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The Boxcar Children #23
The Old Motel Mystery
Aunt Jane takes the Aldens to stay with her friend, Kay, who owns an old, shabby motel in Florida. Kay is ready to sell the motel, when the children offer to help fix it up and put it back in business. But they soon learn that someone is trying to make sure it stays out of business . . . forever.
Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1991
38 people are currently reading
822 people want to read
About the author
Gertrude Chandler Warner
536 books770 followersGertrude 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/...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
September 16, 2019
I read this so many times & loved it as a kid! The cover, with all the oranges in the swimming pool, has always stuck in my mind. :D
March 24, 2015
The Old Motel Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner is a fantastic mystery book about Violet, Benny, Henry, and Jessie Alden who went to visit their aunt in Florida, Miami. The four children Stayed with Kay Kingsley in her old motel that she inherited many years ago. The motel wasn’t a pretty sight, the children suggested that they help fix up the motel so that Ms. Kingsley would not have to sell it. Soon after someone began to sabotage their work by stealing items that were necessary for the job to be done or undoing what they had done. It seems that someone didn’t want the old Motel to get fixed.
This was a fantastic read and Gertrude does a wonderful job capturing readers, as soon as I read past chapter one I began to feel like I could not put this book down until I found out who the culprit was. Being new to The Boxcar Children series I have not read any other story like this one. The illustrations are small but are well done and in pencil. The story had enough suspense and drama that it would keep a reader interested.
The children in The Old Motel Mystery are very bright and very eager to help others. The characters have well written dialogue. Gertrude did a wonderful job in building her characters. The characters were dynamic and changed a bit throughout the story mainly in that they were more mature near the end of the story. I would definitely recommend the series to students of the middle school reading level.
This was a fantastic read and Gertrude does a wonderful job capturing readers, as soon as I read past chapter one I began to feel like I could not put this book down until I found out who the culprit was. Being new to The Boxcar Children series I have not read any other story like this one. The illustrations are small but are well done and in pencil. The story had enough suspense and drama that it would keep a reader interested.
The children in The Old Motel Mystery are very bright and very eager to help others. The characters have well written dialogue. Gertrude did a wonderful job in building her characters. The characters were dynamic and changed a bit throughout the story mainly in that they were more mature near the end of the story. I would definitely recommend the series to students of the middle school reading level.
February 18, 2025
Usually the mysteries are not dangerous… this one had vandals breaking into an occupied home and trying to flood the motel room the children were staying in. Plus many other iterations of vandalism and destruction of property.
SPOILER ALERT:
In the end, it was the sweet old lady that did it (on behest of the mean corporate hotel) and was immediately forgiven and let go. I didn’t appreciate the lack of accountability for her actions. Not a great message for kids.
SPOILER ALERT:
In the end, it was the sweet old lady that did it (on behest of the mean corporate hotel) and was immediately forgiven and let go. I didn’t appreciate the lack of accountability for her actions. Not a great message for kids.
December 24, 2018
I like to stay at motels its fun!
March 30, 2025
So cute! I wish I could go stay at the cute little motel in this book :)
January 1, 2017
Nothing like revisiting one's favorite childhood series while ushering in a new year.
September 19, 2025
This has always been one of my favorite books in the series for some reason. I always prefer the books where the kids are traveling rather than the mysteries at home. Ever since I read this book as an 8 or 9 year old, when I see an old rundown motel, I think of the boxcar children. Traveling through Pigeon Forge and Cherokee a couple of weeks ago, there were tons of old motels, some abandoned, some run down, and some still going but looked like they were left in the 70s and I immediately thought of this book and wanted to read it again. It took me 2 weeks to be able to get my hands on it, but I was so excited when I did.
I love the boxcar children and how all the children always have such good vibes, never fight or make a fuss, but it is a little weird how eager they are to always work. As a kid, if I'm on vacation and there's a pool, I was not going to be super excited to be put to work. There was one where they were staying at a lodge and the lodge needed help so they actually took on real jobs during their vacation. I guess it's meant to inspire kids, but I don't know many kids at all that would be that eager and excited to work, especially on vacation. Also having the culprit always just say sorry and then everyone is happy is also a bit annoying. A lot of the culprits in the books do some pretty nasty things, including in this one. But when they get caught, they're all of a sudden so remorseful and then everyone is all happy dory. Why weren't you remorseful yesterday before you did this act? Or the day before? Why did you wait til you were caught?
I love the boxcar children and how all the children always have such good vibes, never fight or make a fuss, but it is a little weird how eager they are to always work. As a kid, if I'm on vacation and there's a pool, I was not going to be super excited to be put to work. There was one where they were staying at a lodge and the lodge needed help so they actually took on real jobs during their vacation. I guess it's meant to inspire kids, but I don't know many kids at all that would be that eager and excited to work, especially on vacation. Also having the culprit always just say sorry and then everyone is happy is also a bit annoying. A lot of the culprits in the books do some pretty nasty things, including in this one. But when they get caught, they're all of a sudden so remorseful and then everyone is all happy dory. Why weren't you remorseful yesterday before you did this act? Or the day before? Why did you wait til you were caught?
September 12, 2024
(3☆ Got something out of, but wouldn’t read again)
I loved these books as a kid & I'm really enjoying reading through the series again. I understand that the original author only wrote the first 19 books & years later other authors picked up the series & wrote under the original author's name, but there are so many major flaws. First, the original author wrote all the books in chronological order; from Henry being a 14-year-old to a grad student. In this book Henry is a 14-year-old boy. However, this book has Aunt Jane, but in book 3, which is before Aunt Jane was introduced, Henry is 16. It’s fine to do stories back in time, but they don't line up with the storyline of the original 19 books. If they are going to write stories when the kids are younger that has Aunt Jane, Henry should at least be 16, since he was at least that old when the kids met her for the first time. And I don't like how every book so far after the original 19 put the synopsis of the first book (their origin story) into a conversation between the kids in a very unnatural way. It feels forced & doesn't naturally flow. It would have been better if it was from a narrator's perspective instead of a conversation from the kids that they would most likely never have. I also didn't like how the "bad guy" did things that were wrong, but weren't punished in anyway. I feel like it has a completely different message than the original books had about justice. I gave it 3 stars because the actual mystery was good.
I loved these books as a kid & I'm really enjoying reading through the series again. I understand that the original author only wrote the first 19 books & years later other authors picked up the series & wrote under the original author's name, but there are so many major flaws. First, the original author wrote all the books in chronological order; from Henry being a 14-year-old to a grad student. In this book Henry is a 14-year-old boy. However, this book has Aunt Jane, but in book 3, which is before Aunt Jane was introduced, Henry is 16. It’s fine to do stories back in time, but they don't line up with the storyline of the original 19 books. If they are going to write stories when the kids are younger that has Aunt Jane, Henry should at least be 16, since he was at least that old when the kids met her for the first time. And I don't like how every book so far after the original 19 put the synopsis of the first book (their origin story) into a conversation between the kids in a very unnatural way. It feels forced & doesn't naturally flow. It would have been better if it was from a narrator's perspective instead of a conversation from the kids that they would most likely never have. I also didn't like how the "bad guy" did things that were wrong, but weren't punished in anyway. I feel like it has a completely different message than the original books had about justice. I gave it 3 stars because the actual mystery was good.
January 16, 2024
I think this is the first of these books that I've read where the mystery really was one! Usually, the bad guys (if not everything about their motives or actions) are fairly obvious, but here there were three different possible culprits, and all had plausible opportunity to keep sabotaging the renovations at the old motel.
I did laugh, though, at the changes the new author has made to the way the kids behave. Generally, when the kids were organising their own food with money from their grandad, it was meal after meal of bread and milk, and the Enid Blyton books I read as a kid seemed to indicate that bread and milk was acceptable food for kids, but it sounds mushy and unappetising. Especially as I'm pretty sure I remember them (Boxcar and Blyton) having bread and milk mixed together in the same bowl. Times have clearly moved on, because now when it's time to shop the kids are getting fruit and vegetables and meat and ice-cream and generally not developing scurvy or rickets or whatever it is you get from a life of soggy bread and poor nutrition. Depression, probably.
I did laugh, though, at the changes the new author has made to the way the kids behave. Generally, when the kids were organising their own food with money from their grandad, it was meal after meal of bread and milk, and the Enid Blyton books I read as a kid seemed to indicate that bread and milk was acceptable food for kids, but it sounds mushy and unappetising. Especially as I'm pretty sure I remember them (Boxcar and Blyton) having bread and milk mixed together in the same bowl. Times have clearly moved on, because now when it's time to shop the kids are getting fruit and vegetables and meat and ice-cream and generally not developing scurvy or rickets or whatever it is you get from a life of soggy bread and poor nutrition. Depression, probably.
January 25, 2025
A classic and well acclaimed series, recommended as a great series for young readers. The Boxcar Children invoke the enjoyment for mystery-solving and having a close relationship with family.
The mysteries are certainly twinged with a bit more danger now, and you can tell that other authors are penning the stories. They still make for excellent adventures and problem solving. These books keep to the classic focus of the original 19 stories and have heart and family values and helping others as a forefront in every story.
The children are all oh-so-friendly to each other and those they meet. They seem to agree about mostly everything; their world seems to be made of butterflies and rainbows. The times of this book being written to present day are vastly different.
The mysteries are certainly twinged with a bit more danger now, and you can tell that other authors are penning the stories. They still make for excellent adventures and problem solving. These books keep to the classic focus of the original 19 stories and have heart and family values and helping others as a forefront in every story.
The children are all oh-so-friendly to each other and those they meet. They seem to agree about mostly everything; their world seems to be made of butterflies and rainbows. The times of this book being written to present day are vastly different.
March 7, 2025
I so love all the Boxcar Children books that I have been reading. This one is #23 in the series. I hope that I will be able to read all 150 + Boxcar books.
In this book the four Alden children - Henry, Jessie, Violet and Benny travel to Florida with their Aunt Jane to visit her friend - Kay Kingsley - who owns a motel - the Cypress Motel. The motel is run down, but the four children work hard to fix up the motel so Kay can stay in Florida - which is what she really wants to do.
Of course there is a mystery ----> Who is responsible for sabotaging the repair of the motel? And of course the four children solve the mystery.
All in all - a very delightful book.
In this book the four Alden children - Henry, Jessie, Violet and Benny travel to Florida with their Aunt Jane to visit her friend - Kay Kingsley - who owns a motel - the Cypress Motel. The motel is run down, but the four children work hard to fix up the motel so Kay can stay in Florida - which is what she really wants to do.
Of course there is a mystery ----> Who is responsible for sabotaging the repair of the motel? And of course the four children solve the mystery.
All in all - a very delightful book.
June 8, 2017
A good clean mystery book for kids! The kids are portrayed as helpful, hardworking, playing well, considerate of others; independent, yet good with social interaction, etc. Of course, they solve a mystery! The wrongdoer is caught, repents, is forgiven and there is a happy ending for all. This mystery is well written and recommended for kids of all ages.
July 24, 2021
A classic Boxcar Children book nothing out of the ordinary. Took me right back to my childhood, when I was first staring to read chapter books. The Boxcar kids go to Florida to help Ms. Kay her Motel. Everything is going smoothly until someone nicknamed " The Prowler," starts sabotaging things. Will the children be able to stop "The Prowler," and solve the mystery...
June 20, 2022
Boxcar Children book 23. This was much better as far as the mystery is concerned. This book ranks in my top ten for the series and is a strong recommend. There are plenty of suspects and you don’t know for sure who is to blame until the end. I hope that this book will set the standard for the series going forward as it was very engaging.
Joseph McKnight
http://www.josephmcknight.com
Joseph McKnight
http://www.josephmcknight.com
December 8, 2018
Pretty good
April 15, 2020
I've always liked this story
July 8, 2020
Actual bad things happened! But nobody was punished. So, more like a proper mystery but the kids get off feeling good, I guess?
January 15, 2023
good
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 27, 2023
82%
Miliscent you bitch you owe damages.
Miliscent you bitch you owe damages.
December 27, 2023
I love this series!
April 26, 2024
Typical of the '90s Boxcar Children installments (not my favorite Boxcar Children decade but my eight-year-old thought this book was a good one).
June 22, 2024
The boxcar children go to a motel they realize it needs repairs. When they help they find out someone is trying to keep it closed forever. I really enjoyed this book, so I hope you will read it.
January 6, 2026
The kids go to Florida and solve a mystery for Kay who has a rundown motel. With pluck and Grandfather's money they save the day. 2/5
August 9, 2016
I am revisiting my childhood through reading certain books. The Boxcar Children, books are being read now. Frog and Toad/Wind in the Willows and Disney titles will be next.
This story was entertaining and the big "takeaway" would be that money can't buy everything. A big motel chain wants to buy out the "little guy" that is running only 10 rooms. The little guy stands up tall and says, "no, I am happy here with my 10 rooms".
Sure, there is sneakiness, underhandedness, and suspicions cast about but it keeps you in the moment. I noticed that reading this book (at my current age) awoke an anger response because of all the dirty little things being done to shut down the motel. I really do not know if that reaction happened when I read it as a youngster. Curious.
This story was entertaining and the big "takeaway" would be that money can't buy everything. A big motel chain wants to buy out the "little guy" that is running only 10 rooms. The little guy stands up tall and says, "no, I am happy here with my 10 rooms".
Sure, there is sneakiness, underhandedness, and suspicions cast about but it keeps you in the moment. I noticed that reading this book (at my current age) awoke an anger response because of all the dirty little things being done to shut down the motel. I really do not know if that reaction happened when I read it as a youngster. Curious.
May 14, 2007
I liked this mystery because the four main characters always seemed to be in a great mood no matter how much chaos and damage the villain made.
Read
September 24, 2007Warner, Gertrude C. PB
August 21, 2009
great when ur little
August 4, 2011
A good series for the young reader.
April 28, 2014
Very good book.
September 2, 2014
These children are just too perfect, but if they set high standard for their readers, more power to them.. I must admit this mystery had me engaged.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews