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The Hardy Boys Secret Files Collection Books 1-5 (Boxed Set): Trouble at the Arcade; The Missing Mitt; Mystery Map; Hopping Mad; A Monster of a Mystery
It’s five times the mysteries—and five time the fun—with this paperback boxed set of The Hardy Boys Secret Files adventures!
When there’s trouble brewing in Bayport, brothers Frank and Joe Hardy are the go-to guys for solving cases. Help crack the first five cases in the Hardy Boys chapter book series!
This boxed set
Trouble at the Arcade
The Missing Mitt
Mystery Map
Hopping Mad
Monster of a Mystery
When there’s trouble brewing in Bayport, brothers Frank and Joe Hardy are the go-to guys for solving cases. Help crack the first five cases in the Hardy Boys chapter book series!
This boxed set
Trouble at the Arcade
The Missing Mitt
Mystery Map
Hopping Mad
Monster of a Mystery
- GenresChildrens
496 pages, Paperback
First published August 5, 2014
3 people are currently reading
27 people want to read
About the author
Franklin W. Dixon
783 books998 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 of 1 review
August 20, 2019
#1 Trouble at the Arcade - Frank and Joe are excited to enter a video game contest at the local arcade. Frank has been practicing but Joe is positive he can do well on just his existing skill. They meet up in their tree house before they head out. The discuss a spare room that their dad is fixing up and Joe is positive it is a bedroom so they won't have to share anymore. Joe says that whoever wins the contest should get both the game console (the prize) and the new bedroom. Frank agrees. As their dad drives them to the contest they continue to argue and their father reminds them that they are brothers and should be a team. They buy tickets at the arcade from the owner's son, Darryl. The go in and get in line at the game that is part of the contest. The first boy is Chet, who doesn't do well at all. Next is Callie, a new girl who does very well at the game. Next is Adam who does great and gets lots of tickets from the machine. He watches the other kids play for a while and then says he is going to get a soda. Next is Chet's sister Iola plays and does very well coming in at second place after Adam. Suddenly Chet and Iola's little sister Mimi comes up she has lots of plastic bracelets and rings but won't say how she got them. All she will say is that she found some tickets, although the others object that if so someone lost them and she shouldn't have taken them and used them to buy prizes. Now it is Joe's turn he is doing well but his concentration is broken when the owner appears and says that someone stole the entrance fee money and the contest is off until they find it. Adam reappears but doesn't have the soda he went to go get but does gloat that his score was better than Joe. Frank notices someone running away and both brothers chase the person through the bumper cars and over the skeet machines before catching up with the person and finding out that it is Callie. They confront her about being the thief but she claims that she was running because she saw Adam with the money and he threatened her. Adam pulls out his pockets and shows that he has nothing in them to prove that he is not the thief. Darryl appears with money in hand, but says that this money is not from the cash box but instead he got it as a tip for helping a woman with her bags. Darryl blames Mimi saying that she had been bugging him earlier for tickets and asked where she got all her prices. Frank and Joe decide that just like their dad is a private investigator that they will investigate this crime and recover the money. The go through their Ws (Who, What, Where, When, Why and How) to try to figure out who stole the money. The go to the office to try to figure out exactly When the crime occurred. The arcade owner Mr. Fun is confronting his son, they see the broken money box under the desk and see pieces of the wood outside the door. Darryl doesn't want to talk to the two brothers so he goes on the Bumper car, Frank and Joe force him into a corner and he talks. Darryl admits that he was so excited to make his tip money that he knocked over the box and broke it. The money went under the desk. He figured he would clean it up when he got back but helping the woman took longer than he anticipated. Darryl again directs them to Mimi who changes her story, she admits that she found money but said that she gave it to its rightful owner and says that as a reward this Prince gave her tickets which she used for her prizes. They talk to a snack worker named Sandy who mentions that Adam was acting weirdly earlier taking lots of napkins. Frank and Joe then have a brainstorm, removing the napkins and find the money. They wrap up the case noting that Adam should have had tickets in his pocket when he pulled them out earlier but he didn't since he had given them to Mimi in exchange for the money. They then decide that they do make a good team and should solve mysteries in the future. The book ends with a comic strip of them and their dad making the tree house.
# 2 The Missing Mitt - Joe is dreaming of winning the Little League World Series when his mom calls him to get ready to go. He comes down to eat breakfast. The clock on the wall says it is 8:30 and they had plenty of time to get to the park by 9am when the coach wanted them to show up. But then their father comes in with a battery and says that the clock stopped that it was almost 9am so they race on their bikes to get to the park in time or risk the coach saying that they can't play. They race along but are stopped in the park, when an old man Mr. Mack accidentally hits Frank on the head with a stick. He had been throwing it to his dog Lucy. They spend (too much time?) getting to know one another and then remember they are suppose to be racing to the ball field. They head out and make at the last moment. Coach Quinn is there, a female no no nonsense coach. Jason is there, a boy who is a good player and also has a lucky mitt that his father used in the major leagues. And Speedy is there, a fast small girl who is pitcher and can talk a mile a minute. (She is described as having "dark hair and dark skin" but a later illustration has shown as a white girl.) The other team arrives with their best player, Conor Hound. When Jason notices his mitt is missing he and some of his teammates blame Conor since they saw him near their equipment. Conor says he just wasn't sure whose equipment was whose and that was why he was over by the wrong team's equipment. The Coach says she won't listen to anyone accuse someone without proof. Frank and Joe step away from the yelling and decide to look into the case. As they are going through their Ws to try to figure out what they know they work through "When" and it is at this point that the book makes a mistake in its chronology (which feels funny for a book that started out with a stopped clock and mistakes on what time it is). Here is the chronology they outline: 8:59 when Frank and Joe arrived Jason was throwing his mitt on the pile of equipment. At 9:30 the opposing team arrived. At 10:00am Jason realized that the mitt was missing. But at the end of the chapter they mention that the game will start at 9:30am (something which hasn't happened yet in the story) so clearly the author or editor messed up the chronology here. Getting back to the story. Jason says the will not play without his lucky mitt. Frank and Joe agree that the most likely suspect is Conor. The only clue Frank and Joe find is a stick in the equipment pile and when they find it Lucy once again knocks over Frank. When Mr. Mack comes over and admits he and his dog were by the equipment pile earlier they add him to the suspect list but later remove him since he doesn't seem to have any motive. They try to talk to Conor during the game and end up getting thrown out by their coach when Conor said they accused him (which they didn't). So now their team, the Bayport Bandits, are down three players Frank, Joe and Jason (who still refuses to play). Frank and Joe talk to their parents. Their dad suggests going back over the evidence. They re-interview Jason and this time he mentions that Lucy knocked him down just as he was throwing his mitt on the pile. After talking to Mr. Mack again they put it together. That Lucy must have grabbed the mitt and buried it thinking it was another thing to play catch with. Joe tosses his own Mitt and they follow Lucy on a crazy chase (they try to grab her a couple times which doesn't make sense since they were trying to get her to lead them to Jason's mitt). She leads them to a pit full of toys and sticks and the missing mitt. They go back. Jason apologizes to Conor. The coach apologizes to Joe and Frank saying it was clear that they were trying to solve this. They join the last couple innings where magically they are able to tie up the game and the game ends in a tie. There is a comic strip in the end with Joe and Frank hiking with another friend (maybe Jason) in the woods and thinking they are lost only to realize they are still just in their back yard. My only note (other than the time goof I mentioned earlier) is that I would have liked Jason to have regretted sitting out. No one forced him to not play without his mitt but despite his coach's encouragement he just decides he can't play without the mitt. It would have been nice in the end if he regretted that.
#3 Mystery Map - The book starts with the friends (Frank, Joe, Iola, and Phil) playing dodgeball when Adam comes up and gives the group a hard time. Meanwhile, Chet has found a treasure map on the back of a burger wrapper. They plan to meet the next day to try to uncover the treasure. When the boys go home for dinner they notice their parents are acting a bit weird. Their father is spending a lot of time in the spare room and their mother is spending a lot of time cleaning (which she doesn't enjoy). The boys know their Aunt Gertrude is coming for a visit so they figure it might be related to that visit. The next day they meet up with Chet and use the map to try to find the starting path of the route, but once they get there they come across two cross teenagers who chase them away. They go home (their parents are still acting odd) - they take notes on both mysteries the treasure and their parents. The next day they go out again and Iola has joined her brother Chet and Frank and Joe. The go back to where the teens were but there is nothing there now but trash. They follow the path but realize the map is torn and they can't see the end spot. Frank gets an idea he talks to Phil who leads them to Biff who happens to have a bloodhound. They ask to borrow the dog to try to find the trail. They try but the puppy is too excited to be of much use, but at that moment Chet notices tracks that he thinks he can follow to the treasure. Meanwhile Adam shows up Joe decides to pretend that the puppy is good at tracking and leads Adam on a wild goose chase to a garbage site, before going back and joining his friends who find money in a KwikSnak bag in the knot of a tree. The friends are at first excited to split, but Frank says they have to go to KwikSnak and find find out if the money was lost or taken. Turns out the two teenagers the group ran into earlier stole the money and the owner so happy to get the money back gives the group a reward. When the boys get home they learn that their parent's mysterious behavior was due to the fact that Aunt Gertrude was not just coming to visit them, she was moving in with them (into the spare room Dad had been working on).
#4 Hopping Mad - Starts with the boys having a sword fight inspired by the Princess Bride [Side Note: Although as an uber fan, I can say they use the wrong line to end the sword fight by having Inigo Montoya (as played by Frank) say the more quotable line from the movie "My name is Inigo Montoya..." rather than the actual line that Inigo says at the ends that sword fight with Wesley. Although it is very understandable that they couldn't have a children's book hero say "Kill me quickly."] They are practicing for the upcoming talent show although their aunt and mother do insist that they trade in their curtain rods for wrapping paper tubes. Two days later it is the talent show. Adam goes up and tells some jokes which make the principal made and he has to leave the show. Adam's sister, Mina, is too nervous to go so the principal allows her to not participate. A couple more acts and then Cissy "Speedy" Zermeno juggles four baseballs the act is a hit. Melissa and Todd who have been the stars of previous talent shows come out to sing in black and yellow costumes. Just at they are beginning to sing a frog falls on Melissa's face and then more and more fall down. The principal cancels the talent show until the culprit is found. Frank and Joe begin to investigate. They go to talk to Adam and when his little sister begins to insist Adam couldn't have done it Adam suddenly confesses while silencing Mina. He goes to the principal's office to turn himself in, but Frank doesn't think he is telling the truth. The Principal tells the Hardy Boys that if they don't think it is Adam they need to catch the real culprit. The boys go to talk to Melissa and Todd. Melissa mentions she loves frogs and Todd says he is sure that the frogs came from the ceiling of the auditorium. The Hardy boys climb a scaffolding at the back of the auditorium (meant for lights) until they get close to the ceiling, they see some of the air vents are open. The get up into the air vents crawl into they get to a science class room and find out from the science teacher there that a girl in what he calls a bumble bee costume let his frogs go. The boys realize this was Melissa who had done it just because she liked frogs not to cause a disturbance at the talent show. Mina finally tells them that Adam confessed because he was actually singing to her to make her less sad after her stage fright. Melissa is assigned to work with the scientist and his frogs, which she is thrilled with. The talent show resumes, Speedy wins 1st price, Melissa and Todd win 2nd, and the Hardy boys win third.
#5 A monster of a Mystery - Joe and Frank are playing with their friends with Chet in the part of Morpho the monster a comic book character that will eat your brain with a spork. Chet is an uber fan who even has a limited edition Morpho mask. That weekend all the friends go to an event at a comic book store where they can meet the actor who plays Morpho and the comic book creator. As Frank and Joe are in line they are with Chet, Iola and their little sister Mimi who is scared of Morpho but insisted on coming to look at Giggle Girlzies comics. They see a friend Biff with his cousin Colin who has a mask as well but one that is not as nice at Chet's. The event is packed and at first is going well (although Mimi and a friend run back into the employee area scared of the Morpho actor). However it is soon revealed that Morpho's spork is missing. The Comic Book Store Owner shuts down the event until the spork can be recovered. Joe is positive Adam (who is at the event) took the spork referencing their first case where Adam was the culprit. (Joe apparently forgets about his most recent case where Adam pretended to be culprit but was actually innocent.) They see Adam going for the door. The confront him. He says he was leaving because he knew they would blame him but ends up staying. The boys interview a bunch of people. Hear that someone in Morpho mask went into the employee area just as the event started. They check in the employee area and behind. Find a Morpho mask and the spork in a dumpster. However now the adults think that Frank and Joe stole the spork. They realize they have to find the culprit who would have lost his mask. Chet has just found Mimi who was hiding in the bathroom from the monster. He is missing his mask. Frank is about to accuse his friend, but Joe realizes that Colin has Chet's mask and is the real culprit.
Boys
# 2 The Missing Mitt - Joe is dreaming of winning the Little League World Series when his mom calls him to get ready to go. He comes down to eat breakfast. The clock on the wall says it is 8:30 and they had plenty of time to get to the park by 9am when the coach wanted them to show up. But then their father comes in with a battery and says that the clock stopped that it was almost 9am so they race on their bikes to get to the park in time or risk the coach saying that they can't play. They race along but are stopped in the park, when an old man Mr. Mack accidentally hits Frank on the head with a stick. He had been throwing it to his dog Lucy. They spend (too much time?) getting to know one another and then remember they are suppose to be racing to the ball field. They head out and make at the last moment. Coach Quinn is there, a female no no nonsense coach. Jason is there, a boy who is a good player and also has a lucky mitt that his father used in the major leagues. And Speedy is there, a fast small girl who is pitcher and can talk a mile a minute. (She is described as having "dark hair and dark skin" but a later illustration has shown as a white girl.) The other team arrives with their best player, Conor Hound. When Jason notices his mitt is missing he and some of his teammates blame Conor since they saw him near their equipment. Conor says he just wasn't sure whose equipment was whose and that was why he was over by the wrong team's equipment. The Coach says she won't listen to anyone accuse someone without proof. Frank and Joe step away from the yelling and decide to look into the case. As they are going through their Ws to try to figure out what they know they work through "When" and it is at this point that the book makes a mistake in its chronology (which feels funny for a book that started out with a stopped clock and mistakes on what time it is). Here is the chronology they outline: 8:59 when Frank and Joe arrived Jason was throwing his mitt on the pile of equipment. At 9:30 the opposing team arrived. At 10:00am Jason realized that the mitt was missing. But at the end of the chapter they mention that the game will start at 9:30am (something which hasn't happened yet in the story) so clearly the author or editor messed up the chronology here. Getting back to the story. Jason says the will not play without his lucky mitt. Frank and Joe agree that the most likely suspect is Conor. The only clue Frank and Joe find is a stick in the equipment pile and when they find it Lucy once again knocks over Frank. When Mr. Mack comes over and admits he and his dog were by the equipment pile earlier they add him to the suspect list but later remove him since he doesn't seem to have any motive. They try to talk to Conor during the game and end up getting thrown out by their coach when Conor said they accused him (which they didn't). So now their team, the Bayport Bandits, are down three players Frank, Joe and Jason (who still refuses to play). Frank and Joe talk to their parents. Their dad suggests going back over the evidence. They re-interview Jason and this time he mentions that Lucy knocked him down just as he was throwing his mitt on the pile. After talking to Mr. Mack again they put it together. That Lucy must have grabbed the mitt and buried it thinking it was another thing to play catch with. Joe tosses his own Mitt and they follow Lucy on a crazy chase (they try to grab her a couple times which doesn't make sense since they were trying to get her to lead them to Jason's mitt). She leads them to a pit full of toys and sticks and the missing mitt. They go back. Jason apologizes to Conor. The coach apologizes to Joe and Frank saying it was clear that they were trying to solve this. They join the last couple innings where magically they are able to tie up the game and the game ends in a tie. There is a comic strip in the end with Joe and Frank hiking with another friend (maybe Jason) in the woods and thinking they are lost only to realize they are still just in their back yard. My only note (other than the time goof I mentioned earlier) is that I would have liked Jason to have regretted sitting out. No one forced him to not play without his mitt but despite his coach's encouragement he just decides he can't play without the mitt. It would have been nice in the end if he regretted that.
#3 Mystery Map - The book starts with the friends (Frank, Joe, Iola, and Phil) playing dodgeball when Adam comes up and gives the group a hard time. Meanwhile, Chet has found a treasure map on the back of a burger wrapper. They plan to meet the next day to try to uncover the treasure. When the boys go home for dinner they notice their parents are acting a bit weird. Their father is spending a lot of time in the spare room and their mother is spending a lot of time cleaning (which she doesn't enjoy). The boys know their Aunt Gertrude is coming for a visit so they figure it might be related to that visit. The next day they meet up with Chet and use the map to try to find the starting path of the route, but once they get there they come across two cross teenagers who chase them away. They go home (their parents are still acting odd) - they take notes on both mysteries the treasure and their parents. The next day they go out again and Iola has joined her brother Chet and Frank and Joe. The go back to where the teens were but there is nothing there now but trash. They follow the path but realize the map is torn and they can't see the end spot. Frank gets an idea he talks to Phil who leads them to Biff who happens to have a bloodhound. They ask to borrow the dog to try to find the trail. They try but the puppy is too excited to be of much use, but at that moment Chet notices tracks that he thinks he can follow to the treasure. Meanwhile Adam shows up Joe decides to pretend that the puppy is good at tracking and leads Adam on a wild goose chase to a garbage site, before going back and joining his friends who find money in a KwikSnak bag in the knot of a tree. The friends are at first excited to split, but Frank says they have to go to KwikSnak and find find out if the money was lost or taken. Turns out the two teenagers the group ran into earlier stole the money and the owner so happy to get the money back gives the group a reward. When the boys get home they learn that their parent's mysterious behavior was due to the fact that Aunt Gertrude was not just coming to visit them, she was moving in with them (into the spare room Dad had been working on).
#4 Hopping Mad - Starts with the boys having a sword fight inspired by the Princess Bride [Side Note: Although as an uber fan, I can say they use the wrong line to end the sword fight by having Inigo Montoya (as played by Frank) say the more quotable line from the movie "My name is Inigo Montoya..." rather than the actual line that Inigo says at the ends that sword fight with Wesley. Although it is very understandable that they couldn't have a children's book hero say "Kill me quickly."] They are practicing for the upcoming talent show although their aunt and mother do insist that they trade in their curtain rods for wrapping paper tubes. Two days later it is the talent show. Adam goes up and tells some jokes which make the principal made and he has to leave the show. Adam's sister, Mina, is too nervous to go so the principal allows her to not participate. A couple more acts and then Cissy "Speedy" Zermeno juggles four baseballs the act is a hit. Melissa and Todd who have been the stars of previous talent shows come out to sing in black and yellow costumes. Just at they are beginning to sing a frog falls on Melissa's face and then more and more fall down. The principal cancels the talent show until the culprit is found. Frank and Joe begin to investigate. They go to talk to Adam and when his little sister begins to insist Adam couldn't have done it Adam suddenly confesses while silencing Mina. He goes to the principal's office to turn himself in, but Frank doesn't think he is telling the truth. The Principal tells the Hardy Boys that if they don't think it is Adam they need to catch the real culprit. The boys go to talk to Melissa and Todd. Melissa mentions she loves frogs and Todd says he is sure that the frogs came from the ceiling of the auditorium. The Hardy boys climb a scaffolding at the back of the auditorium (meant for lights) until they get close to the ceiling, they see some of the air vents are open. The get up into the air vents crawl into they get to a science class room and find out from the science teacher there that a girl in what he calls a bumble bee costume let his frogs go. The boys realize this was Melissa who had done it just because she liked frogs not to cause a disturbance at the talent show. Mina finally tells them that Adam confessed because he was actually singing to her to make her less sad after her stage fright. Melissa is assigned to work with the scientist and his frogs, which she is thrilled with. The talent show resumes, Speedy wins 1st price, Melissa and Todd win 2nd, and the Hardy boys win third.
#5 A monster of a Mystery - Joe and Frank are playing with their friends with Chet in the part of Morpho the monster a comic book character that will eat your brain with a spork. Chet is an uber fan who even has a limited edition Morpho mask. That weekend all the friends go to an event at a comic book store where they can meet the actor who plays Morpho and the comic book creator. As Frank and Joe are in line they are with Chet, Iola and their little sister Mimi who is scared of Morpho but insisted on coming to look at Giggle Girlzies comics. They see a friend Biff with his cousin Colin who has a mask as well but one that is not as nice at Chet's. The event is packed and at first is going well (although Mimi and a friend run back into the employee area scared of the Morpho actor). However it is soon revealed that Morpho's spork is missing. The Comic Book Store Owner shuts down the event until the spork can be recovered. Joe is positive Adam (who is at the event) took the spork referencing their first case where Adam was the culprit. (Joe apparently forgets about his most recent case where Adam pretended to be culprit but was actually innocent.) They see Adam going for the door. The confront him. He says he was leaving because he knew they would blame him but ends up staying. The boys interview a bunch of people. Hear that someone in Morpho mask went into the employee area just as the event started. They check in the employee area and behind. Find a Morpho mask and the spork in a dumpster. However now the adults think that Frank and Joe stole the spork. They realize they have to find the culprit who would have lost his mask. Chet has just found Mimi who was hiding in the bathroom from the monster. He is missing his mask. Frank is about to accuse his friend, but Joe realizes that Colin has Chet's mask and is the real culprit.
Boys
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