Sierra Summer

Walt Disney's Annette #1

by Doris Schroeder, Adam Szwejkowski (Illustrator)

Authorized edition feature

Annette is on a adventure, visitng her cousin in Lost Creek located in the Sierra foothills. Suspenseful moments and new friends add up to this thrilling story of Annette's Sierra Summer.

Genres: Young Adult, Childrens, Mystery, Juvenile

282 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1960

Reviews

[Stina]

God, I loved this book... I loved her little car and the cover and the dresses and all that jazz. I don't even know where I picked this up- maybe I "borrowed" it from a vacation house?

I remember reading and rereading and rereading it. We went on a trip- maybe to Disney World- and Annette herself(!) was at the airport. Why didn't I have this book with me?

[Gina House · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun and action-packed vintage middle grade story!

Annette goes to visit her cousin, Tonia, in the Sierra, gold-digging area of California. She has no idea the summer is going to be packed with adventure—historical parades, car stealing, being held up by an escaped prisoner, dealing with a selfish teenage boy, helping to solve a murder mystery and also making a new friend (whose father, he believes, has been wrongly imprisoned.)

When my mom was young, she loved the Annette character (played by Annette Funicello) from late 1950s Disney show. It was really nice to be able to have a little taste of my mom's favorite childhood TV show. Although this was not my favorite summer read, it was interesting and the exciting plot kept me reading.

If you love(d) the old Disney TV series or have a passion for YA adventure stories, this is definitely a title to try. Many thanks to my friend, Ginny (@moyerginny on Instagram), for gifting me this lovely summer-themed book!

[Melody · Rating 3 out of 5]

SUMMARY:
Annette is heading to the town of Lost Creek in the Sierra Mountains to spend her summer vacation with her cousin Tonia. It's a long drive that Annette is making alone in her new little convertible. As its nearing 7 pm and Annette is coming to town she gets a flat tire. When she goes to change it she realizes she lent her tools to her friend and forgot to get them back. There isn't many houses around but Annette goes to the closest one with the intent of calling her uncle to come get her. Her knock is answered by a somewhat rude young man, Stan Turner, who tells her they have no phone and to walk to the next house half a mile away for one. However Stan's little sister, Margie, then comes to the door and corrects Stan on his rude behavior. He then offers to go make the call and Annette is invited inside. Stan asks the name of Annette uncle he is suppose to call and when she says Judge Bori the siblings mood immediately changes. Stan announces he isn't doing any favors for the Judges family and storms out. Margie at first looks at Annette angrily but then realizes Annette doesn't understand due to her being from out of town. She then explains that Judge Bori had sentenced the Turners father to a prison sentence for something, Margie insisted, Mr. Turner never did. Annette says she understand their not wanting to help her and goes to make the call herself. As she passes her car on the side of the rode she sees Stan fixing her spare tire himself. His mood seems to be a little bit better and she thanks him before driving off.

Annette arrives at her cousins house which is a historic mansion set in the mist of an apple orchard. She is greeted by her flighty cousin Tonia, her uncle Genio, and her aunt Betta. Soon after arriving they sit down to dinner and Annette asks her uncle about the Turners father. The judge explains that Paul Turner had been sentenced to 20 years in prison for robbery and murder. He had allegedly stolen a bag of gold from a prospector and was caught trying to cash it in. Although the prospectors body was not found the jury had believed Mr. Turner had disposed of him in one of the many canyons in the mountains.

Tonia has invited a few friends over for the evening and together they all sing around a piano. One of the friends is Johnny Abbott, a conceited brat who Tonia has a huge crush on. Johnny plans on singing in a contest at the towns upcoming Pioneer Days celebration and is convinced he'll win and receive a recording contract. He seems to make subtle advances as Annette which has Tonia worried.

