotiating a royalty on the next six books of the series as she owned the characters, but it meant her giving up the originator rights to this series. Western Publishing decided to continue the books under the pseudonym Kathryn Kenny.
Campbell also relinquished the Cherry Ames and Vicki Barr series when Helen Wells decided to return to writing them. The Ginny Gordon series was not continued.
There is evidence that Campbell sought a writing position with the Stratemeyer Syndicate in 1957. Timothy P. O'Herin spent an afternoon going through the Stratemeyer archives and found correspondence between Campbell and Harriet Adams, the daughter of Edward Stratemeyer.
"The letters occurred around 1957 and they consisted of Ms. Tatham seeking a writing position with the syndicate. Mrs. Adams responded with glowing praise for her work, but questioning whether Julie would want to relocate for the job. Julie indicated she would be willing to commute. There were only a few letters in this brief correspondence..."
Julie Campbell Tatham
aka
Julie Campbell, Julie Tatham and Julie C. Tatham
Julie Campbell was born on the 1st of June 1908 in Flushing, New York and shares the same birthday as her character, Mart Belden. As the daughter of an Army Officer, she travelled widely during her childhood and, at the age of eight, won her first short story contest while living in Hawaii.
Campbell married Charles Tatham Jr. on the 30th March 1933 and they worked together on many magazine stories and articles. Campbell lived in a remodelled farmhouse in the Hudson River Valley with her husband and two sons when she began writing the Trixie Belden series.
She had her own literary agency in the 1940s when Western Publishing invited literary agents to find authors who could produce mystery and adventure books that would be marketed to children at an affordable price. Campbell proposed four series, two that would be written by herself and the others by two of her authors Hal Burton and John Henry Cutler.
Both series were published under her maiden name, Julie Campbell. The Ginny Gordon series consisted of five books published between 1948 and 1956, while her contribution to the Trixie Belden series consisted of six books between 1948 and 1958. At the same time, Campbell stepped in to take over the Cherry Ames and Vicki Barr series and wrote twelve books in total for these series over the same time period. It is believed that Campbell wrote Cherry Ames, Cruise Nurse in three weeks during the same period she was also writing the first Trixie Belden and Ginny Gordon books.
Campbell wrote the series under her married name of Julie Tatham. There are several similarities to the Trixie Belden series. Cherry Ames: Dude Ranch Nurse is set in Tucson, Arizona which is the setting of Campbell's last Trixie Belden Mystery. The last Cherry Ames book Campbell wrote in 1955, Cherry Ames: Country Doctor's Nurse, is set in Sleepyside-on-the-Hudson, the setting of the Trixie Belden mysteries. So is a wonderful book called To Nick from Jan, which has many similarities to Trixie Belden except the main character is almost 17 years old.
She is also credited for writing "Rin Tin Tin's Rinty" for Whitman in 1954, but in an article Campbell denied having written that book and wonders why Whitman credited her with the title.
The Trixie Belden series was set in "Sleepyside" but was based on the town Campbell was living in at the time in the Hudson River Valley near Ossining. Her home, "Wolf Hollow", was the model for Crabapple Farm and Campbell actually lived on Glendale Road.
After completing Trixie Belden and the Mystery in Arizona, Campbell decided to stop. Her experience as a literary agent assisted her in negotiating a royalty on the next six books of the series as she owned the characters, but it meant her giving up the originator rights to this series. Western Publishing decided to continue the books under the pseudonym Kathryn Kenny.
Campbell also relinquished the Cherry Ames and Vicki Barr series when Helen Wells decided to return to writing them. The Ginny Gordon series was not continued.
There is evidence that Campbell sought a writing position with the Stratemeyer Syndicate in 1957. Timothy P. O'Herin spent an afternoon going through the Stratemeyer archives and found correspondence between Campbell and Harriet Adams, the daughter of Edward Stratemeyer.
"The letters occurred around 1957 and they consisted of Ms. Tatham seeking a writing position with the syndicate. Mrs. Adams responded with glowing praise for her work, but questioning whether Julie would want to relocate for the job. Julie indicated she would be willing to commute. There were only a few letters in this brief correspondence..."
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
September 19, 2007
Some kids loved Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys, or Encyclopedia Brown. I was all about Trixie Belden when it came to preteen mysteries. I loved Trixie's "romance" with Jim, her best friend, Honey's, adopted brother. Plus, Trixie was a tomboy. Not quite as perfect as Nancy.
March 1, 2014
Trixie made me happy when I was a kid. Didn't she make you smile a little, too? :-)
June 24, 2020
Using this a placeholder to say I have read all of the Trixie Belden book and loved them all! Like nancy drew but different and amazing! Love the hair made me really want to be a sleuth! Also taught me that my intellect should be trusted and not to listen to stinky old police offers when I need to solve a crime. Bought the entire collection for $20 at a second hand store and do not regret it one bit!
Read
March 15, 2015DID ANY OTHER MEMERS READ THE TRIXIE BELDEN BOOKS OR CHERRY AMES BOOKS? :D?
I TRIED TO READ TRIXIE BELDEN BECAUSE I LOVED THE OLD SCHOOL NANCY DREW BOOKS BUT I COULDN'T GET INTO THEM.
WE HAD A COUPLE OF TRIXIE BELDENS THAT WERE MY MOM'S WHEN SHE WAS A KID, AND I GOT A FEW FROM THE LIBRARY, BUT I WAS NEVER AS INTO THEM AS I WAS INTO NANCY DREW.
MY MOM TRIED TO GET ME INTO TRIXIE BELDEN AS A KID, BUT I WASN'T INTERESTED.
I TRIED TO READ TRIXIE BELDEN BECAUSE I LOVED THE OLD SCHOOL NANCY DREW BOOKS BUT I COULDN'T GET INTO THEM.
WE HAD A COUPLE OF TRIXIE BELDENS THAT WERE MY MOM'S WHEN SHE WAS A KID, AND I GOT A FEW FROM THE LIBRARY, BUT I WAS NEVER AS INTO THEM AS I WAS INTO NANCY DREW.
MY MOM TRIED TO GET ME INTO TRIXIE BELDEN AS A KID, BUT I WASN'T INTERESTED.
March 15, 2014
The first three books in the series introduce many of the main characters and give us three great mysteries, too. I still love this series, so I highly recommend you see where it all began.
Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.
Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.
Read
June 18, 2007these are the mysteries that I loved. Nancy Drew wore hose, Trixie was tomboy. I first learned about the day of the dead in one of these stories. to this day, I enjoy reading mysteries that teach something: history, folk lore, politics (see Ian Rankin)
January 8, 2008
This was my first mystery series that my Aunt Martha introduced me to in elementary school -- i still love them, although i must say they seem a bit dated when i read them now. I mean who says "jeepers" and drives a jalopy these days?
September 10, 2016
I read these in late elementary school and early junior high, and they were hugely influential. A mystery series centered a strong, independent and action-oriented girl . . . I read every one. Thanks, Trixie, for inspiring me in many ways. :)
April 6, 2007
These were my favorite pre-teen mystery novels : )
August 1, 2007
you just got to love trixie!!!!
Read
September 6, 2014Love it
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews