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The Hardy Boys: Secret Files #8
Sports Sabotage
Frank and Joe bring their detective skills to the athletic arena in this all-new Hardy Boys Secret Files mystery!It’s time for Field Day at Bayport Elementary and all the kids are excited! Whatever grade wins gets a pizza party, and the person with the highest personal score also gets a special prize. But when the field equipment is sabotaged the day before the events are supposed to start, it looks like Field Day might not happen after all—unless someone can find out who is behind the mess of ruined rackets, tangled jump ropes, and flattened balloons. Can Frank and Joe crack the case and save Field Day?
112 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 3, 2012
About the author
Franklin W. Dixon
952 books1,017 followersFranklin W. Dixon is the pen name used by a variety of different authors who were part of a team that wrote The Hardy Boys novels for the Stratemeyer Syndicate (now owned by Simon & Schuster). Dixon was also the writer attributed for the Ted Scott Flying Stories series, published by Grosset & Dunlap.
Canadian author Leslie McFarlane is believed to have written the first sixteen Hardy Boys books, but worked to a detailed plot and character outline for each story. The outlines are believed to have originated with Edward Stratemeyer, with later books outlined by his daughters Edna C. Squier and Harriet Stratemeyer Adams. Edward and Harriet also edited all books in the series through the mid-1960s. Other writers of the original books include MacFarlane's wife Amy, John Button, Andrew E. Svenson, and Adams herself; most of the outlines were done by Adams and Svenson. A number of other writers and editors were recruited to revise the outlines and update the texts in line with a more modern sensibility, starting in the late 1950s.
The principal author for the Ted Scott books was John W. Duffield.
Canadian author Leslie McFarlane is believed to have written the first sixteen Hardy Boys books, but worked to a detailed plot and character outline for each story. The outlines are believed to have originated with Edward Stratemeyer, with later books outlined by his daughters Edna C. Squier and Harriet Stratemeyer Adams. Edward and Harriet also edited all books in the series through the mid-1960s. Other writers of the original books include MacFarlane's wife Amy, John Button, Andrew E. Svenson, and Adams herself; most of the outlines were done by Adams and Svenson. A number of other writers and editors were recruited to revise the outlines and update the texts in line with a more modern sensibility, starting in the late 1950s.
The principal author for the Ted Scott books was John W. Duffield.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 10, 2024
This is a pretty standard mystery, almost exactly what I expected! The twist was just slightly too hard for me to guess (though I wasn't really trying, I suppose), and it makes perfect sense, too!
The thing I don't like is I found the characters a bit hard to tell apart, because I could never remember which ones were which, even just between Frank and Joe! Some of it is the "line art"/colouring book style of the illustrations, erasing some of the visual cues for racial diversity (...if there is any, hard to tell), and the fact that ALL the characters are posed in the same 3/4 profile with very similar faces (and none of the kids even wear glasses or anything!). Like, Adam is distinct because he's significantly taller than the rest of the kids. The adults are distinct, too (although I need context to tell which one goes with which name). It's mostly the kids—as the central characters!—who have some "same face" issues.
The bonus comic sort of emphasises the character design problem. It looks like the characters were cut and pasted over and over to minimise how much new drawing had to be done. Was this series made on an extreme budget?? (I suppose I should be happy the art's even original instead of literally a whole book of the same ONE clip art over and over and only *slightly* tweaked.) I don't know.
Great for fans of the series, especially sports fans!
The thing I don't like is I found the characters a bit hard to tell apart, because I could never remember which ones were which, even just between Frank and Joe! Some of it is the "line art"/colouring book style of the illustrations, erasing some of the visual cues for racial diversity (...if there is any, hard to tell), and the fact that ALL the characters are posed in the same 3/4 profile with very similar faces (and none of the kids even wear glasses or anything!). Like, Adam is distinct because he's significantly taller than the rest of the kids. The adults are distinct, too (although I need context to tell which one goes with which name). It's mostly the kids—as the central characters!—who have some "same face" issues.
The bonus comic sort of emphasises the character design problem. It looks like the characters were cut and pasted over and over to minimise how much new drawing had to be done. Was this series made on an extreme budget?? (I suppose I should be happy the art's even original instead of literally a whole book of the same ONE clip art over and over and only *slightly* tweaked.) I don't know.
Great for fans of the series, especially sports fans!
July 17, 2024
I’m read this to my two year old and she did enjoy it! For a two year old, I didn’t expect to actually sit and read a lot but there were times she was invested and would actually engage in the story! To me that’s a success.
May 29, 2025
Who was your favorite character (and why)? my favorite character was Chet because he is clumsy and relatable
What surprised you? that Timmy was the one who sabotaged field day when being forced by Damian
Would you change the ending? Why/why not? yes I would make it that Mr. Jenkins did it
What surprised you? that Timmy was the one who sabotaged field day when being forced by Damian
Would you change the ending? Why/why not? yes I would make it that Mr. Jenkins did it
February 27, 2023
Decent book for kids that like mysteries - but mom solved it in the first few chapters.
September 24, 2017
I think the author was very smart with this book because I don't think I would have been able to solve the mystery by myself. This book was about a field day mystery.............................
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews