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The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids #32

Phantoms Don't Drive Sports Cars

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When the class takes a field trip to the opera, they meet a strange man playing violin in the orchestra. Could he be the phantom who haunts the Bailey City Opera House?

75 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1998

5 people are currently reading
400 people want to read

About the author

Debbie Dadey

234 books329 followers
Debbie Dadey is the author and co-author of 162 books for children, including the Mermaid Tales series from Simon and Schuster and the beloved Adventures of The Bailey School Kids from Scholastic. Ms. Dadey is a former teacher and librarian. Please like her at Facebook.com/debbiedadey.

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5 stars
152 (30%)
4 stars
128 (25%)
3 stars
173 (35%)
2 stars
33 (6%)
1 star
7 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
Profile Image for BookeryBliss.
337 reviews36 followers
July 15, 2014
The collection of "The adventures of the Bailey School Kids" stories are among my all-time favorite children's books. Witty, mischievous and fun, these short and silly books continue to bring giggles to the young and old. Just as I have enjoyed them as a kid, my own children also love them today. I even catch myself re-reading them (alone) from time to time. What can I say? I guess I'll always be a BSK kid at heart.
Profile Image for Javier Trost.
175 reviews
February 19, 2025
These are simple stories that 3rd graders could read. But they are also silly fun. I admire the imagination and hope kids today enjoy them as much as I did growing up.
Profile Image for paige turner ♡.
292 reviews9 followers
August 4, 2018
A strange phantom in Bailey city? Of course there is. I think it's cool they went to see Phantom of the Opera, I wish I was able to go see Phantom of the Opera.

I don't think Eddie would ever admit that he enjoyed the story. You know, he needs everyone to think he's cool and everything.

It seems a little weird that the "phantom" would be jealous of kids. It's a good thing that Christine showed no interest in him, who knows what kind of psycho he would be.
1,449 reviews7 followers
October 28, 2019
Good but I find it hard to believe the "phantom" would act the way he did towards children and at the end if the book.
Profile Image for Emmy.
2,523 reviews58 followers
December 1, 2025
I went through a The Phantom of the Opera phase when I was in high school, so this was a treat to pick up and it brought back many warm memories of how much I loved the original Gaston Leroux book. It was a clever take on the whole story, and while I'm not completely convinced that Erik Gaston was the phantom, he certainly had a lot of the qualifications.
Profile Image for Josh Epp.
708 reviews
December 24, 2025
3 stars!

Quick read! Not my favorite of the series but reminded me of phantom at the megaplex from the og Disney channel originals haha
Profile Image for Angela Hutchinson.
269 reviews3 followers
March 21, 2015
This book is about a 3.5 level reading material. This would be a good book to read aloud to students at about the 1st or 2nd grade level. In this book, a group of friends are attending an opera with their class on a field trip. One students is really reluctant about going because he thinks that it is going to be boring and begins to be disruptive during the program. A violin player was quiet annoyed by this students behavior that he began to threaten the students. Mysterious things happened that evening because the four friends were invited back that evening to watch the program again. The kids tried making the phantom jealous and he finally fled the theater. This is a great mystery that would keep students interested in the story line.
Profile Image for Torry Rose.
Author 2 books
August 13, 2014
My son liked reading all the " Bailey School Kids," books by Debbie Dadey and Marcia T. Jones. He loved this one in particular I think because of the red sports car on the cover.

The kids in this series Eddie, Howie, Liza and Melody are your typical elementary school kids, with wild imaginations. In this book, “Phantoms Don’t Drive Sports Cars,” the kids are investigating if a violin player is actually the phantom who hunts the Bailey City Opera House!

If you enjoy this story, check out my sons, and mine, other favorite Bailey School Kid adventure, “Werewolves Don't Go to Summer Camp.” A great Halloween read.
Profile Image for Catherine Woodman.
5,957 reviews118 followers
July 29, 2011
The Bailey School Kids is a best-selling children's book series by Marcia Thornton Jones and Debbie Dadey. Its main characters are a group of four children (Eddie, Howie, Liza, Melody) who suspect some persons in the stories are popular folk lore or fairy tale characters. They are appealing because they mix a familiar story in with this group of kids. Mid-grammar school
Profile Image for Jerome Otte.
1,918 reviews
April 24, 2015
A stranger joins the Bailey City Orchestra; he always wears black, keeps half of his face obscured, and drives a glitzy sports car. Is he haunting the opera? Obviously, the book involves a good deal of false assumptions on the kids’ part, and the existence of the phantom is never actually proven.
Profile Image for Twyla.
1,766 reviews61 followers
February 2, 2014
my favorite part was when the phantom left. the worst part was when the phantom was being bad. my favorite character was melody. the worst character was the phantom
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Eddy Allen.
53 reviews139 followers
April 10, 2014
cc:

When the class takes a field trip to the opera, they meet a strange man playing violin in the orchestra. Could he be the phantom who haunts the Bailey City Opera House?

by Debbie Dadey
Profile Image for Logan.
119 reviews
March 7, 2015
Read these all in while I was in middle school and loved them, giving them a 3.5-4.0 for my past 12 year old self.
Profile Image for Seth.
379 reviews
February 17, 2015
They went to the opera. Eddie didn't like Opera. Eddie loves sports cars. There's a strange violinist in town. He drives a sports car.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews

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