The Mystery in the Mall

The Boxcar Children #72

by Gertrude Chandler Warner

The Boxcar Children are helping out at Penny's Emporium, a novelty shop in the mall. But soon everything starts to go wrong! What's going on at Hope Harbor Mall?

Genres: Mystery, Childrens, Fiction, Middle Grade, Chapter Books, Audiobook, Realistic Fiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Gertrude Chandler Warner was born in Putnam, Connecticut, on April 16, 1890, to Edgar and Jane Warner. Her family included a sister, Frances, and a brother, John. From the age of five, she dreamed of becoming an author. She wrote stories for her Grandfather Carpenter, and each Christmas she gave him one of these stories as a gift. Today, Ms. Warner is best remembered as the author of THE BOXCAR CHILDREN MYSTERIES.

As a child, Gertrude enjoyed many of the things that girls enjoy today. She loved furnishing a dollhouse with handmade furniture and she liked to read. Her favorite book was ALICE IN WONDERLAND. Often on Sundays after church, Gertrude enjoyed trips to visit her grandparents' farm. Along the way, she and Frances would stop to pick the wildflowers they both loved. Gertrude's favorite flower was the violet.

Her family was a very musical one. They were able to have a family orchestra, and Gertrude enjoyed playing the cello. Her father had brought her one from New York ---a cello, a bow, a case and an instruction book. All together, he paid $14. Later, as an adult, she began playing the pipe organ and sometimes substituted for the church organist.

Due to ill health, Ms. Warner never finished high school. She left in the middle of her second year and studied with a tutor. Then, in 1918, when teachers were called to serve in World War I, the school board asked her to teach first grade. She had forty children in the morning and forty more in the afternoon. Ms. Warner wrote, "I was asked or begged to take this job because I taught Sunday School. But believe me, day school is nothing like Sunday School, and I sure learned by doing --- I taught in that same room for 32 years, retiring at 60 to have more time to write." Eventually, Ms. Warner attended Yale, where she took several teacher training courses.

Once when she was sick and had to stay home from teaching, she thought up the story about the Boxcar Children. It was inspired by her childhood dreams. As a child, she had spent hours watching the trains go by near her family's home. Sometimes she could look through the window of a caboose and see a small stove, a little table, cracked cups with no saucers, and a tin coffee pot boiling away on the stove. The sight had fascinated her and made her dream about how much fun it would be to live and keep house in a boxcar or caboose. She read the story to her classes and rewrote it many times so the words were easy to understand. Some of her pupils spoke other languages at home and were just learning English. THE BOXCAR CHILDREN gave them a fun story that was easy to read.

Ms. Warner once wrote for her fans, "Perhaps you know that the original BOXCAR CHILDREN. . . raised a storm of protest from librarians who thought the children were having too good a time without any parental control! That is exactly why children like it! Most of my own childhood exploits, such as living in a freight car, received very little cooperation from my parents."

Though the story of THE BOXCAR CHILDREN went through some changes after it was first written, the version that we are familiar with today was originally published in 1942 by Scott Foresman. Today, Albert Whitman & Company publishes this first classic story as well as the next eighteen Alden children adventures that were written by Ms. Warner.

Gertrude Chandler Warner died in 1979 at the age of 89 after a full life as a teacher, author, and volunteer for the American Red Cross and other charitable organizations. After her death, Albert Whitman & Company continued to receive mail from children across the country asking for more adventures about Henry, Jessie, Violet and Benny Alden. In 1991, Albert Whitman added to THE BOXCAR CHILDREN MYSTERIES so that today's children can enjoy many more adventures about this independent and caring group of children.

Books about Gertrude: https://www.goodreads.com/characters/...

Reviews

[Janete on hiatus due health issues · Rating 3 out of 5]

December, 2022: re-read this book with the aid of Google Translator.
July, 2020: 3,5 stars. My book + Scribd audio. Continuing my Project Learning English by my self through children's books. I learned new words, idioms, and phrasal verbs; but this book's end was ridiculous, unsatisfactory, and rushed.

SYNOPSIS: "The Aldens are helping out at Penny's Emporium, a novelty shop in the mall. But soon, everything starts to go wrong! Merchandise disappears, and doors start locking mysteriously. What's going on at the Hope Harbor Mall?"

[Roy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure that readers can relate with the main characters in these books. It could partly be because this is the first book of this series that I've read (to help one of my sons with his book report). But really, how many six year olds does anyone know who just shrugs off their older sibling losing their favorite toy? And how many kids of any age actually feel like working is more fun than simply goofing off? I have known a few teenagers that have said they feel that way, but never have I heard a six or ten year old say that. My guess is that the author hopes to instill hardworking values in her reader's, and I definitely find that commendable, but I wonder if more might take those lessons to heart if the characters were more relatable?

Anyway, with that all aside, I do feel that this book in the series does make for a decent children's mystery book. Some of the conclusion seems a little too far fetched, but my son seemed to enjoy it and even got a little caught up in the story while reading it.

I was going to give it only two stars, but since my son enjoyed it so much, I think three is certainly in order.

[Mrs. Bahns · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book someone is taking thing from the mall.The Aldens try to find out who.

[Lara · Rating 2 out of 5]

This didn't seem like much of a mystery to me. I didn't like it very much.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

best out of all

[Allyssa · Rating 5 out of 5]

i did not see the coconut monkey thing coming.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was kind of a nostalgic read. I read a bunch of The Boxcar books when I was a kid, although I never got to this one. The book was a well written children's story. I liked getting to hear about Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny's adventures again. I listened to this one on audio, which I probably won't do again because I didn't like how the narrator did the voices of the children. Other than that, it was a good walk down memory lane.

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Boxcar Children book was a bit more of a mystery than some of the others. With the various minor characters that were acting very mysterious, it was more difficult to know who was involved in the mystery. One character was a red herring. Overall, this book is a pretty good introduction for a classic whodunit for kids.

[Joseph D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 72 of the Boxcar Children. Strange happenings follow the Alden children and there are definitely twists and turns along with people all over acting suspicious. With lots of hard work they’ll get to the bottom of it all. ​

Joseph McKnight
http://www.Josephmcknight.com

[Cherish Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4☆ Would recommend)
I loved these books as a kid & I'm really enjoying reading through the series again. I liked the mystery & the suspense. I like how there is more than one possible suspect, who each have reasonable motive. Would recommend.

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent suspense and plot, but didn't like the ending. The people in question were sneaking around and being dishonest to do a good thing. Seems like there was a much simpler way to deal with it. But then, there would be no mystery.

[Bailey Marissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just your traditional Alden kids adventure. Not the best, not the worst.

[Charles Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

77%

The store people seemed like assholes either way, so the issue is not resolved.

[Kim Hampton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great mystery in this series.

[Shireen Hakim · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was the worst book in the series. The rude suspects turned out to be goody goodies. The whole book was a mess. And why would kids work all day at a mall for free? Weird.

[Riv · Rating 2 out of 5]

For lit class. I used to love these books. Now: SO STUPID.
Just kidding. Sort of. Still totes recommend them for kids.

[Rebecca]

One of my favorite childhood series. I read over a hundred of them. The first 50 or so were in order; after that I read whatever book I could get my hands on :)

[Stacie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is confusing. There is a mystery, the adults are mean to the kids.... but the adults are trying to help people???? Then why are they mean, ugh.