The next morning the group goes for a horse back ride in the mountains. When Annette stops to get her and her horse a drink from a spring she ends up running into Stan Turner who is going fishing. They sit down to talk and he gives Annette his fathers side of the story; his father had moved the family to Lost Creek 6 years ago so he could hunt for gold. He never found much and the family lived very poorly. His father had also unwilling ended up in a rivalry with an elderly prospectors named Robbins. One day Robbins, after attempting to shoot Turner, gets bit by a rattlesnake. Mr. Turner treats his bite and stays with him for several days to help him recover. To show his appreciation Robbins insists Mr. Turner take a pouch of gold nuggets. For some reason he becomes the target of suspicion when he tries to cash them in. He tells his story and when the police go to Robbins cabin the mountains to verify the story the find Robbins gone and does not end up appearing. This somehow leads to a robbery and murder charge. Stan hopes he can find Mr. Robbins and have him help get his father released from prison.

As Stan finishes his story Johnny comes riding up looking for Annette. He appears to not like seeing the two together so he has his horse lunge at Stan which causes him to fall backward and look foolish. The two exchange harsh words before Annette breaks it up and has everyone go their respective ways.

Once Annette and Johnny are back with the group they tour a bank and hotel in the old ghost town and then go to take pictures infront of the old ore mine. By the mine one of the boys, Deke, finds a pipe on the ground which still contains burning embers. Suddenly a boulder starts falling down a cliff causing a small avalanche right where Deke is standing. He avoids getting hurt but thinks he saw someone push the boulder deliberately. The rest of the gang don't believe him except for Annette who actually saw the man...
You can read the rest of this summary at vintagegirlsbooks.blogspot.com

REVIEW:
- On page 142 Stan is called "Johnny". This is my 4th or 5th book in the past few months that I've seen name mix-ups in, I'm surprised at how often these mistakes when unnoticed when being proofread.

- Annette feels partially responsible for Johnny crashing his car because "she got him angry". How ridiculous. It's not her fault he has anger problems, hates Stan, and likes to speed.

-But wait, There's more! You can read the rest of this review on my blog, vintagegirlsbooks.blogspot.com

★ You can see all the art work for this book and many others at Pinterest.com/nancydrewart

★ You can support me at Ko-fi.com/vintagegirlsbooks

[James Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Annette goes to visit her dead mother's brother and this sets in action a story which, unfortunately, has a good bit of violence. Annette is staying with a man who is a judge and in the past sentenced a guy to prison. This act reflected on the guy's son, Stan, who now has a fairly major problem with his temper and has himself been in trouble with the law.

The small town is going to have a celebration and parade and Annette ends up playing a role in it. There's also a guy that her friend is interested in but he is ultra full of himself. There's a matter of a singing contest and what role she plays in that.

The violence comes in when an escaped convict becomes involved and Annette's very life is threatened. All of this ties in together to make a pretty good story.

[Swapna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a nice fast paced Annette adventure with believable characters like Johnny, Tonia, Stan, etc.
Wonder how girls of the 60's era tolerated being called "chicks" and "dolls". Johnny would get a slap if he dared use these terms in the present day. The hint of a possible romance between Stan and Annette keeps the reader yearning for more.

[Angelica · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok, i guess. It is kind of like Nancy Drew series.

[Ann-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Annette adventure mystery was a light read and a nice way to start the summer with. Even though I found two of the characters really annoying (Johnny and Tonia deserved each other) and the ending seemed a little rushed, all in all I liked the summer vacation vibes of the story.

[Caitlyn Unruh · Rating 3 out of 5]

YA/grade 7-9 fun clean story

[Jami · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn't know if the story line could sustain it for 270+ pages, but it got there :)

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading a fairly dull malt-shop book (Minnow Vale) I'm happy to report that this was a fun one! Was it anything spectacular or special? No. But it was a cute, easy read.

The main character, Anette (from the Mickey Mouse Club!) goes on summer vacation to her cousins house out in the country. Her cousins local town has a huge Pioneer celebration with a parade, talent show, king and queen of the festivities, etc.

I won't spoil it for you, but I betcha you can guess who is crowned queen.

During the chaos of preparing for the holiday events, a mystery unfolds and only Annettes kind heart can see what's really going on and help save the day.

Would I recommend this? Sure. I don't know why I wouldn't. My only gripe is that for a mystery story, the mystery wasn't really the focus until the last bit of the book. Primarily it was a lot of teenage shenanigans like horseback riding and singing around the piano. It was cute, but if you want a true mystery story I'd stick to Nancy Drew.