Mandie and the Angel's Secret

Mandie #22

by Lois Gladys Leppard

The summer of 1901 had been a great adventure for Mandie and Celia as they traveled through Europe with Jonathan, Mrs. Taft, Senator Morton, and Uncle Ned. But Mandie's grandmother had suddenly decided to cut the trip short while they were in Ireland. Through the tears of saying goodbye to Jonathan, Mandie couldn't help but wonder why they needed to go home so soon.

No one tells Mandie why they're returning to America or of the mystery involved. But she returns home to a house full of strangers. Mandie must try to solve the mystery who are these people from her past?

What of the night appearance of the angel in Mandie's room?

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Christian, Christian Fiction, Childrens, Young Adult

160 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1993

About the author

Lois Gladys Leppard was the author of the Mandie series of children's novels. Leppard wrote her first Mandie story when she was only eleven and a half years old, but did not become a professional author until she was an adult. Leppard has also worked as a professional singer, actress, and playwright. At one time, she and her two sisters, Sybil and Louise, formed a singing group called the Larke Sisters.
There are forty Mandie books in the main series, an eight-book junior series and several other titles. Leppard said that she could write a Mandie book in two weeks, barring any interruptions.
The eponymous heroine lives in North Carolina in the early 1900s, encountering adventure and solving mysteries with help from her friends, family, and pet cat, Snowball. These young reader novels are meant to teach morals as well as be fun and captivating stories to read. Leppard stated that her books contain "nothing occult or vulgar", and Mandie is depicted as a faithful Christian. The Mandie books often deal with issues of discrimination and prejudice relating to race (particularly with regard to the local Cherokee), class, and disability.
Lois Gladys Leppard based some of the incidents in her Mandie books on her mother's experiences growing up in North Carolina. The dedication in the first book is: "For My Mother, Bessie A. Wilson Leppard, and In Memory of Her Sister, Lillie Margaret Ann Wilson Frady, Orphans of North Carolina Who Outgrew the Sufferings of Childhood".

Reviews

[Lindsey (Books for Christian Girls) · Rating 3 out of 5]

About this book:

“The summer of 1901 had been a great adventure for Mandie and Celia as they traveled through Europe with Jonathan, Mrs. Taft, Senator Morton, and Uncle Ned. But Mandie's grandmother had suddenly decided to cut the trip short while they were in Ireland. Through the tears of saying goodbye to Jonathan, Mandie couldn't help but wonder why they needed to go home so soon.
No one tells Mandie why they're returning to America or of the mystery involved. But she returns home to a house full of strangers. Mandie must try to solve the mystery who are these people from her past? What of the night appearance of the angel in Mandie's room?”


Series: Book #22 in “Mandie” series. (To read the reviews of the previous books in this series, click the number to be taken to that review: #1! #2! #3! #4! #5! #6! #7! #8! #9! #10! #11! #12! #13! #14! #15! #16! #17! #18! #19! #20! #21!) {There also is the “Young Mandie Mystery” series, (Book #1 review Here and Book #2 review Here!) but they do not connect together well}


Spiritual Content- Luke 22:43 at the beginning; Prayers & Thanking God; A couple Scriptures are mentioned, quoted & prayed; Talks about God, angel, quilt & punishment; ‘H’s are capital; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers & thanking God; Mentions of (guardian) angels, seeing one & peace; A couple mentions of Bibles & Bible reading; A couple mentions of blessings;
*Note: a couple mentions of an angel of death.


Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘stupid’ and three ‘shuck’s; A couple mentions of eye rolling; A few mentions of Mandie’s bad attitude towards her little brother when he was born; Mentions of fevers, near death & deaths (barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of drowning (barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of lies & lying; A few mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of pain.


Sexual Content- Hand holding & Embraces (Joe is just trying to show his concern for Mandie); Mentions of Mandie’s promise to Joe about marrying him if he gets back her childhood home; A few mentions of Polly’s flirting & great interest in Joe; A couple mentions of being interested in someone; A couple mentions of Jonathan acting like a flirt; A mention that decent boys don’t go calling on a girl in her bedroom; A mention a blown kiss; A mention of Polly trying to act hard-to-get with Joe.

-Amanda “Mandie” Shaw, age 13
P.O.V. of Mandie
Set in 1901
160 pages (also available in a collection with three other Mandie books.)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Pre Teens- Three Stars (and a half)
New Teens- Three Stars (and a half)
Early High School Teens- Three Stars
Older High School Teens- Three Stars
My personal Rating- Three Stars
Not my favorite Mandie book, but there is quite a bit of Spiritual Content which is, of course, good! ;)


Link to review:
https://booksforchristiangirls.blogsp...


*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.

[Josiah · Rating 3 out of 5]

*THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS*
So here we are, "Mandie and the Angel's Secret". I really didn't know what to expect going into this one, I was excited to read on about why Mandie has to return from Europe! Unlike the last book, I did not have high hopes going into this one, so my expectations were pretty much met, for a Mandie book, it was ok. So in this book, Mandie, Molly, Celia, Senator Morton, and Grandmother Taft are all returning from London back to the US for some mysterious reason. Upon arriving back in North Carolina, Mandie is met with absolute chaos and confusion. Her mother is badly sick with the fever, and her brother is nowhere to be seen. We end up finding out that little Samuel died of the fever. Mandie also gets some crazy encounters with an Angel (as the title suggests).

I thought this book wasn't too bad, we had plenty of good parts. We start off with an intriguing mystery, which is always good. Mandie's mother being sick and her brother dying does make this book quite a shock, I think that helped it to be entertaining, and the reader wants to find out if Elizabeth survives! I am also happy to have Joe back, some love drama is always good, and it's nice to have a prominent male figure in the story. Also, I can happily say that this is one of the first Mandie books that I actually feel really sorry for her. All of her anger with Grandma's absolutely stupid decision of not telling Mandie what was up is COMPLETELY justified! Another thing I genuinely liked is what they did with the Angel. The books haven't been to spiritual recently, and that is definitely a core part of this series. I am happy that the Angel is real right from heaven, and Mandie gets to grow her relationship with the Lord. I think the main thing that made this book nice was just meeting old characters that we haven't seen for a good 7 and a half books.

It's hard to be very critical of "Mandie and the Angel's Secret" as it is really supposed to be 1. A Transition Book, and 2. A Sad book. I can say this: I am happy it ended when it did, it was getting a little slow with no action. The author tried to slightly actionify it with the mystery of Mandie's distant relatives, but to be honest, I thought that mystery was just kind of boring and dumb. So the woman is in heartbreak for 10+ years and is sneaking around the house? I don't see anything interesting in that. It was really just a filler because the sickness was getting old. We also get in a bit of a boring cycle of just waiting for information and being sad, but that's hard to criticize because I don't know any other way the author could really change that.

Overall, this book met my expectations. I thought it would be a slightly boring transition book, and it was! Mandie is not annoyingly stupid like she was for half the Europe, and her anger is justified. I truly don't know why Grandma acted so terribly! I am very sad about the Europe trip being over, they were definitely some of the best and most interesting Mandie books, but it's nice to get back into routine. I was so sad to say goodbye to Jonathan, we really need him in future books. I look forward to reading the next one!

Favorite Quote: "(Joe) 'Guess I'll have to start going next door and eating with Polly. She wouldn't mind.' 'Oh, no, you don't!' Liza said emphatically."

[wanderer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I admit it: I am reviewing these books years after reading them. However, do not even suggest that I'm no longer qualified, that too many years have passed to remember. My battered and faded copies of these books testify to how many times I read them growing up and plots and entire passages are seared in my memory forever.

Snowball always ran away, Mandie always got in trouble, Uncle Ned always rescued her, and Joe and Tommy bristled at each other. I myself prefered Joe, but Tommy's cosmopolitan airs nearly tipped the balance a time or two. I recall- fondly and as though it were yesterday- my glee when Mandie went off to Europe, my disgust at the new baby, my delight in Mandie's wardrobe of sky blue frocks, my puzzlement at all her near escapes and handy school vacations, my terror during the daring midnight adventures. Ah me, to be young and silly again...

If I had written goodreads reviews at the age of eleven, all Mandie books would've received automatic five-star ratings and gushing descriptions. As an adult, I will honestly give them all three stars, except for my special pets. And if I ever have a little girl, I will buy her the entire set. Oh, and did you know there are more than forty books in the series by now? And I'm guessing Mandie never grows up, either.

[Caroline Ashby]

I read this because I have a memory of reading a book when I was like 10-12 years old about a girl who solved mysteries and lived at a boarding school and I could have sworn her name was Mandie. I read a list of all the titles in this series and this is the one that stood out to me but I don't think I'd read this book. I could see myself having enjoyed this series when I was little, but reading now was weird. Obviously as a 37 year old woman I am not the target audience for this but I found it annoying how much of the book the main characters were just sitting around and "resting" and taking their meals privately in their rooms and then carrying their dishes to the dumbwaiter. It was extremely repetitive. I was also weirdly reading Octavia Butler's "Kindred" at the same time so I had a heightened awareness of Liza's characters and the rest of the "help" in this book. Whatever book I'd read as a kid I had deeply romanticized as my ideal life and this didn't scratch that itch even in a nostalgic way. I'm not sure why I feel compelled to write this review except for my own reference lol. If anyone sees this and has a memory of another Mandie book that takes place at a boarding school but also maybe a ship and has her sneaking around the dark halls at night, please let me know!

[Mari Koopmans · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the Mandie Series and just finished this book, it was very sad and I thought it was great! It is about Mandie, her friends, and her Grandmother are on a journey and her Grandmother cuts it short, Mandie is still on her vacation, what´s going on? You will find out what happens that made Mandie´s whole family including her in laws be sad. And yes, there is another mystery than that, Mandie and Joe find out a secret that changed Mandie´s whole perspective on her background different. Will Joe, Mandie, Uncle Ned, and nosy Polly solve this mystery? Read to find out !

[Telisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

*****Spoiler*******


Hardest Mandi ever.
Mandi comes home to find her mother extremely sick battling for her life and her baby brother buried and gone.

[Evelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A real favorite!

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I forgot how tear jerking thus series Is despite it's young target demographic

[Carol & Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book

[AshPotatoes · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little slower paced and still not much of a mystery, but the tension was good.

Still has some very offensive portrayals of black and Native American characters.

[Marley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sooo sad!!!!!!!!!

[Savannah Haschak · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the plot of this book and how the story ended. It was so well written and the ending was great!

[Elly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I actually read this book first before the other books. I am planning to get all the series.

[Tarissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always love reading the Mandie books. They have excellent Christian values throughout the exciting adventure story--The perfect combination in my opinion. Even with saying that, I wasn't sure how the outcome of the "Angel's Secret" would be. But the author did a great job, nevertheless, in how she described Mandie's fantastic experience. There were a few portions of the storyline that could have used a bit more polishing, but still, all in all, it was a Great book.

Back from her Summer trip to Europe, things are in an uproar. Mandie's house is filled with kinsfolk whom she's never met, and when Mandie finds out the reason why they're visiting, she finds that only God's help can pull her through the shock.
This book holds a turning point in Mandie's life!

[Annaleigh Niedzielski · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book I most recently read is called Mandie and the Angel's Secret, by Lois Gladys Leppard. This book takes place in the summer of 1901, at Mandie's house. Well, more like her 4 story mansion. The main characters are Mandie, Uncle John, Uncle Ned, Mother (Elizabeth), Polly, and Celia. In this book, Mandie returns home from her trip in Europe to find that her mother is deathly ill with the fever. Soon after Mandie returns home, an Angel appers to her. Was it a dream? Was it real? Will Mandie ever really know? I rated this book 5 stars because I truly never knew what was going to happen next. It is one of those books that you will keep making predictions about what will happen next, but every chapter you read your prediction changes.

[Jennifer Robb · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this book better than others in the series because Mandie doesn't disobey the adults in her life as often as she does in other books. The one time she does is understandable as she is in shock at learning her beloved mother might be dying of a contagious fever--she wants to see her mother. Mandie shows some maturity in thinking to send for another doctor they know but also shows some immaturity by not notifying their family doctor that another doctor will be coming to help.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Mandie books are fun Christian mysteries for children, but I still love reading them. Even though she doesn't age very quickly and seems to get far too many breaks from school during the year, she's a lot of fun.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

mandie and the angles secert is about they return from england and her mam has the fever. her little brother had died from the fever. her mom fever finally broke and her mom started getting better. they where also trying to solve a mysterie.

[Superreader200 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book so much because they get to have a exiting trip home and Mandie rushes to save her mothers life and it's so sad when Mandie's little brother,Samuel,dies. But I love how Mandie prays and thanks God for all He did for her

[Partridge Public]

Leppard, Lois G.

[Cws]

JMAR5-Lep

[Erika]

This was the first Mandie book I read when I was in fifth grade, and it's what sparked my interest to read the whole series--they are a good memory from grade school days!

[Kari · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good themes but super religious and filler

[Meadow Frisbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't believe he died!!!