The Boxcar Children Mysteries: Books One through Twelve (94 page)

When the Aldens packed up to go, Benny said, “No we won’t say it! We’ll say we’ll ‘come again soon.’”

So that was it—come again—no goodbye.

On the way home, Benny said, “Oh, by the way, what will we do next summer, Grandfather?”

“Don’t you wish you knew!” teased Grandfather.

“You mean
you
know?”

“I didn’t say so, did I?”

“No, but your face looked so.”

“Dear me,” said Grandfather, “I must be more careful about my face!”

Benny teased for quite awhile. Then he stopped for he knew that Grandfather would not tell them until he got ready.

“Well, it’s OK with me,” he said at last. “Anyway whatever we do will be another story, huh, Gramps?”

G
ERTRUDE
C
HANDLER
W
ARNER
discovered when she was teaching that many readers who like an exciting story could find no books that were both easy and fun to read. She decided to try to meet this need, and her first book,
The Boxcar Children,
quickly proved she had succeeded.

Miss Warner drew on her own experiences to write the mystery. As a child she spent hours watching trains go by on the tracks opposite her family home. She often dreamed about what it would be like to set up housekeeping in a caboose or freight car—the situation the Alden children find themselves in.

When Miss Warner received requests for more adventures involving Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny Alden, she began additional stories. In each, she chose a special setting and introduced unusual or eccentric characters who liked the unpredictable.

While the mystery element is central to each of Miss Warner’s books, she never thought of them as strictly juvenile mysteries. She liked to stress the Aldens’ independence and resourcefulness and their solid New England devotion to using up and making do. The Aldens go about most of their adventures with as little adult supervision as possible—something else that delights young readers.

Miss Warner lived in Putnam, Connecticut, until her death in 1979. During her lifetime, she received hundreds of letters from girls and boys telling her how much they liked her book. And so she continued the Aldens’ adventures, writing a total of nineteen books in the Boxcar Children series.

The Boxcar Children Mysteries

T
HE
B
OXCAR
C
HILDREN

S
URPRISE
I
SLAND

T
HE
Y
ELLOW
H
OUSE
M
YSTERY

M
YSTERY
R
ANCH

M
IKE’S
M
YSTERY

B
LUE
B
AY
M
YSTERY

T
HE
W
OODSHED
M
YSTERY

T
HE
L
IGHTHOUSE
M
YSTERY

M
OUNTAIN
T
OP
M
YSTERY

S
CHOOLHOUSE
M
YSTERY

C
ABOOSE
M
YSTERY

H
OUSEBOAT
M
YSTERY

S
NOWBOUND
M
YSTERY

T
REE
H
OUSE
M
YSTERY

B
ICYCLE
M
YSTERY

M
YSTERY IN THE
S
AND

M
YSTERY
B
EHIND THE
W
ALL

B
US
S
TATION
M
YSTERY

B
ENNY
U
NCOVERS A
M
YSTERY

T
HE
H
AUNTED
C
ABIN
M
YSTERY

T
HE
D
ESERTED
L
IBRARY
M
YSTERY

T
HE
A
NIMAL
S
HELTER
M
YSTERY

T
HE
O
LD
M
OTEL
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
H
IDDEN
P
AINTING

T
HE
A
MUSEMENT
P
ARK
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
M
IXED
-U
P
Z
OO

T
HE
C
AMP
-O
UT
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY
G
IRL

T
HE
M
YSTERY
C
RUISE

T
HE
D
ISAPPEARING
F
RIEND
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
S
INGING
G
HOST

M
YSTERY IN THE
S
NOW

T
HE
P
IZZA
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY
H
ORSE

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT THE
D
OG
S
HOW

T
HE
C
ASTLE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
L
OST
V
ILLAGE

T
HE
M
YSTERY ON THE
I
CE

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
P
URPLE
P
OOL

T
HE
G
HOST
S
HIP
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY IN
W
ASHINGTON
, D
C

T
HE
C
ANOE
T
RIP
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
H
IDDEN
B
EACH

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
M
ISSING
C
AT

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT
S
NOWFLAKE
I
NN

T
HE
M
YSTERY ON
S
TAGE

T
HE
D
INOSAUR
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
S
TOLEN
M
USIC

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT THE
B
ALL
P
ARK

T
HE
C
HOCOLATE
S
UNDAE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
H
OT
A
IR
B
ALLOON

T
HE
M
YSTERY
B
OOKSTORE

T
HE
P
ILGRIM
V
ILLAGE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
S
TOLEN
B
OXCAR

T
HE
M
YSTERY IN THE
C
AVE

T
HE
M
YSTERY ON THE
T
RAIN

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT THE
F
AIR

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
L
OST
M
INE

T
HE
G
UIDE
D
OG
M
YSTERY

T
HE
H
URRICANE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
P
ET
S
HOP
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
S
ECRET
M
ESSAGE

T
HE
F
IREHOUSE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY IN
S
AN
F
RANCISCO

T
HE
N
IAGARA
F
ALLS
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT THE
A
LAMO

T
HE
O
UTER
S
PACE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
S
OCCER
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY IN THE
O
LD
A
TTIC

T
HE
G
ROWLING
B
EAR
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
L
AKE
M
ONSTER

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT
P
EACOCK
H
ALL

T
HE
W
INDY
C
ITY
M
YSTERY

T
HE
B
LACK
P
EARL
M
YSTERY

T
HE
C
EREAL
B
OX
M
YSTERY

T
HE
P
ANTHER
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
Q
UEEN’S
J
EWELS

T
HE
S
TOLEN
S
WORD
M
YSTERY

T
HE
B
ASKETBALL
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
OVIE
S
TAR
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
P
IRATE’S
M
AP

T
HE
G
HOST
T
OWN
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
B
LACK
R
AVEN

T
HE
M
YSTERY IN THE
M
ALL

T
HE
M
YSTERY IN
N
EW
Y
ORK

T
HE
G
YMNASTICS
M
YSTERY

T
HE
P
OISON
F
ROG
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
E
MPTY
S
AFE

T
HE
H
OME
R
UN
M
YSTERY

T
HE
G
REAT
B
ICYCLE
R
ACE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
W
ILD
P
ONIES

T
HE
M
YSTERY IN THE
C
OMPUTER
G
AME

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT THE
C
ROOKED
H
OUSE

T
HE
H
OCKEY
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
M
IDNIGHT
D
OG

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
S
CREECH
O
WL

T
HE
S
UMMER
C
AMP
M
YSTERY

T
HE
C
OPYCAT
M
YSTERY

T
HE
H
AUNTED
C
LOCK
T
OWER
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
T
IGER
’S E
YE

T
HE
D
ISAPPEARING
S
TAIRCASE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY ON
B
LIZZARD
M
OUNTAIN

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
S
PIDER
’S C
LUE

T
HE
C
ANDY
F
ACTORY
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
M
UMMY’S
C
URSE

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
S
TAR
R
UBY