Mandie and the Abandoned Mine

Mandie #8

by Lois Gladys Leppard

Exploring a deserted farmhouse near Uncle Joe's mine, they discover a fancy new dress hanging on the wall. Returning the next day, the dress is gone! Ages 8-13. Mandie book 8.

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

160 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 1, 1987

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)]

About this book:

“Exploring a deserted farmhouse near Uncle Joe's mine, they discover a fancy new dress hanging on the wall. Returning the next day, the dress is gone!”


Series: Book #8 in “Mandie” series. (Read the reviews of: #1 Here! #2 Here! #3 Here! #4 Here! #5 Here! #6 Here! And #7 Here!) {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- Talks about God, trusting, & forgiving; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Prayers; A few Scriptures are quoted, mentioned, and prayed; Uncle Ned refers to Heaven as “happy hunting ground”; Mandie tries to witness to a man who says God has forsaken him; Mentions of Church going;
*Note: Mentions of spirits & superstitions.


Negative Content- Minor cussing including: six ‘shut up’s; Mandie is slapped (barely-above-not-detailed); An injured kitten (barely-above-not-detailed, all is okay); A mention of a spanking; A mention of a young girl who had died (barely-above-not-detailed).


Sexual Content- N/A

-Amanda “Mandie” Shaw, age 12
P.O.V. of (mostly) Mandie
Set in 1900
160 pages (also available in a collection with four other Mandie books.)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Pre Teens- Four Stars (and a half)
New Teens- Four Stars
Early High School Teens- Three Stars
Older High School Teens- Three Stars
My personal Rating- Three Stars (and a half)
{Ratings are lowered as ages get higher due to the simple plot.}
Quite a bit more Spiritual Content in this Mandie book! :)

*See my thought on this series versus the younger series, Here!


Link to review:
http://booksforchristiangirls.blogspo...


*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.

[Taz]

If I was Joe I would find some other girl to latch onto, because Mandie keeps trying to get him killed! Also Uncle Ned was really annoying in this one. Either tell what you know or hush, dude.

[Olivia]

Great mystery series for the mystery reader!

[Makenzie Muñoz]

This was an enjoyable adventure with a bit of secrecy and mystery woven in! I do think Uncle Ned should've told what he knew sooner... But then the book would be significantly shorter.

[Josiah]

Very good book with a godly message! Much better and more realistic than the last one. I recommend!

[Savannah Haschak]

I really enjoyed the plot of this book and how the story ended. It was so well written and the ending was great!

[Mel]

These kids get kidnapped a lot

[Noelani]

3 3/4 stars by 9 year old.

[Myka Rae]

I love the Mandie books so much they are so exciting and fun to read.I have not read one Mandie book I have not liked they are all amazing!

[Kelly]

This is maybe the 5th time Mandie and or Joe is kidnapped in 8 books and it is the worst. Not just a bad plot device that bad people do bad things and hide children, but the resolution here is bs.

While exploring Mandie’s step-dads abandoned ruby mine they come across a couple moving bags. Mandie and Joe are forced into a canoe on the river,
Joe is hit on the head and knocked unconscious, and they eventually lose the canoe, barely escape and Snowball the cat is lost.

(The couple who kidnaps them is poor, can’t find work, is stealing to be able to eat, and have already stolen from other mines.)

Then, in a matter of 2 PAGES, they forgive their kidnappers, invite them home to stay and arrange for them to have jobs and a place to live and work.

I get that the author is trying to make a point that Christians do nice things but this is beyond. Would have been a better book if they’d advocated for even the smallest bit of socialism instead of ignoring the consequences of kidnapping and attempted murder.

[Kristi Drillien]

I read a lot of this series when I was a kid/pre-teen, and I read some of them to my now-teen daughter when she was younger. Nostalgia definitely affects my reviews for this series, and I'm okay with that.

This book is one of the best in the season so far. Mandie does disobey once, but not nearly as much or as terribly as she does in other books. The mystery isn't complex and twisty, but at least it isn't super obvious this time. Mandie and some combination of her friends do tend to get kidnapped a lot, but this one turns out differently in that regard, at least. And while the "forgive those who trespass against you" aspect of Christianity is pushed to perhaps an unrealistic level in this book, I didn't mind it too much. There was something kind of nice about the resolution in this book. These books have their ups and downs, but they can still be good for younger people to read, especially if you’re looking for something with Christian content. Though overall, I recommend discussing what’s good and bad in them with your kid(s) after/while they read it.

[Danielle]

Title: Mandie and the Abandoned Mine
Author: Lois Gladys Leppard
Series: Mandie, 8
Format: ebook, bind-up
Length: N/A
Rating: 3 stars

Synopsis: Exploring a deserted farmhouse near Uncle John's mine, they discover a fancy new dress hanging on the wall. Returning the next day, the dress is gone!

Favourite character: Dimar
Least favourite character: N/A

Mini-review: Good. Glad that everyone except Polly finally met. Speaking of Polly, where is she? Why is she nowhere to be seen if Mandie and her are next door neighbours? Also the accents of anyone isn't upper class is starting to drive me nuts.

