The Spy Game

The Boxcar Children #118

by Gertrude Chandler Warner (Creator), Robert L. Papp (Illustrator)

When the Boxcar Children visit a neighbor’s house, a mysterious old wedding photo and a riddle lead them on a “spy game” devised long ago by the original owner of the house. When the children hunt for clues they discover amazing things, like a stone path whose pieces fit together into a jigsaw puzzle! But soon the children begin to suspect that there's a mystery inside the mystery. They read about a similar puzzle in one of their new Detective Club books, and they meet a woman who looks eerily like the bride in the old wedding photo. Just who is behind this spy game?

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

128 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2009

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

[Angelo Kuntz · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Spy Game.

The Alden family is Henry, Jessie, Violet, Benny, and James their grandfather. They
had Ms. Dawson over and talked about Amanda Penner’s accident.

Ms. Dawson said that Amanda had tripped over a rock in the garden and sprained her ankle and wanted to get rid of the rocks. The Alden children said they could do that.

Grandfather told Ms. Dawson that they would come over the next morning. They went over there and Amanda greeted them. She showed them around then they set off to work.

A few minutes into it Benny saw something in one of the stones. It was a letter. They put the stones together and it said, “The rings of time go round and rounds a hollow hides what must be found.”

“I wonder what it means,” Benny said. They decided to go home. they went to tell Amanda that they were going home and what they found. She said it was the start of the spy game and she told them how to play.

The next morning They went back there and knocked on the door. Amanda opened it and said, “Hello kids! I was just about to go to the store with Steve. But you can stay here with Ms. Dawson and try to figure out the riddle.”

After that, they went to the creek with a fallen tree and dipped their toes in the water. Jessie asked Henry if he knew how old the tree was. He said, “If you count the rings on the tree you can see how old it is.”

“The rings?” Jessie said, “One mystery solved.”

“What do you mean.” asked Benny.

“The rings of time,” she said. “Now we need to figure out what a hollow hides what must be found means.”

That night they gathered in Henry and Benny’s room and talked about the spy game. Then Benny yawned and Jessie said that he looked like the yawning tree.

Suddenly it hit Violet.

“We need to go to the yawning tree tomorrow morning,” she said. The next morning they were at the yawning tree and Henry was on his tippy toes trying to look in it.

Jessie and Violet clasped their hands together and gave him a boost. He said he found something and came down to show them a box. He opened it and piece of paper was inside.

It said “A gown of white young Dora wore on her birthday number four.” They figured it out and went to the Penner house in the morning. At the end they figured out that Amanda is Mila Jones and Steve is Jake Winston.

They are the Alden children’s favorite authors.

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really good and quick story. I liked that this one was the authors of the kids' favorite stories using the kids' love of mysteries to help with the book. They wanted to make sure it was solvable by kids, and the Alden's definitely were able to do that and more.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

COME ON WATCH

[Brynja · Rating 5 out of 5]

I THINK THIS MIGHT JUST BE THE BEST BOXCAR CHILDREN BOOK I'V EVER READ.
the boxcar children find a mystry leading to gold!

[Joseph D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 118 of the Boxcar Children series. This was a fun simple mystery suitable for children of all ages. Albeit the theme continues to emphasize hard work, this book has less red herrings and was a little more written for the younger reader in mind. It was well done and the only minor complaint I had is that the ending twist felt forced and not as tied in as you would expect. Aside a fun short read that you’ll enjoy. ​

Joseph McKnight
http://www.josephmcknight.com

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the Boxcar Children books as a kid, and raising this one as an adult, I wasn’t disappointed. IT was realistic, and written at a good level for kids as far as deduction. There are a few slang words sprinkled throughout.

[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.

[Adam Carman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a new one to me, but one of the better of the new releases. The Aldens do some actual sleuthing and break codes and use their deductive reasoning to crack the case as they help an heiress uncover the truth of her family.

[SashayChantea · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a 3.5 for me. Such a fun bit of nostalgia to read! I thoroughly enjoyed it, and loved the pace.

[Kelly]

Steve and Amanda are in love…..

[Cat Denmark · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a really good book, and the last chapter really surprised me. I like that it took place in the summer. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries. -9yo boy

[Lara · Rating 5 out of 5]

They had friends and they had a favorite series. And they were discussing the end of the mystery; trying to figure it out. And then they figured out that the famous authors were sitting right in front of them BECAUSE even though the names were different, they were sitting in front of their friends who were the authors! One of the famous authors asked the other in front of everyone "Can you marry me!" I started laughing because it was so funny.

[Deanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read aloud with my 7 year old. He loves the entire series -- I find them a little prescriptive. This one was slightly better than some of the others we've read but involved romance, which gets big "belch" rating from the kid.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

great when ur little

[Tyra · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of our favorites

[Allyssa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't really see the Spy Game coming even though it was the title of the book.

[Mario Velarde · Rating 3 out of 5]

My daughter loves these books, so we listen to them on epic.

[Joel]

Soooooooo good the first boxcar children I ever listened to

[Stacie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The kids are given a mystery, but what is the mystery behind the mystery. Are adults ticking the kids? Read and find out!

[Melmo2610 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this one. It's definitely one of the best BCC I have read...probably top 3 for me. Great story and loved the ending!!

[Eliana · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Aldens are helping make a path but strange things happen - the path has letters written in it and they keep finding secret messages. Turns out - it's a mystery INSIDE a mystery!