Trixie Belden and the Pet Show Mystery

Trixie Belden #37

by Kathryn Kenny, Jim Spence (Illustrator)

Trixie suspects someone of trying to sabotage the pet show that she and the Bob-Whites are staging in order to raise money to feed the starving game-birds.

Genres: Mystery, Young Adult, Fiction, Childrens, Middle Grade, Kids, Adventure

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

The Kathryn Kenny pseudonym was created by Western Publishing House in 1961, three years after Julie Campbell wrote her last book (#6) of the Trixie Belden series. There were several ghost writers who wrote Trixie Belden stories under this pseudonym. Some have been identified and later credited but some are still unknown.

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http://www.trixie-belden.com/books/Ka...

The Kathryn Kenny pseudonym was born in 1961, three years after Campbell wrote her last book of the Trixie Belden series. Did it take Western Publishing several years to find a suitable author? The answer is unknown and the identity of the authors of the 33 Kathryn Kenny books are not known for sure but there is some information about the ghost writers.

Nicolete Meredith Stack

Nicolete Meredith StackStack is thought to be the first author to tackle the Trixie Belden series, although there is much debate about which books were actually written by her. She was born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1896 but lived in Webster Groves in St. Louis, Missouri for most of her adult life. Stack wrote other children's books under her own name and various pen names, including the Robin Kane series by Eileen Hill for Whitman between 1966 and 1971.

Stack is said to have written five books in the Trixie Belden series between 1961 and 1971, but Who's Who in the Midwest claims that she wrote eight titles between 1961 and 1966. There were eight Trixie Belden titles published between 1961 and 1966, but it is doubtful that she wrote them all.

James Keeline in his article, Trixie Belden "Schoolgirl Shamus", believes that books 7, 9 and 16 can be attributed to Stack but there are others that may have been written by her.



Virginia McDonnell

Virginia Bleecher McDonnell was born in 1917 and was a registered nurse who trained at Russell Sage College in Troy, New York. McDonnell wrote the Nurses Three series from 1963 to 1965 using the pen name Jean Kirby, and the Kim Aldrich series as Jinny McDonnell, both for Whitman. She is also wrote volume six of The Waltons.

McDonnell and her husband were avid skiiers and many of her books featured details of nursing or skiing. It seems likely that she wrote three Trixie Belden books, The Mystery of Cobbett's Island (1964), The Mystery of the Emeralds (1965) and The Mystery of Mead's Mountain (1978). Skiing is mentioned early in The Mystery of Cobbett's Island, although this is not the theme of the book.

McDonnell also wrote another book called Country Agent that has a number of similarities with The Mystery at Happy Valley, although her book was published in 1968. Read a review of this book, and see what you think.

There is little biographical information available on McDonnell, but the three books attributed to her are three of the most widely loved books in the Trixie Belden series.



Gladys Baker Bond

Gladys Baker BondGladys Baker Bond was born in Berryville, Arkansas on the 7th of May, 1912. On September 2, 1934, she married Floyd James Bond and had one son, Nicholas Peter. Bond's childhood years were spent in the Ozarks of Arkansas. She lived in Idaho and Washington all her adult life and was an officer of the Idaho Writers League between 1952-54.

Bond's books for children cover a wide range of subjects and are often autobiographical. Mrs. Bond wrote under the pseudonymns, Jo Mendel (The Tucker series) and Holly Beth Walker (the Meg series), as well as her own name. She also wrote volume five of The Waltons.

She is credited with writing The Mystery of the Uninvited Guest (1977), The Mystery of the Castaway Children (1978), and The Sasquatch Mystery (1979). However, with her childhood spent in the Ozarks, she could be the author of The Mystery at Bob-White Cave (1963).



Carl Henry Rathjen

Carl Henry RathjenRathjen was born on the 28th of August 1909 in Jersey City, New Jersey and died in 1984. His ambition was to become a mechanical engineer, but when things didn't go

Reviews

[Lydia Therese · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Pet Show Mystery by Kathryn Kenny is the thirty-seventh book in the Trixie Belden series.

This book was just average. Not great, not terrible. Just meh.

I found Mart liking computers funny, and the illustration in my square edition of him sitting at a HUGE old clunker of a computer made me laugh.

I liked most of the side-characters that appeared in this book, as well, like Nick Roberts, Dr. Chang, and Nora. The inspector was unique because there aren't a lot of officials or professionals in the Trixie series that are actually NICE to the Bob-Whites, so I liked him, too.

The mystery itself was very predictable, but there aren't too many cases of sabotage in this series, so I don't think it felt repetitive, except for the fact that Trixie has been locked someplace by a villain 5 billion times before, and this will probably continue to happen for all eternity.

Like I said, this book was just "meh". 3 stars out of 5.

[Mark Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Trixie learns that the local birds are having trouble finding food, she thinks it is the perfect project to keep the Bob-Whites busy during an especially harsh winter. They quickly decide to put on a pet show to raise funds. But someone disagrees. Who is out to sabotage the show?

Most fans of the series focus on the elements that seem out of place – Mart working on a computer and the Sleepyside mall. However, I still like this book. The plot seems weak for an entry in the series, and the crime is a little forced, but that’s my only complaint. There are some good opportunities for character growth, and the story is still fun overall.

Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.

[Bailey Marissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's another actually mystery and all the characters are back on point, but you can tell that the series is winding down.

Recommended 10+ for scary situations

[Sean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, I have to tell you that this has always been one of my favourite books, and also my mom's least favourite. You'll see why as I go on, but first things first. Here's an overview:

Trixie encounters a very shy girl (she literally runs into her) from her school who is out all winter long feeding the birds. Norma (the girl) bemoans how the poor wild birds don't have enough to eat, and her efforts are too little to really help all the fowl denizens of Sleepyside.

This gives Trixie the idea of doing something to help those poor underfed birds. And her idea is...to have a pet show! They can use the entrance money for bird seed! (Ok, that sounds goofy, but I don't mind it-they always have some fundraiser or other, and it does meet the criteria of the club to help the needy, and to have fun!)

The problem is, things start to go wrong. First they decide to ask a veterinarian to judge the show. The vet, Dr Chang agrees (sorry to have to point this out, but in an earlier book, they have a Black girl-the only one in the series. now we have the only Asian man in the series) That goes well, but when they tell the school secretary (you see, school policy is that the secretary needs to sign and approve all posters hung up in the school, and they want to advertise the show), she goes on a rant about how Dr Chang is a no-good quack! Both Trix and Honey are shocked as the secretary is said to be so nice and sweet. It makes Honey wonder if she is racist (Jonathan Deller, I know you said that in an earlier book, Trixie was accused of this, and I looked it up, and she wasn't, but this time it was said flat out). Trixie wonders about this too, but as Honey thinks about it, she dismisses the idea saying that there are a lot of non-Whites in the school and the secretary never seemed to mind (there are? That's news to me!)

That's not the half of their problems though. First, many people begin to back out of the pet show because a rumour was spread that the Bob-Whites are keeping the money for themselves! They quash that by opening a bank account which they can't touch, showing that the money really is going to the birds

Then, a radio station announces that the pet show is cancelled! When Trix calls them to tell them that there was a mistake, the radio announcer says that someone called earlier saying they were Trixie Belden and the show was cancelled.

Ok, this is where I got mad (not at the book, but at the characters) We know that Trix sometimes goes off on a tangent, but here it seems perfectly reasonable that she believes that someone is sabotaging them. The boys poo-poo this idea and that angers me SO MUCH! I have no problem with the book for doing this as it isn't out of character, but I have a problem with the boys themselves. This is book # 37! When will they start taking Trixie's word for things? At least consider that she might be right! ARRGGHHH! Sorry about that, I had to get it out of my system.

The next bad thing that happens is that Mart's computer program (oh, I forgot to mention that Mart was working on a computer program to classify all the pets entered in the show) keeps glitching. Later, he discovers that someone actually did sabotage the program! Ok, let me stop here. First, I was a kid in the '80s, and this was the time I first learned of Trixie. I know that for many fans, this is where the series "jumped the shark" because Mart is suddenly using computers. I didn't think anything of it because this book was the first one (or one of the first) I read brand new, so it seemed natural to me. Now looking back, I fondly remember the time when computers had to be programmed by the user. In fact, another series I read as a child was the adventure book series "Micro Adventure" (if anybody wants, I'll take a few pics of the covers and describe the books) One of the gimmicks of the series was that it had computer code in it that you could program into your computer to make rudimentary video games! I used to love typing those into my Commodore 64!

Before I go on, there was something that didn't ring true to me in the book that I forgot-it's a little thing, but when the students were signing up for a pet show (Honey, Di, and Trixie were the ones taking entries at the time), one teased that he had a hamster that might escape and go running around which made Trixie pale. This should have made Honey (or even Di) blanch, but as Optimus Prime said, I thought Trixie was made of sterner stuff.

So, it turns out a student in Mart's computer class was the culprit who sabotaged the program. He thinks the Bob-Whites are stuck up and was jealous that Mart was learning about the one thing he was good at. This makes Trixie wonder if Norma too was jealous of the Bob-Whites and is the one trying to wreck the pet show. (She was right-she was the naughty one) Norma even took Reddy to teach them a lesson, much to the woe of Bobby (who coincidentally is a LOT less annoying in this book-he actually was a great character in this one. So, good job, ghostwriter! Even Mart wasn't just getting on Trix's nerves. Probably another reason why this book is one of my favourites)

I have to say that if this was the whole book, this WOULD be my favourite. Ok, so the "criminals" were kids, and no actually illegal crime was committed (if you want to be technical, dognapping is theft, and calling into a radio station and impersonating someone is criminal mischief, but if this were in real life-at least when I was a kid, the punishment for these acts would have resulted in a spanking, not a trip to jail from Sgt Molison). But this is how another series I am very partial to was (at least in the first half of the series); the McGurk Organisation. All of the bad things were neighbourhood pranks, not illegal stuff.

But that was not all-you see, when Trix, Honey and Di were taking entries, a scruffy young man appeared and made a scene saying that people should support his charity of giving to the needy in poor countries instead of saving some birds. (Oh, and another thing I hated was the artwork of Trix, Di and Honey here. I said before that the artist in the last books make Trixie look boyish, but Honey did look attractive in the last couple books. Here, she doesn't. And Di! This is the only drawing of her from the last 5 books that I've seen (I no longer have books 38 & 39, so I don't know if she was illustrated in those), and she looks ugly! I thought she was supposed to be the prettiest girl in the school! In the old Deluxe editions, she really did look pretty, but not here!) A kindly man behind him donates $40 to Trixie's cause because the young man was so disruptive.

To make a long story short, the young man and his assistant are keeping the donations for themselves, and going to those poor countries and smuggling rubies! The kindly gentleman is an interpol agent who was trailing him (Sorry-I reread it-he's with the Attorney General's office, but same thing). What bothered my mom is that when Trixie spots the kindly man watching Paul Gale's (the young man) office and confronts him, he invites Trixie and Honey to a cafe to explain. My mom always told me how this was irresponsible to have in the book as young people should NEVER talk to strangers. (Yes, Trix gets herself in trouble in other books, but this time, it isn't a trap, and my mom thought this sends the wrong message). Even more unbeliveably, the agent agrees to wire Trix, Honey and later Norma (who is the one who ultimately confirms Paul Gale's profidy) and lets them go to Paul's office by themselves! What professional adult agent would risk kids like that? And it WAS a risk as the three girls wind up getting kidnapped and only saved by Reddy! This part was completely unnecessary-I would have been happy with the two schoolchildren being the "villains".

[Paula Vince · Rating 4 out of 5]

During a particularly icy winter, the Bob Whites decide to hold a pet show to raise money for the district's starving game birds. They wonder if they're courting trouble, by working with unpredictable animals. However, the pets turn out to be fine. It's other people who prove to be unreasonable and volatile. The Bob Whites' charitable venture gives folk with grudges of all sorts platforms to vent. And what's more, somebody is trying to sabotage the pet show. There is even an ugly rumor circulating that the birds are a ruse, and the Bob Whites plan to spend the proceeds on themselves. If they don't get to the bottom of it, the event will crash and burn. Who is behind the malicious behaviour, and why?

* The story starts with Trixie complaining that it's such a bitterly cold and freezing winter, she's stumped for things to do. The snowstorms and freezes never seem to end. Yet just three books ago (in The Missing Millionaire) it was such a sweltering summer, the Bob Whites hardly knew what to do with themselves then either. I'm convinced that at this late stage in the series, the Kathryn Kenny authors were just plonking the Bob Whites into any old season that took their fancy. (Incidentally, it was Laura French who wrote both those books.)

* I'm with Trixie; enlisting the help of hunting associations to help feed the hungry birds seems weird. She says, 'You mean we ask hunters to help save the birds this winter so they can kill them next fall?' Brian immediately rebukes her for being narrow-minded, and Jim and Dan agree with him. Hmmm, right, whatever you say, guys.

* All through the story, the supporting vet on board with the Bob Whites' plans is Dr Chang. I wonder whatever happened to Dr David Samet from The Mystery of the Velvet Gown. He was the lovely chap who treated Reddy when he broke his leg dashing in front of a car. Dr Samet was also the uncle of Jane Morgan, who was so envious that Di scored the role of Juliet in the school play. He doesn't get a passing mention in this book. That leaves us to form our own conclusions. Perhaps he retired or left Sleepyside to set up somewhere else, and Dr Chang took over his practice.

* During the signing up phase, Trixie makes fun of some outlandish pet names that come to light. She thinks the names of the Bob Whites' dogs make perfect, logical sense. 'Reddy is an Irish Setter, so he's red. Patch has brown and white patches. What else would you call them?' I'm sure some of the other pet owners may consider her approach unimaginative and mundane, but it's all in how you look at it.

* This story finally brings us into the era of technology, but it's very rudimentary! Mart is taking a computer class that sounds reminiscent of my Year 10 class in 1985, and sure enough, that's exactly when this book was published. He's overjoyed about learning to use an electronic spreadsheet. And Trixie accuses him of coming home sounding like a floppy disc. Anyway, Mart is confident and exuberant enough to kill two birds with one stone. (Figuratively speaking, since this story is all about saving birds and not killing them.) His major class assignment for Computers will be his work on the Pet Show. He plans to enter each pet's data into his program and voila, each animal will get sorted into its own winning category. If there are 100 entrants, he'll have 100 categories.

* Mart has hassles with Gordon Halvorson, Sleepyside High School's first ever computer geek. Gordon keeps offering to help, but his approach is smothering, breathing down Mart's neck in such a controlling manner than Mart doubts he'll ever learn anything at all off his own bat.

* The school secretary, Miss Von Trammel, resents Dr Chang with a passion and calls him a quack. Honey wonders whether it's because he's oriental. Gee whiz, that's a bit of a racist suspicion, Miss Wheeler. My immediate thought was that von Trammel must have had a bad experience while Chang was treating a pet of hers.

* Paul Gale, an angry young man from the World Hunger Foundation, mocks the Bob Whites for supposedly wanting to save starving birds over humans. He doesn't reflect that the ecological balance of the world is vitally important, and all living creatures are part of one web. He sneers, 'Let's not worry about all the people in the world who are starving. They aren't cute. They don't sing pretty for the people here in Sleepyside.' Yeah, this guy is a master of sarcasm. And as Brian says, 'His worthy cause doesn't make ours any less worthy.'

* For once, I'm right on Bobby's wavelength. The Bob Whites are reluctant to let him enter Reddy into the Pet Show, lest others accuse them of favouritism if he wins anything. Yet since Mart plans to build his computer program so that every pet wins a category anyway, nobody's nose should be knocked out of joint. I'm glad they all come to see this too.

* The theme of Reddy disappearing is used yet again. Honey says, 'It's not like Reddy to run away.' Is she kidding or what? How about when he runs amok in The Red Trailer Mystery? Or vanishes in the thick of an intense blizzard in The Mysterious Code? Or when he and Patch appear to have killed a deer deep in the game preserve in Mystery off Glen Road? Or when he loses himself in a strange barn in The Headless Horseman? Or when he trails the thief with the stolen Wimpy's patties in The Midnight Marauder? That dog is a total will-o'-the-wisp.

* The motif of other students disliking the Bob Whites for their supposed smugness and cliquiness rears its ugly head again too. Norma Nelson resents the fact that they've surpassed her modest bird feeding efforts with something so much more grandiose, as if to rub her nose in it. And Gordon Halvorson feels indignant that Mart rejects his overbearing efforts to help him with his project. (Gordon and Norma can now join Tad, Ben, Nick, Jane, and any other students who have ever felt the same. As Mart says of Gordon, 'He's really convinced that we're a conceited little in-group.')

* Hmm, I think the crook spills all his beans a bit too readily, but I guess at that stage, he still thinks he may get away with it all.

* Now how about the quote of the book? Runner up is Gordon's pointed, 'I just thought one of the Beldens could let someone else be good at something for a change.' But to welcome the Bob Whites to the cusp of the computer age, I thought I'd go with this exchange. Trixie: I thought computerizing the categories was going to be a big labor saver. Mart: It was. Unfortunately the labor that was saved was yours. The labor that was expended was exclusively my own.

[Don Heiman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 37th book in the Trixie Belden series “The Pet Show Mystery.” Is a Western Publishing Company novel authored by a team of writers under the pseudonym “Kathryn Kenny.” The book is about Sleepyside, New York high school classmate Norma Nelson, high school secretary Miss von Trammel, and Paul Gale who is a dishonest owner of a bogus social services foundation. Norma provides seeds to “at-risk” birds; Paul operates a phony foundation that promotes feeding young people who are suffering from extreme hunger; and Mrs Trammel approves charitable promotion materials for posting on high school media sites. Trixie’s Bob-White club decides to create a charitable fund raising event to provide money for feeding endangered and starving fowls. Norma is very upset that Trixie’s team is “upstaging” her initiative to feed endangered birds; and Miss von Trammel is agitated that the Bob-White Club is collaborating with a veterinarian whom she believes caused the death of her much beloved pet dog. Also, Paul Gale and his phony “feed the hungry” (starving poor) foundation are under investigation by a New York State detective for fraud and corruption. Trixie’s club and Norma discover irrevocable evidence that Paul is corrupt. Paul tried to kill Trixie, Honey Wheeler, and Norma Nelson. The Bob-Whites and State Detective David Llewelyn discover the murder attempt and save them. Paul Gale is captured and found guilty of his crimes of deceit and attempted murder. The novel ends with the Bob -Whites and Norma receiving a $1,000 reward for the capture of Paul Gale; and the Bob-White fund raising event to feed endangered birds is a huge success. (P)

[Nicola · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the Trixie Belden books as a kid (nice to see they got republished). I'm still unsure how they ended up in my corner of the world. I slowly amassed the whole series as first editions (it seemed so glamourous as a kid owning precious books that were older than me!) by saving all my pocket money to buy them from the local secondhand store. I can only guess that some adult (probably having moved to our sleepy town from overseas) had sold them off in bulk. They sat in a back corner of the store, thankfully ignored by everyone else, as I slowly acquired them through pocket money and then in a mass swoop for Christmas. It helped that back then secondhand books sold for anywhere from 10 cents to 50 cents rather than $7-10 as they do these days!

They were wonderful mystery books for children of a similar ilk to Famous Five, Secret Seven, Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, The Three Investigators etc.; set in a time long before cellphones when sleuthing into mysterious mansions, smugglers, and strange sounds in the night wouldn't cause any real harm to befall our child investigators.

[Katja Labonté · Rating 5 out of 5]

5+ stars & 7/10 hearts. After a whole bunch of books where adults don’t listen to Trixie or take her seriously, this book was refreshing! A real detective taking her seriously and helping her out. Take that, Sergeant. xP I enjoyed this story. The mystery was well done and very interesting and exciting, and the climax wasn’t brought about by any fault of Trixie’s! I liked David and Norma, too, and all the Bob-Whites were awesome. And Mart and his computer—oh my word. XD XD

[Kayla · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Trixie (& Co.) so much but I just didn't enjoy this one as much as I normally love the Trixie books.

[Tita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vejam a minha opinião em vídeo, AQUI.

[Montserrat Esteban · Rating 5 out of 5]

En este penúltimo de la serie vemos como nuestros protagonistas se meten en líos cada vez más peligrosos, y con mucho misterio. Disfruto mucho de estos libros

[J.L. Day · Rating 5 out of 5]

a HUGE and most dedicated fan of Trixie and her crew. This is odd, of course, because they were MEANT for teen and pre-teen girls, but I was a young boy that read everything he could get his hands on and when I first stumbled on my first TRIXIE BELDON book I was instantly hooked!

I immediately sat about reading them all, as quickly as I could get my greedy little paws on them. Trixie is the star, or "lead" character, followed by Jim and Honey (who quickly became the love of my young life, I had a total crush on a fictional character that only existed in ink) and this brave trio was constantly getting into trouble, solving mysteries and murders; that sort of thing.

It falls along the line of the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew and other similar series, but the Trixie series carries more of the teenage angst and a subtle love triangle of conflicted who likes whom mystery that battles back and forth throughout the series. All of the while though, the same cheerful, effervescent and energetic positive attitude and domineering never quit/never let them see you down philosophy is the major subtext all through the books.

It is simply impossible to read these and NOT feel good about yourself and about LIFE, to have a sense of "all is well" in the world and a cheerful demeanor just naturally permeate your soul. I know, it SOUNDS crazy, but it is true.

I lost all of my Trixie books years ago, lending them to friends and that sort of thing. Since then, I have been on a quest to rebuild my collection of hardbacks. I find most of them at "Friends of the Library Sales" and things like that, but I am ever watchful at garage sales and places, for I do not have even a third of them built back

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Woe: I have now run out of Trixie Belden that I have access to. So the great rereading project stops here, until and unless I find the last two extant books.

I don't think I ever really thought about the plot of this one when reading it as a kid, but there are COMPUTERS in it, and Trixie makes a joke that Mart is "talking like a floppy disk" which is pretty much hilarious to read in 2015. There is a cringe-y moment as it was apparently still acceptable in 1980 to call someone (probably Korean?) "an Oriental" but other than that it still stands up pretty well for what it is.

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

In every Trixie Belden book, i always compare myself to honey. But now I see part of me in Norma.

While I don't think i would do as much as she did, i do think I might feel resentful if I quietly did a good cause by myself for so long, only for one person to here about it and be praised for it like a saint.

I'd be a little bitter, but I don't think I would take any action...

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better of the infamous final five books in the series. Although the books try hard to be timeless, I do like the introduction of computers into this one and love the idea that Mart would be the computer whiz.

[Tacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is one of the top five Trixies! Nick Roberts helps the gang with their latest project, which is Nora Nelson's original idea. These books are great because they deal with teens' need to belong.

[for-much-deliberation ... · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great children's mystery series featuring thirteen year old Trixie and her friends Honey and Diana...

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

book 37

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was okay.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although a couple of things were more far-fetched than usual with Trixie's detecting, the book is still a fun, quick read that takes me back to the days I, too, wanted to be a "girl detective"!

[Mell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written much later than the majority of the other books. All were ghostwritten under two pen names.

[Joy Gerbode · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is fun because it deals with animals. Another simple, but enjoyable, read.