Fan Cast:
Amanda "Mandie" Shaw - Emma Rayne Lyle
Joe Woodard - Louis Hynes
Celia Hamilton - Sadie Sink
John Shaw - Robert Downey Jr.
Elizabeth Shaw - Malin Akerman
Uncle Ned Sweetwater - Zahn McClarnon
Dr. Woodard - Gideon Emery
Mrs. Woodard - Danica McKellar
Liza - Lauryn Alisa McClain
Grandmother Taft - Meryl Streep
Jason Bond - C. Thomas Howell

[Nikki Slezak]

Oh my GOSH, Uncle Ned, what are you doing?? First of all, you know there’s people buried here, and you’re just going to let a group of clueless children dig them up rather than say something?? And also, you were sooo insistent in the beginning that you were going to watch over them while they were at the mine, but suddenly every time they go, you have errands to run but it’s fine that they go ahead and go anyway. Not to mention that AGAIN there is so much needless mystery surrounding family lineage, in this case Ruby, and this time Uncle Ned knew the entire time and didn’t say a word, just like…”Yeah, don’t play with those dolls.”

I did appreciate the villains being very different from the caricatures that Snuff and Rennie Lou were. These characters actually had some depth and the ability to change their ways and make their own decisions, like they weren’t evil just for the sake of being evil, there were reasons.

[Rileigh]

Exploring a deserted farmhouse near Uncle Joe's mine, they discover a fancy new dress hanging on the wall. Returning the next day, the dress is gone! I know this book series was written a very long time ago, but it still really caught me off guard that there were slaves. The way that the salves talk, which is very broken English, just made me sad. The same goes for the way the Burn's talk. They are described as very poor and talk with the same broken English that the slaves do. Other then the issue of racism, this book is very Christian, which I personally didn't enjoy. Obviously, it is written for children so it was a quick and easy read. I'm definitely going to be donating this book. I gave it a rating of two out of five stars. The book wasn't horrible but the slavery was really off putting. I also disliked the aspects of this book that were heavily religious because it felt very forced onto the reader.

[Andy Mathews]

My daughter Lily read this book to me, continuing our reading the Mandie series of books together.
I found this book to be full of action, and it felt short because it moved so fast. However, this book does not have as much of a denouement to it. I think there is more left unexplained at the end of the book, on top of the usual cliffhanger, than usual in the Mandie novels.
There isn’t much character development or underlying plot progression in this novel; it is more of a “side quest” to begin to explore Uncle John’s old ruby mine that has been shuttered. The older couple that appear as new characters in this novel have echos of “Renny Lou” (I think?) from one of the earlier novels. I will have to read the next book in the series to see if this book is one that is really necessary for the overall series, or not. Still a fun read, though, and not as confusing to follow as the twisting plots in some of the earlier books (like the girls’ school was for me).

[Sean Harding]

Well my hopes were met as this book saw the series get back on track after the previous two lesser books.
The Christian content in this one is also arguably the strongest so far, and the message of forgiveness will inspire some and make others lose their minds.
Anyway a great ride, although I am wondering how long this holiday is going to last before school resumes, the author seems to have forgotten they are meant too return at some point! This is the third book in a row of the same holiday period which was only meant to be a couple of weeks.
Uncle Ned was also particularly annoying in this book, tell the truth of what you know you old buzzard!

[Audrey]

It seems like Mandie is always getting into trouble. She and Joe were doing an erand but stopped to visit an old abandoned mine when they weren't supposed to. They end up getting kidnapped but in the end it turns out okay. Mandie talks to the kidnappers about God and the couple repents of their actions. They are in serious financial need and Mandie's friends and family are able to help them in their difficulties. Mandie learns the importance of obedience and forgiveness.

[Katy Lovejoy]

This one was a surprise all the way

[Meg Noel]

I wouldn't read it again.

[Rebekah]

This was probably my fav so far but I have to wait and see what the others bring!

[Kynzie]

So bland, predictable and cheesy. Sadly, I really did not enjoy this book at all.

[wanderer]

I admit it: I am reviewing these books years after reading them. However, do not even suggest that I'm no longer qualified, that too many years have passed to remember. My battered and faded copies of these books testify to how many times I read them growing up and plots and entire passages are seared in my memory forever.

Snowball always ran away, Mandie always got in trouble, Uncle Ned always rescued her, and Joe and Tommy bristled at each other. I myself prefered Joe, but Tommy's cosmopolitan airs nearly tipped the balance a time or two. I recall- fondly and as though it were yesterday- my glee when Mandie went off to Europe, my disgust at the new baby, my delight in Mandie's wardrobe of sky blue frocks, my puzzlement at all her near escapes and handy school vacations, my terror during the daring midnight adventures. Ah me, to be young and silly again...

If I had written goodreads reviews at the age of eleven, all Mandie books would've received automatic five-star ratings and gushing descriptions. As an adult, I will honestly give them all three stars, except for my special pets. And if I ever have a little girl, I will buy her the entire set. Oh, and did you know there are more than forty books in the series by now? And I'm guessing Mandie never grows up, either.

[Rachel]

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.

[Superreader200]

I love this book because Mandie disobeys her mother and goes into danger with her friend,Joe, but than good comes out of it because when they become kidnapped the people who were stealing from the ruby mine became Christians!! ( Read the Rest,it's the Best! )

[Partridge Public]

Leppard, Lois G. PB

[Anna]

Cute! The whole 'Mandie' series is wonderful for 9-12 year old girls. I was so into them when I was young. :)

[Danielle]

I loved this book in it Mandie learns very good leassons and trusts more on God! You should read this book!

[Grace]

I loved it when I was 11. I don't know about it now.

[Cws]

JMA-LepR

[Gabrielle]

in some spots it was sad!!!!!! poor Joe!!!!!!!!!!!