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Trixie Belden
16 pages, Paperback
First published May 14, 1982
5 people are currently reading
173 people want to read
About the author
Julie Campbell
54 books183 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Julie Campbell Tatham
aka
Julie Campbell, Julie Tatham and Julie C. Tatham
Julie Campbell was born on the 1st of June 1908 in Flushing, New York and shares the same birthday as her character, Mart Belden. As the daughter of an Army Officer, she travelled widely during her childhood and, at the age of eight, won her first short story contest while living in Hawaii.
Campbell married Charles Tatham Jr. on the 30th March 1933 and they worked together on many magazine stories and articles. Campbell lived in a remodelled farmhouse in the Hudson River Valley with her husband and two sons when she began writing the Trixie Belden series.
She had her own literary agency in the 1940s when Western Publishing invited literary agents to find authors who could produce mystery and adventure books that would be marketed to children at an affordable price. Campbell proposed four series, two that would be written by herself and the others by two of her authors Hal Burton and John Henry Cutler.
Both series were published under her maiden name, Julie Campbell. The Ginny Gordon series consisted of five books published between 1948 and 1956, while her contribution to the Trixie Belden series consisted of six books between 1948 and 1958. At the same time, Campbell stepped in to take over the Cherry Ames and Vicki Barr series and wrote twelve books in total for these series over the same time period. It is believed that Campbell wrote Cherry Ames, Cruise Nurse in three weeks during the same period she was also writing the first Trixie Belden and Ginny Gordon books.
Campbell wrote the series under her married name of Julie Tatham. There are several similarities to the Trixie Belden series. Cherry Ames: Dude Ranch Nurse is set in Tucson, Arizona which is the setting of Campbell's last Trixie Belden Mystery. The last Cherry Ames book Campbell wrote in 1955, Cherry Ames: Country Doctor's Nurse, is set in Sleepyside-on-the-Hudson, the setting of the Trixie Belden mysteries. So is a wonderful book called To Nick from Jan, which has many similarities to Trixie Belden except the main character is almost 17 years old.
She is also credited for writing "Rin Tin Tin's Rinty" for Whitman in 1954, but in an article Campbell denied having written that book and wonders why Whitman credited her with the title.
The Trixie Belden series was set in "Sleepyside" but was based on the town Campbell was living in at the time in the Hudson River Valley near Ossining. Her home, "Wolf Hollow", was the model for Crabapple Farm and Campbell actually lived on Glendale Road.
After completing Trixie Belden and the Mystery in Arizona, Campbell decided to stop. Her experience as a literary agent assisted her in negotiating a royalty on the next six books of the series as she owned the characters, but it meant her giving up the originator rights to this series. Western Publishing decided to continue the books under the pseudonym Kathryn Kenny.
Campbell also relinquished the Cherry Ames and Vicki Barr series when Helen Wells decided to return to writing them. The Ginny Gordon series was not continued.
There is evidence that Campbell sought a writing position with the Stratemeyer Syndicate in 1957. Timothy P. O'Herin spent an afternoon going through the Stratemeyer archives and found correspondence between Campbell and Harriet Adams, the daughter of Edward Stratemeyer.
"The letters occurred around 1957 and they consisted of Ms. Tatham seeking a writing position with the syndicate. Mrs. Adams responded with glowing praise for her work, but questioning whether Julie would want to relocate for the job. Julie indicated she would be willing to commute. There were only a few letters in this brief correspondence..."
Julie Campbell Tatham
aka
Julie Campbell, Julie Tatham and Julie C. Tatham
Julie Campbell was born on the 1st of June 1908 in Flushing, New York and shares the same birthday as her character, Mart Belden. As the daughter of an Army Officer, she travelled widely during her childhood and, at the age of eight, won her first short story contest while living in Hawaii.
Campbell married Charles Tatham Jr. on the 30th March 1933 and they worked together on many magazine stories and articles. Campbell lived in a remodelled farmhouse in the Hudson River Valley with her husband and two sons when she began writing the Trixie Belden series.
She had her own literary agency in the 1940s when Western Publishing invited literary agents to find authors who could produce mystery and adventure books that would be marketed to children at an affordable price. Campbell proposed four series, two that would be written by herself and the others by two of her authors Hal Burton and John Henry Cutler.
Both series were published under her maiden name, Julie Campbell. The Ginny Gordon series consisted of five books published between 1948 and 1956, while her contribution to the Trixie Belden series consisted of six books between 1948 and 1958. At the same time, Campbell stepped in to take over the Cherry Ames and Vicki Barr series and wrote twelve books in total for these series over the same time period. It is believed that Campbell wrote Cherry Ames, Cruise Nurse in three weeks during the same period she was also writing the first Trixie Belden and Ginny Gordon books.
Campbell wrote the series under her married name of Julie Tatham. There are several similarities to the Trixie Belden series. Cherry Ames: Dude Ranch Nurse is set in Tucson, Arizona which is the setting of Campbell's last Trixie Belden Mystery. The last Cherry Ames book Campbell wrote in 1955, Cherry Ames: Country Doctor's Nurse, is set in Sleepyside-on-the-Hudson, the setting of the Trixie Belden mysteries. So is a wonderful book called To Nick from Jan, which has many similarities to Trixie Belden except the main character is almost 17 years old.
She is also credited for writing "Rin Tin Tin's Rinty" for Whitman in 1954, but in an article Campbell denied having written that book and wonders why Whitman credited her with the title.
The Trixie Belden series was set in "Sleepyside" but was based on the town Campbell was living in at the time in the Hudson River Valley near Ossining. Her home, "Wolf Hollow", was the model for Crabapple Farm and Campbell actually lived on Glendale Road.
After completing Trixie Belden and the Mystery in Arizona, Campbell decided to stop. Her experience as a literary agent assisted her in negotiating a royalty on the next six books of the series as she owned the characters, but it meant her giving up the originator rights to this series. Western Publishing decided to continue the books under the pseudonym Kathryn Kenny.
Campbell also relinquished the Cherry Ames and Vicki Barr series when Helen Wells decided to return to writing them. The Ginny Gordon series was not continued.
There is evidence that Campbell sought a writing position with the Stratemeyer Syndicate in 1957. Timothy P. O'Herin spent an afternoon going through the Stratemeyer archives and found correspondence between Campbell and Harriet Adams, the daughter of Edward Stratemeyer.
"The letters occurred around 1957 and they consisted of Ms. Tatham seeking a writing position with the syndicate. Mrs. Adams responded with glowing praise for her work, but questioning whether Julie would want to relocate for the job. Julie indicated she would be willing to commute. There were only a few letters in this brief correspondence..."
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
August 16, 2012
I absolutely adored these books growing up! I came so close to selling my complete set at a garage sale when we were moving. A lady made me an offer...and I just could not do it! They gave me so much pleasure- reading them when I was in elementary school and discussing them with my best friend...ah, memories. Not ashamed to admit I read them again as an adult. I have two sons, who did not take to them, but I am thrilled that my nieces now borrow them and enjoy them. Trixie is about as "real" a young girl as can be- a loving family, brothers, chores to do...more people need to know of this series.
July 16, 2012
I loved the Trixie Belden series, and read probably 30+ of the books. I'd spend every spare minute reading these books when I was 11 - 12 years old. I imagine they'd still captivate the typical pre-teen's imagination in this day and age. Highly recommended!
May 15, 2014
I don't even care that these books were written for 10 year old girls. I still reread them over and over again and I won't deny it. Innocent young love, and takes me an hour to read one. Still love them. Not ashamed.
October 5, 2010
I've been a fan of Trixie Belden and her never-ending mystery cases since I was in elementary. I don't remember what books I've read or haven't read. But from what I can remember, I did get my hands on almost all the series in my old school's library!
November 21, 2013
These books were the defining books of my childhood. Very innocent, but also has a main character that is independent, smart and models healthy friendships with both boys, girls and adults. I can't compare it to Nancy drew because I never read Nancy Drew. I want my daughter to read theses books.
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December 14, 2012This is where my love of historical fiction and saga series began.
I used to save up every cent of my pocket money to buy these books and still have all 37 of them in my cupboard
I used to save up every cent of my pocket money to buy these books and still have all 37 of them in my cupboard
April 6, 2013
Trixie and her brothers and friends introduced me to the world of mysteries probably when I was 8 or 9. I devoured the books and for my 25th birthday, my dad gave me the entire set, a very treasured gift! These came long before Harry Potter, and instead of riding broomsticks, Trixie learned to ride horses. All in all, a big part of my childhood, and I SO wanted to grow up to be Trixie!
January 12, 2013
This was my favourite series as a child. I remember being absolutely heartbroken when I went to the bookstore to find they were no longer being published. I have kept all of my books to pass to my daughter when she is ready.
June 20, 2013
This was the book that started me reading for fun. It's probably not the first book my mother handed to me, but it's the one I remember as being the first one I read cover to cover. As an eleven year old, it was the perfect starter to ignite my imagination.
April 18, 2012
I loved Trixie Belden as a kid! She kept up very late at night reading her mysteries.
April 4, 2016
Loved these books as a girls. I hope to share them with my grand daughter one day. I use to save all my pennies and change until I could buy a new one lol.
October 16, 2017
I read these all when I was a young girl and fell in love! These are older books, but they are so well done, they seem timeless to me. I love the friendships, the emphasis on families, and the adventures the kids go on. I just love everything about it.
December 20, 2015
I had such a good time getting lost in this book. It took me FLYING back to my childhood. It's corny by today's standard but if you want your kid to step back into some wholesome reading this would be a good title/series to introduce them to.
I never got into Nancy Drew but sure did like Trixie Belden & loved Cherry Ames.
I never got into Nancy Drew but sure did like Trixie Belden & loved Cherry Ames.
December 30, 2016
I loved Trixie Belden, Di, Honey and all the others. I read them over and over and over. Must get my niece started on them.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews