Secret of the Emerald Star

by Phyllis A. Whitney

To Mrs. Devery, whose whole world is Staten Island, strangers are not people: they are Jews or Catholics or Cubans or whatever is unlike herself, and therefore very strange indeed. All of which is rather ironic, of course, since the children of the neighborhood look upon the provincial, autocratic old woman herself as a witch.

How well the label fits, thirteen-year-old Robin Ward is in a better position than most to know. She and her family are newcomers to secluded, fading Catalpa Court. From the window of her third-floor bedroom she commands a perfect view of the balconies and turrets of the house next door-can see everything that happens within the shrouded grounds of the big, forbidding Devery place.

None of that first weird scene seems real. Round and round on the front lawn turns a girl in a white dress, her arms out wide as if she were flying, her voice making the tuneless, high-pitched sound of an insect. Suddenly the white-haired mistress of the house, dressed in clothes of another era, rushes toward the girl, grasps her angrily by the arm and virtually drags her away.

A famous sculptor also living in Catalpa Court is willing to teach a limited number of talented beginners. Robin's eagerness to qualify becomes inextricably involved not only with the strange girl and her grim "jailer" but with the fate of a valuable pin made of emeralds and a diamond and shaped like a star. Mystery and menace progressively deepen with Mrs. Devery's behavior amid the ruins of an old house and her association with a short, fat man whose white moon face, bald head, and habit of sucking lemon drops add chills to each sinister moment he appears. Completely unmysterious is the point dramatized by this excellent and exciting book that prejudices about people can only harm the prejudiced.

Genres: Mystery, Young Adult, Fiction, Gothic, Mystery Thriller, Childrens, Romance

233 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

Phyllis Ayame Whitney (1903 – 2008) was an American mystery writer. Rare for her genre, she wrote mysteries for both the juvenile and the adult markets, many of which feature exotic locations. A review in The New York Times once dubbed her "The Queen of the American Gothics".

She was born in Japan to American parents and spent her early years in Asia. Whitney wrote more than seventy novels. In 1961, her book The Mystery of the Haunted Pool won an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Juvenile novel, and she duplicated the honor in 1964, for The Mystery of the Hidden Hand. In 1988, the MWA gave her a Grand Master Award for lifetime achievement. Whitney died of pneumonia on February 8, 2008, aged 104.

Reviews

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found this book in my parents' attic. Finished the book I was reading there so thought I would read this. Nice little book.

[Lia N. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found this in a laundromat one day.

[Grace - · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was REALLY good. I recommend it to 10-13 year olds. I'm eleven and I loved this book! It's a little confusing in the beginning but once you get through the first chapter it gets sooooo good! Phyllis A. Whitney should TOTALLY make this into a series. I feel like I know so much about the blind now that I've read this book. This book made me realize things I hadn't about the blind. Love this book!

[Arlene Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I LOVED these as a teen.And As an adult I loved Whitney's grown up suspense novels.

[Lisa Locke · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a favorite mystery of mine when I was a tween. I had already read all of the Nancy Drew books and this was the next step. I loved this book at the time. When I just read the description because I was talking about it to a co-worker, I looked it up on Goodreads and discovered it was set in Staten Island. I had to laugh because when I was a kid and read it I pictured the setting as this exotic island perhaps in Florida.

[Kathleen Brandt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember my 4th grade teacher reading this book to the class back in the mid-1960's. Then I read it myself later. Hadn't thought about it since then! But I really enjoyed it.

[Jerry]

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[Twyla · Rating 3 out of 5]

auryns review
my favorite paart was when Stella was allwoed to do mare things and be firends with |Robin. My least favorite aprt was when stella kept getting mad when something happened that was different, or things were rearanged and she couldn't find them. It ended in a very starnge place, Mr. Lemon wasn't caught yet