I also loved the Three Investigators. I read all the ones my school library had – which wasn’t that many. I think I read them during 3rd and 4th grades.
I do recall that the talking skull one made me laugh. All I remember of that book was that the skull started talking when Jupiter’s Mom she came in to say something to him and the description of her reaction was really funny to me. Can’t remember how it went any more (we’re talking early/mid 70’s here).
I had one Trixie Belden book and I loved it for the same reason as was stated earlier: It was “normal” friends just hanging out and solving mysteries. It was Trixie Belden and the Red Trailer Mystery. Unfortunately, the ending in the copy I had was torn off and I went YEARS never knowing how it ended. All I knew was that Trixie wanted her parents to adopt Jim.
About 10-15 years ago, I found a copy of the book in a bargain bin at a book store and bought it with the intention of reading it again. I still haven’t gotten around to it! Someday… (it’s nice to know I have the ending this time, though! LOL)
Forgot to mention: I’m a girl and didn’t care for Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys.
I don’t remember the exact ending to that particular book, but…
Trixie’s parents didn’t end up adopting Jim, but Honey’s parents did. Honey was very happy to have a brother of her own (for all her money, she was wistful about Trixie and her big, loving family). He became a member of their group (in fact, along with Trixie he was co-president of the Bob-Whites of the Glen) and Trixie’s “special friend” (all very innocently, of course).
I read quite a few Trixie Belden books, but I really disliked them. I thought they were sappy and goody-goody. My daughter loves them and wishes she could find more, now that they are out of print and not easy to find. (I believe they’ve been reprinted recently, so I’ll hope the library gets them.)
Of course I read them anyway! And it’s pretty funny that I thought they were too goody-goody, given my own squeaky-clean Mormon girl self.
Anybody ever read The Spotlight Club books? I was almost too old for them when I discovered them, and now I can’t remember a single plotline (except something about mirror sunglasses), but I read the hell out of Jay, Dexter, and Cindy’s adventures.
The Ghost-to-Ghost hookup. Jupiter set up a system of gathering information wherein he would call five friends and ask if they’d “seen this car” or whatever, then each of them would call five friends and ask the same question, and so on and so forth. Eventually, somebody–probably someone Jupiter didn’t know–would have information for him.
The thing is, the ghost-to-ghost hookup is unlikely to work in real life. Most teens don’t have the discipline to follow through with such a plan, especially if they’re not part of your special clique. And heck, there’d probably be too much overlap between their circles of friends for this plan to be truly effective.
The ghost-to-ghost hookup is supremely unnecessary in modern times, anyway. All Jupe would have had to do is put up a Facebook post asking if anyone saw x and he’d have his information in about five minutes. Or tweet the question instead. Same result.
It would work quite well with texting–I’ve seen it happen with kids I know. And IIRC Jupiter did promise a cash reward to the kid who found someone with the info.
