The Mystery of the Forgotten Family

The Boxcar Children #155

by Gertrude Chandler Warner (Creator), Anthony VanArsdale (Illustrations)

The Boxcar Children are helping a friend find out more about their family's history. But what they find is a mystery going back generations! Can the Aldens help their friend unlock secrets of the past--and present?

Genres: Mystery, Chapter Books, Childrens

128 pages, Hardcover

Published April 1, 2020

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

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always a fun read

[Genevieve Paquette · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's Christmas night, I'm 35 years old, and I'm reading a Boxcar Children book that my brother gave me. I should be embarrassed. I'm not. I loved this series so much as a child that when I learned that the series is still being produced, I couldn't help myself. They bring me right back to my childhood.
This was charming. The mystery was interesting enough to keep a kid's attention, I think. I love how the Aldens are shown as resourceful and interested in the world around them. They are active in their community. They do cool stuff. When I was little, I found it really aspirational. I wanted to get out there and solve mysteries and help out and have adventures, too.
While they are very different from the Boxcar Children books of my childhood, I think these new installments have managed to keep the sort of inherently old-fashioned nature of the series while incorporating the changes that have happened in society, from the internet and smart phones to how people interact with each-other.

[Joseph D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 155 of the Boxcar Children series. This time the Aldens are doing what they do best, hard work. Helping out in antique shop the children learn a lot about antiques and a little about family trees and family history. This one is a great book to get young readers thinking about who they are and where they come from. ​

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.

[Lisa Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute car ride book. I loved it, except for the fact that there seemed to be no consequences for the behavior of the perpetrator. But, it did provide a way to talk through with the kids that there should be a consequence to our bad (and good) actions.

[Tala]

I love the plot *
*basically what they do to find out there clues and stuff (I still like the book).

[Wesley and Fernie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the newest Boxcar Children as of the time of this reading. Surprisingly good for being many years after the original run. The modern touches are certainly jarring, but not unwelcome.

[Rainbow Bay Stanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSjMf...

[Alice · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mystery, antiques, amnesia

BOOOOOORING

[Charles Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

84%

He's in the watch time mafia.

[Jillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

10 year old finished and INSISTED that I read it.

[Twila Webb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great short read/listen
Loved these books as a kid and actually really enjoyed a very light hearted mystery.

[Noelani · Rating 3 out of 5]

9-year old says 3 3/4 stars

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot wasn't as entertaining for me as it was in other stories