Since I started reading the Trixie Belden series in January, one thing
I’ve enjoyed looking out for in each volume is literary references.
Usually they’re sprinkled in here and there, bearing little importance
to the overall plot, but in The Mystery on the Mississippi, the fifteenth book in the series, they’re a bit more integral.
In
this volume, the ninth written by a ghost writer under the name of
Kathryn Kenny, 14-year-old sleuth Trixie and her closest friends,
collectively known as the Bob-Whites of the Glen, are on vacation for
the fifth book in a row. Six of the seven Bob-Whites are able to
participate in this trip. Naturally, Trixie’s best friend, Honey
Wheeler, and her adopted brother, Jim Frayne, are along; after all, the
primary reason for this vacation is business that Mr. Wheeler must
attend to in Missouri. Also joining them are Trixie’s older brothers
Mart and Brian and their neighbor, Dan Mangan, who doesn’t usually get
to go on these trips. The only one missing is their neighbor, Di Lynch.
Any
chance to go out of town is exciting for the Bob-Whites, but they have
to reasons to be especially interested in this particular excursion. For
one thing, they expect to be able to catch an exhibition of spaceships
in St. Louis. For another, they will be in Mark Twain country. All of
the Bob-Whites, it seems, have read and enjoyed the tales of Tom Sawyer
and Huckleberry Finn, particularly the Belden boys, and the thought of
being able to see some of the places Tom and Huck visited makes them
wild with excitement. The adventure abounds with nods to Twain’s classic
companion books, particularly once the Bob-Whites finally make it to
the town of Hannibal, the boyhood home of Twain and of the fictional Tom
and Huck.
I think my first exposure to Mark Twain came in second grade, when my class staged a short play based on the scene in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
in which Tom cons several of his friends into whitewashing a fence for
him. That fence plays a fairly significant role in the story, and
several other landmarks make an appearance as well. What captures the
imaginations of the Bob-Whites most of all, though, is the idea of
traveling along the river in a steamboat like the one that inspired
Twain’s pen name. In fact, they end up spending almost as much time on
the water as on dry land in this outing, though it's not always as
enjoyable as they expect…
Of all the Bob-Whites’ trips, this
venture into Twain country is, perhaps appropriately, the most
harrowing. Like Tom and Huck, the teens face genuine danger on and
alongside the Mississippi River, thanks to some bad timing and a bit of
poor decision-making. Trixie and Honey find themselves in some truly
terrifying situations here, making for intense reading. Though they are
in fundamental disagreement when it comes to their perception of certain
secondary characters they meet in their travels and this leads to some
problems, for the most part, Trixie and Honey support each other
fiercely throughout their ordeal, and their devotion to each other is
one of the most enjoyable elements of the book. They really have to be a
team here, and their deep friendship serves them well.
It’s fun
to watch the Bob-Whites geeking out over the opportunity to see Mark
Twain territory for themselves, particularly during their time on the
steamboat and in Hannibal. I did find Mart getting on my nerves a bit in
this one, as he always seems to be impatient or complaining, though
Trixie’s knack for stumbling into trouble does leave less time for
simple sight-seeing so some frustration is understandable. All of the
boys get a bit agitated at the thought that they might not be able to
ride a steamboat – which doesn’t have anything to do with Trixie – but
Mart seems to go above and beyond with his grousing. Also, this Star Trek
fan feels compelled to point out that the narration incorrectly refers
to a light year as a unit of time rather than distance, though we’re
basically in Trixie’s head at that point, so perhaps it’s her mistake
rather than the author’s. If she’d said it aloud and Mart had been
there, no doubt he would have corrected her.
We seem to spend a
lot of time in Trixie’s head in this book, with paragraphs of italicized
text as Trixie has opportunity after opportunity to reflect on her
missteps. Of course, this always comes after the fact; in the heat of
the moment, when a decision must be made, she usually doesn’t have much
time to think, and sometimes she’s not too bright. Then again, sometimes
her companions aren’t either. Most of their mistakes in this book,
however, come down to being too trusting, which is a reflection of their
generous natures. This is especially true of Honey, though I was
gratified to see her faith in the goodness of one of the characters
ultimately be somewhat justified.
It was with some dismay that I
discovered that I have come to the end of my steady stream of Trixie
books from the library. Our system has only half a dozen of the
remaining 24 books, so I will no longer be reading them in order, at
least for a while. With book sale season upon us, I’m hoping to fill in
some of those gaps before long. For now, though, The Mystery on the Mississippi
is an adrenaline rush of an adventure that makes a nice conclusion to
this stage of my Trixie immersion. With its scenic excursions, a
ferocious villain, an oft-excluded Bob-White and more Mark Twain
references than you can shake a whitewash-covered paintbrush at, I
assert that missing The Mystery on the Mississippi would be a mistake.
No comments:
Post a Comment