Untitled
Kate and Mary's Dark and Stormy Night Challenge
Jixemitri Circle Writing Challenge #7
13.April.03, 66 words

Trixie Belden, a sturdy young girl of fourteen with unruly sandy blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and a generous nature who loved to solve mysteries, entered Lytell's small general store and promptly decided that she did not want to know why the owner was in the back room making excited noises that sounded to her untrained ears like a bleating-sheep caught in the throes of passion.

Looking for Peace
Jelly Baby's Drabble Challenge (Link currently unavailable)*
Jixemitri Circle Writing Challenge #11
11.July.03, 100 words

Who were these people in her home? What did they want? Would they help her?

That one with the sandy blonde curls, she seems okay.

The honey haired girl is nervous.

The girl with the pretty violet eyes seems thoughtful. Will she figure it out?

They've gone. Will they come back? Will they piece the clues together?

Two of them return.

No! Don't tell him!

But it's okay--the schoolgirl shamus has figured it out and saved the day.

"You can rest now, Sarah."

"I know, Trixie. Thank you." Sarah Sligo sighed and entered the light, finally finding peace.

* As Jenni's page is unavailable to explain about the drabble challenge, I will add that a drabble is a very short work of fiction that is exactly 100 words long.

Chapter 48
Misty's Second Annual Blogathon Challenge  (Link currently unavailable)*
Jixemitri Circle Writing Challenge #10
27.July.03, 530

The assembled group stood, shocked, as they tried to comprehend what had just happened.

Jim was staring at the floor where Trixie lay. In his shocked state it took him a moment to absorb what he was looking at. Trixie lay on the ground, her sandy curls askew, and blood was everywhere. But it wasn't Trixie's blood.

Laura had collapsed to the ground just after Trixie, and blood was pouring out of a wound in her shoulder.

But who? How? Jim's dazed mind tried to grasp at answers. His green eyes strayed to the open doorway and the figure who stood there.

"You!" Jim cried, and the rest of the Bob-Whites and everyone else turned to look at the doorway. "But how..."

"How did I know Laura, as Ima, was plotting to steal the necklace and take you away to be her Boy Toy?" The figure answered as he strode across the room and knealt to check Laura's pulse. He wanted to bring this one in alive.

Jim nodded dumbly. "Yeah, how'd you know?" he repeated.

Sherlock Holmes looked up at him. "Elementary, my dear Watson."

"But you're..." Honey tried to articulate her thoughts, but she was too dumbfounded.

Sherlock Holmes looked at her. "A literary character who lived quite a while ago and by all rights should be dead - if I ever existed at all?"

Honey nodded, unsure of what to say.

"Why yes, that's true, I am. And I must say, in my day we never had crop circles, or Men in Black, or aliens from the planet Voltron, and government conspiracies and all that!" Holmes shook his head sadly. "No, we had genuine mysteries about hounds and purloined letters - intriguing cases, I tell you!" Holmes got a faraway look in his eyes as he remembered some of his cases.

Practical Brian spoke up. "But if you don't exist, how are you here?"

Holmes broke out of his his reverie and looked at the group. "Yes, yes, a good question, young fellow. A very good question, indeed. You see, you created this Scavenger Hunt to showcase modern mystery authors and that's all well and good. But look what happened - they weren't mystery writers at all, but spies and Laura Ramsey." This last bit was uttered with sheer distaste. Just the name Laura Ramsey made everybody else shudder. Laura Ramsey! UGH!

"Anyway," Holmes was saying. "So, I decided that what was needed in this scavenger hunt was the most classic mystery character of them all, and here I am. This is, of course, not my real identity, and I am afraid that I cannot tell you my real identity."

Holmes looked down at the bleeding figure of Laura Ramsey. "Well, I must take this one to a hospital and then interrogate her. Cheers!"

Trixie awoke as Holmes lifted Laura Ramsey and carried her from the room.

Trixie looked at Jim, confusion lingering in her bright blue eyes. "Was that...?"

Jim nodded. "Yes, Trixie, that was Sherlock Holmes."

Trixie seemed to accept this shocking piece of news calmly. "Well, he's taken care of Laura Ramsey. What do you say we wrap up the rest of this mystery?"

Chapter 3:30 pm
Misty's Third Annual Blogathon Challenge  (Link currently unavailable)*
Jixemitri Circle Writing Challenge #14
6.August.05, 615 words

Ben Riker sped along in his sporty, lemon yellow convertible, the wind whipping through his longish blond hair. The music on the radio was lively and the blue sky and sun shining overhead made Ben feel like there wasn’t anything on earth that he couldn’t do.

Which was why he was here now. It was time to take some action. Long overdue action.

His thoughts drifted to that day at camp so long ago. There he was swimming in the waterhole when he noticed his cousin and her friend.

Her friend with the sandy blonde curls, dazzling blue eyes—like a clear, summer lake—and that firecracker spirit. He had fallen in love with Trixie Belden at that very moment. He just hadn’t realized it.

Even when he had visited his cousin the very next Thanksgiving and had hung around with pretty Di Lynch, he just couldn’t keep his mind off of Trixie. He had pretended to tease her because the churning feelings he felt in her presence confused him terribly. And then learning that her “yen for Ben” had been a ruse was a crushing blow to his ego—and his heart.

Realizing that maybe he might, *gulp*, like Trixie—that way—he spent quite some time doing some serious soul searching. And that’s when her laughter about her “yen for Ben” had gotten to him. Crushed by the rejection of the girl he secretly thought of as his “sunshine girl,” he had fallen in with the wrong crowd at school. As a result, he had been sent to live at Manor House. He had teased Trixie cruelly, but in the end, after seeing the effect that she had on boys like Nick Roberts and Jim Frayne, he had come to his senses and admitted to himself what he had been afraid to admit before: that he didn’t just like Trixie. He loved her. He was mad over heels in love with her and had been since that first time in the swimming hole at camp.

He had worked hard to become a better person for Trixie. And now it was time. Time to be with the woman he loved.

As he turned his yellow convertible into the driveway and parked, he suddenly saw a tall, somewhat German-looking man skulking along the outside of the white frame farmhouse where Trixie lived. As he took a closer look, he thought he recognized the man as Di Lynch’s butler.

Suddenly, his attention was drawn to the edge of the property where Jim, Dan, and a girl who could only be described as a “skanky ho” had just appeared. Ben’s heart sank. Jim and Dan were his most serious rivals for Trixie’s affections. But maybe, just maybe, they were more interested in the skanky ho they were with and Trixie would be free and clear.

Ben stood and watched as Di Lynch’s butler slipped behind a bush before he could be seen by Jim and Dan.

“That’s weird,” Ben muttered to himself.

Out loud he called, “Jim! Dan!”

Jim, Dan, and the skanky ho looked toward him. Suddenly, appearing to take advantage of Jim and Dan’s momentary lapse of attention, the girl stomped on Jim’s foot, wrenched herself free of the two boys and began running toward the farmhouse screaming, “Clay!!!! Clay!!!! Watch out!!!”

Ben stood, stunned, for a moment, but then suddenly his brain kicked into overdrive. Something was obviously going on inside that house. Trixie! His beloved Trixie was in there!!! Ben broke into a run toward the house, reaching the kitchen door just ahead of the hysterical, skanky ho. He yanked open the door.

And found himself staring into the barrel of a gun.

Chapter 7:00 pm
Misty's Third Annual Blogathon Challenge  (Link currently unavailable)*
Jixemitri Circle Writing Challenge #14
6.August.05, 499 words

Peter Kimball’s blond hair blew in the wind as he drove his cherry red convertible through the Hudson River Valley. The song on the radio and the blue skies and yellow sun above made him feel lighthearted.

He was finally going to do it. Finally.

He knew he had been in love with the spitfire blonde since he first saw her step foot on Cobbett’s Island. He had been so impressed with her that he let her handle his beloved sailboat in an important race. He had admired her as she followed the clues in an old letter and discovered hidden treasure. And when she wanted to turn it over to the rightful owner instead of selfishly keeping it to herself, well, he knew at that moment that he had found the woman of his dreams.

And now he was going to visit Crabapple Farm and tell her.

He pulled his cherry red convertible up behind a lemon yellow one and wondered if he was too late. If some other lovestruck male had got there ahead of him and declared his undying love. On a day like today, anything was possible. With no time to waste, he galloped up to the kitchen door and without a thought, he opened the door and yelled, “Trixie, I love you!”

He wanted to surprise Trixie, but the sight in front of him left him surprised.

* * *

Madeleine’s super secret spy phone rang just as she heard someone yell her married name. “Mad Dog,” she barked into the phone, ignoring whoever it was shouting. If they weren’t using code names at a time like this, they weren’t important.

“We had a problem at Crabapple Farm,” a cultured male voice returned.

“Jeeves?” Madeleine said, using the prim and proper Lynch butler’s super secret spy code name.

“Yes, madame,” he said. “Your, umm, indiscretion showed up at Crabapple Farm, with a skanky ho, I might add, and took about 26 different people hostage. We’ve got main players, secondary players, barely mentioned players, the whole works.”

Maddie sighed and closed her eyes. Paying off Mike had obviously been a mistake, seeing as how her indiscretion had found his way to Sleepyside anyway. Her eyes suddenly flew open. “Is Honey in there? Has Clay taken her hostage?”

“No, madam, but Jim is in there.”

“Is he okay?” Mad Dog said, panicked. She truly did love her adopted son, even if he did remind her of Matthew.

“He’s fine, madame. Our super secret S.W.A.T. team of WonderDutchWoman, Moonshiner, CrotchetyOldShopkeeper, OxfordShoes, and Brom took care of your mess,” Harrison explained, using all of the super secret spy code names.

“Thank goodness,” Maddie said with a heartfelt sigh of relief.

“But you’ve got another problem, madame,” Harrison said. Maddie could have sworn she heard a certain amount of gloating in his prim and proper voice.

“I do?” she said, but the line had gone dead.

Just then, Matt appeared next to her car. “Mrs. Wheeler!” he shouted again.

Chapter 26
Jixemitri 2006 Spook-a-thon Blogathon
28.October.06, 677 words

Honey looked up at Brian as they went from room to room in the creepy mansion. "We have to find them."

"I know, Honey," he said as he squeezed her hand reassuringly. "We will."

Honey smiled up at him, grateful that he was her rock when she knew he was just as worried about his sister and his best friend as she was worried about her brother and her best friend.

Unfortunately, the two other rooms on that floor were locked, and no one answered their knocks. Honey tried to be optimistic, thinking that Trixie and Jim would answer if they were in there.

Unless they can’t. The thought, unbidden, jumped into her brain, and she willed her thoughts in a more positive direction.

At the end of the hall, Brian looked at her. "Up or down?" he asked, as they looked at the two staircases before them.

The group had explored the cellar and found evidence of someone living down there, but no one had thought to go to the floor above their rooms and investigate what was up there. Although Honey couldn’t imagine Trixie just wandering away when they were researching information on the Internet, she could imagine her impetuous friend wanting to explore an as-yet-unexplored place in the old house. And Jim would most definitely want to accompany her.

"Up," she said. The two climbed the staircase, the boards protesting under their weight until they reached the top, where a door stood in front of them.

Brian and Honey looked at each and took deep breaths, as Brian reached out and grasped the old-fashioned knob. It creaked and groaned as he turned it, and Honey couldn’t help but compare the sound to some dissatisfied spirit, protesting from the great beyond.

For the ten thousandth time that weekend, she shivered. If she had known how truly like the Addams Family mansion this place would turn out to be, she would have turned around without ever entering it and gone back to Sleepyside. And now her best friend and her brother were missing, and some eerie and disturbing tragedy seemed connected to them somehow.

These thoughts aren’t going to help find Trixie and Jim, she scolded herself as she followed Brian into the attic of the Heckler Mansion.

At first, everything appeared to be normal. The attic was filled with items one would expect to find in an attic, boxes and trunks, old Christmas decorations, a pile of dusty old blankets and sheets that looked as though they would disintegrate if Honey so much as sneezed in their direction, and other odds and ends.

"It doesn’t look like they’re here," Brian said, gazing around the small space.

Honey agreed. "I guess not. Maybe we should go downstairs and search." But just as they were about to turn and go back toward the door, an icy breeze tore through the room. The frightened couple looked toward a small octagonal window that was the only window up there. It was clearly sealed shut and could not be the source of the strange wind, which had now died down to nothing.

"Did we just imagine that?" Honey whispered.

"I’d like to think so," Brian answered. "Let’s get out of here."

Honey had never heard a lovelier suggestion and started toward the door. However, before she reached it, a small movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention, and she turned to look.

An intricate, stand-alone mirror, surrounded by an ornately carved oak frame, stood in the corner. Honey would never be able to explain why she didn’t just follow Brian down the stairs like any sensible and sane person would.

Instead, she found herself drawn to the mirror, almost as if in a trance. She felt as though something was compelling her to cross the room and stare into the mirror. At first, she saw nothing but her reflection, but as she stared into the glass, it started to shimmer and change.

And the most amazing scene began to unfold in front of her disbelieving eyes…

Chapter 28
Jixemitri 2006 Spook-a-thon Blogathon
28.October.06, 684 words

The mysterious looking flower began to grow and change in front of their eyes. The deep, almost-black purple began to lighten and brighten until it was blood red in color. The odd bat shape changed into the careful folds of a rose. And then blood began to drip from the petals onto the ground.

As the group stood, transfixed, a pool of blood gathered on the ground underneath the plant.

"Elisabeth," Jim said. "That is my Elisabeth’s blood. I’ll never forget the blood that poured out of her when I found her laying beneath that window, her body bent in a most peculiar way. It was horrifying. Horrifying!" He shouted.

Brian and Honey exchanged glances and then rushed over to the distraught young man.

"Why? Why, Elisabeth?" he continued to yell, seemingly completely unaware of his friends gathered around him, trying to calm him down.

"I loved you so much. Wasn’t I good enough? What did I do that you felt the need to do this to yourself? And our baby…why did you take our baby with you?"

Jim knelt in front of the bush and wept so violently that Trixie, Elisabeth, Brian, Dan, and Honey were truly terrified.

"Jim," Trixie said, trying to get him to stand. "Jim!"

Jim stopped weeping long enough to stare at her. "What a vulgar shortening of my given name. It is James, I thank you to remember."

"James, let’s go inside," Trixie insisted, still trying to pull him up by the arm. "You’ll feel better inside."

"I will only feel better once my darling Elisabeth is returned to me. My Elisabeth and our unborn child." Great, heaving sobs wracked his body once again, and he buried his face in his hands.

Trixie looked frantically at the others gathered around. "Dan, Honey, go get Miss Trask! Brian, please help me with this." She looked around. "And where are Mart and Di?"

"Dan was with them when we split up," Brian said. "They were supposed to all check outside, but we ran into Dan inside the house. When he gets back, we’ll have to ask him. But we have to get Jim calmed down."

"Well, I wouldn’t call him Jim again until we’re sure it’s Jim and not James," Trixie said. "I wonder why he entered the trance this time without me. Usually, it occurs to both of us at the same time."

"There’s no time to worry about that now," Brian said, kneeling down next to the hysterical young man.

"Elisabeth didn’t kill herself," Brian found himself saying, unsure as to why that had slipped out of his mouth.

Jim looked up at him, the brown eyes that really freaked Brian out lit with hope. "She didn’t?"

Brian shook his head. "No. It was just a dream. Now come inside with us."

"Will Elisabeth be there?" Jim—or James—asked eagerly.

Brian shook his head. "No. She had something that she needed to attend to in Manhattan." Brian had no idea where these lies were coming from, but they kept spilling out from his lips.

"Manhattan? But why? She’s never had any business in Manhattan before. I’ve always taken care of everything for her. And that’s a day’s journey from here. Why would she go? What did she need to do?"

"It’s a long story," Brian said. "Come inside, and I’ll tell you," he coaxed, assisting Jim to his feet.

Trixie looked toward the red, bleeding rose. It had turned back into the black bat flower and the pool of blood had vanished.

Jim, Elisabeth, Trixie, and Brian had toward the Heckler Mansion, Trixie speaking in undertones to her brother.

"Where did all of that come from?" she asked.

"I don’t know. I felt as though the words were pouring out, and I couldn’t stop myself," Brian explained. "It worked, didn’t it? He’s calm and following us to the house, isn’t he?"

"Yeah, but what happens when he realizes that Elisabeth did die, and she’s not in Manhattan taking care of some mysterious business?"

Brian did not answer. He did not have an answer to that troubling question.

Chapter 3
Ninth Jixanny Blogathon
8.March.09, 841 words

Dan took another long drink from the extra large Coke that sat beside him in the car’s cup holder. He shook his head to stay awake, hoping that the caffeine and sugar would kick in soon. He hadn’t been planning on coming back to Sleepyside so early this morning, but after Mart’s anxious call at the ungodly hour of five a.m., he had gotten up and immediately gotten on the road.

Dan had not heard his friend sound so worried in a while. Not since last summer, when the girls—all three of them—had been on the trail of a suspect and had managed to get themselves trapped in an abandoned house that was slated for demolition. Fortunately, Honey had had the cell phone that her father had given her for emergencies and was able to reach Mart. Mart had frantically called Dan, and the two of them had raced to the old house on Telegraph Road, barely arriving in time to stop the excavator before the demolition started.

So, here he was again, rushing toward Sleepyside in response to an alarmed—and alarming—call from Mart, but this time, it wasn’t to help the girls. It was to help Brian.

"Dude," Dan said out loud, as much to keep himself awake as because he couldn’t believe that older, responsible, mature Brian Belden had gotten himself into a…situation. Mart had been sketchy about the details—presumably, he didn’t know much himself—but he had made it very clear that Brian was in trouble. And that he needed their help.

Since his sophomore year, Brian had been volunteering at a hospital near his university in preparation for med school. Apparently, he had stumbled on some disturbing information about one of the staff doctors at the hospital, and that had started a chain of events that Mart had been unclear about. As a matter of fact, Mart hadn’t even been sure what information Brian had discovered. All he knew was that Brian was rendezvousing in theaters, receiving notes and keys from strangers.

According to Mart, the note had simply said, "1545 Journeys End Road, Croton-on-Hudson. Your life depends on it."

Dan gave an involuntary shiver. "Your life depends on it," was ominous enough, but the name of the street, Journeys End, also sounded so…final.

Dan stepped on the gas pedal a little harder and sped on toward Sleepyside.

Meanwhile…

Mart paced back and forth in the meeting room of the Bob-White clubhouse. He had arrived in Sleepyside so late—or early, depending on your point of view—that he hadn’t had the heart to wake up the entire household at Crabapple Farm—and answer all of the questions that were sure to follow a middle-of-the-night arrival. Trixie would be the hardest to fool. His almost-twin had the uncanny knack of knowing exactly what was going on in his mind. She would certainly pick up on his worry and have the entire story out of him—what little he knew, anyway—within minutes, and he and Brian had agreed that they did not want their intrepid, mystery-loving sister involved in this…business.

Mart had thought of heading to the all-night coffee shop in White Plains, but he had ultimately decided that he’d rather pass the time in comforting familiarity than in an impersonal diner. As he paced back and forth, the blond thought once again about his older brother’s stubbornness.

Brian had one last shift as a volunteer at the hospital that day, and then he would be heading back to Sleepyside. He had given the key, the note, and a hasty explanation to Mart and had asked him to investigate the address in Croton as long as he was heading back to Sleepyside that morning. Mart had planned to spend the day with Di, up until the point that she needed to start getting ready for the prom, but now he would be spending it with Dan in Croton, hoping to find…something.

Mart looked down at the key that he held in a tight grip and sighed. He had pleaded with his brother to call in and skip his volunteer shift. After all, if the trouble started at the hospital, who was to say that Brian was safe there? Wouldn’t he be at risk being at the "scene of the crime", so to speak? Wouldn’t he be safer in Sleepyside?

But Mart’s pleas had fallen on deaf ears. Brian had been working at the hospital for almost three years. This was his last day there, and he didn’t want to miss that. He did not want to miss saying good-bye to all of the doctors, nurses, and hospital techs that he had grown close to during his tenure at the medical center. He didn’t want to let down those who were counting on him to be there. He didn’t want to leave on a bad note. He was quite resolute that he would not miss his last day at the hospital.

Mart just hoped that it wasn’t his brother’s last day on earth.

Chapter 7
Ninth Jixanny Blogathon
9.March.09, 923 words

We travel back in time to when Jim started trailing Mart and Dan…

“Do you think they can see us?” Trixie asked for the umpteenth time.

Jim sighed and gripped the steering wheel a little tighter.  He adored Trixie, he really did, but sometimes one needed the patience of a saint to be able to handle her exuberance.  Jim knew his limitations, and he was no saint.  Still, he would never show his special girl any irritation.  “I don’t know, Trixie.  I didn’t take Trailing Suspects 101 at college.”

Okay, maybe he would let it show a little.

Trixie snorted.  “Well, of course not!” she declared, leaning forward eagerly in her seat and peering at Dan’s car ahead.  “You’re an education major.  Honey and I will be taking that course!”

Jim smiled, and his hands relaxed on the steering wheel as he did so.  This was why he adored this woman.  Even when she was stretching his considerable patience, Trixie could always make him smile.

As they drove down Spring Valley Road, passed Teatown Lake, and then turned left on Blinn Road, Honey spoke up for the first time.

“I wonder where they’re going,” she commented as she stared curiously out of the window.  “We’re kind of in the middle of nowhere out here.  These roads don’t lead anywhere, and there’s nothing out here but big estates.”

When Trixie turned to stare at her curiously, Honey explained.  “Not long after we moved into the Manor House, Daddy took me all around the area.  There were several estates that he loved, and most of them were out here.  Either they weren’t for sale, or they didn’t quite measure up to the Manor House.”  She looked at Jim and Trixie affectionately.  “I’m glad.  I can’t imagine what would have happened if Daddy hadn’t bought the Manor House and moved us to Glen Road.  I never would have met you two!”

Trixie and Jim returned Honey’s warm smile.  “I think we would have met,” Trixie said.  “I think the three of us were destined to meet, no matter what.”

Jim nodded his agreement.  “Trixie’s absolutely right,” he said, his tone brooking no doubt as he turned the steering wheel to the right.  Mart and Dan had just turned onto a street called Journeys End Road.

“Jim!” Trixie said, turning her attention from Honey’s sentimentality back to the task at hand.  “You’re too close!  Out here, they’re sure to notice you!”

Jim sighed.  “Exactly.  Out here, they’re going to notice us no matter what I do.  It’s not like we’re on a busy highway.  We’re on winding two-lane roads in the middle of nowhere that scream money.  I could be on their bumper or two hundred yards back.  It doesn’t matter.”

Not being able to think of an argument, Trixie crossed her arms and threw herself back on the seat in a decidedly childish manner.

Jim hid his grin and then said, “I have a plan.”

Trixie relaxed her arms and turned to him excitedly, her face alighting in a grin.  “Really?  What?”

“I’m hoping that the make, model, and color of my car are common enough that they won’t know it’s us,” Jim said, his lips twitching.  “Or, if that doesn’t work, maybe he’ll think I’m the Jell-O Fairy in cherry flavor.  I do have red hair, you know.”

In response, Trixie crossed her arms again and threw herself back into her seat.  From the backseat, Honey grinned and met Jim’s eyes in the rearview mirror.

Meanwhile, back at the Lynch estate…

Diana sat on the front terrace of her grand house and looked at her watch…again.  It wasn’t like Mart to be so late.  Finally, when a half-hour had passed since the time he had promised her that he would arrive, she went inside to call him.

A call to the Beldens indicated that Mart had arrived home very early that morning just in time to be picked up by Dan, who had not been expected in Sleepyside until later.  Trixie had headed up to the Manor House to spend the morning with Jim, who had just arrived home from college, and Honey.  A call to the Manor House revealed that Jim had indeed arrived home, and Honey, Trixie, and Jim had gone on a morning ride.  Celia, who loved to gossip on the Manor House goings-on, had also revealed that the trio had headed down the path to Crabapple Farm, only to reappear a few minutes later and jump into Jim’s car and go speeding off.

Despite opinions to the contrary, Di was not stupid.  She could see the writing on the wall.  Mart hadn’t called her?  Dan had come back to Sleepyside early that morning when on a normal day he would still be sleeping?  Trixie, Jim, and Honey had headed to Crabapple Farm only to suddenly reappear at the Manor House and go speeding off?

Clearly, a mystery was afoot.  In days gone by, Di might have felt left out and thrown a babyish tantrum.  But that Di had learned a thing or two.  That Di was loooooong gone.

The new Di took action.  She stalked to her father’s study and picked up the phone.  She had memorized the number to Honey’s emergency cell phone just in case.  With determination, she punched in a series of numbers and waited for her friend to answer.

After the familiar but startled voice uttered a greeting, Di said, “Honey, I know that the five of you are up to something, and I want in.  Now.”

Review of the Trixie Belden Series
BarnesandNoble.com
Amazon.com
1.July.03

A wonderful role model for young girls
I still remember the day I first picked up a Trixie Belden book (it was 23 years ago and I was almost 9) and I have been hooked ever since. Trixie is so easy to relate to - she isn't perfect, she loses her temper, she has to deal with three brothers, and she has lots of chores - but she has a heart of gold, a wonderful generous spirit, and a determinedness that is inspirational. This series contains not only wonderful adventures appealing to kids, but teaches the true meaning of friendship and generosity. And the author even manages to work in educational facts and vocabulary skills in a completely painless way! I recommend this series for every child between the ages of 8 and 14!

Note: Trixie Belden® and associated characters are the copyright of Random House Books and are used without permission.  All other characters are the copyright of GSDana.  These pages are not for profit.  Images copyright © Random House Books.  Stories and graphics created by and copyright © GSDana 2003–2011, please do not use without permission.