Donna Parker: Mystery at Arawak

Donna Parker #6

by Marcia Martin, Mary Stevens (Illustrator)

After her exciting trip to California, Donna takes a job as a junior counselor at Camp Arawak for the remainder of her summer.

At first Donna finds camp life hard - Arawak is very different from Cherrydale, she does not know anyone, her charges are diverse and lively, and her senior counselor seems to be hiding something.

Donna soon gets accustomed to camp life, meeting new friends, taking on new tasks, and helping run the drama department at the camp.

Whilst different from Cherrydale, Arawak has its share of mysteries. It doesn't take long for Donna to get caught up in some very strange events.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Childrens, Mystery

282 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1962

About the author

Pen name of Marcia Lauter Obrasky Levin.

A popular children's book author, creator of the Donna Parker series, 22 books for beginning readers, and some of the first enrichment text books in the "New Mathematics". She was born and raised in Philadelphia, and lived in Rye, New York for 56 years.

Reviews

[Betsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

My least favorite of the series.

[Roberta · Rating 1 out of 5]

Somehow Donna seems different in this book. It's almost as if a different author wrote this book, although it still said Marcia Martin. Few of the usual cast of characters appear in this book and there are too many new ones to keep track of. Probably my least favorite of the Donna Parker series.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

One more to go and I am finished my walk down Donna Parker lane. I definitely remember reading this one but all I actually remembered was that it was set in a girl's camp and there was a fire. Anyway not sure if that's my bad memory or a book that wasn't exactly riveting! Overall I liked this one. Had some good lessons in there for young girls to take on board without hitting anyone over the head with it. And I did think that some of the other characters were very well drawn, especially Amy and "Teddy" Bair. They weren't just there to be Donna's sounding board - they had real personalities and issues of their own.

[Monica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m not sure why I read this other than my arcane system of picking out from my TBR stacks. PopSugar said - read a book you purchased at an Independent bookstore and Donna Parker fit that bill.

I purchased it with a Trixie Belden book. I love Trixie Belden. Those are pure sugar candy nostalgic childhood summers. I don’t have that for Miss Donna Parker, so I mainly read it with questions in my head. ‘Why is she so passive?’’Who spit in Ms. Parker’s cornflakes this morning?’ ‘Am I breathing in weird mold from this elderly book?’

[Georgie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book when I was around 12 years old and found the romance between Donna and Teddy intriguing. My husband bought the book for me a year ago as a gift. In re-reading it, the Donna and Teddy story isn't how I remembered it at all! I thought there was much more to it. Also, the so called mystery at Arawak is still a mystery to me! The story has a great setting being at a summer camp and it was nice to revisit a time of innocence and simplicity.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Constantly referring to young children as midgets over and over in the story is disappointing, especially for a children's book. Not realistic that a children's summer camp would keep running in a severe drought that had fires breaking out and an owner worried about them constantly starting. Donna seems more than a little clueless for her age when she doesn't even know what a fire brigade is. That being said I did like the characters much better in this story than Hollywood. More developed.

[Karen Szyszko · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been decades since I've read this book and I was amazed at how much I enjoyed it. As an early teen, I was reluctant to read the book because the cover looked different than other Donna Parker books. Lots of happenings in this story and it all takes place in four short weeks. This book may become even more favored than "Hollywood."

[Trish · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one wasn’t that good. Disappointing.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first Donna Parker book. I read this over and over when I was a kid.

[Jeanne]

I more to go in the series!

[Nancy Zubiri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun look back at the 1950s/60s. Not much of a mystery, but an enjoyable teen book.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed her Cherrydale camp experience more. There was a lot of foreshadowing that didn't work well and just some unrealistic things that made this story less than great.

[Adrienne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pleasant read. I didn’t read this as a kid, but I liked the characters and the different personalities the author described. A welcome respite from the horrors of the world right now.

[Milley · Rating 4 out of 5]

i liked the detail. And the inner life of a 14 year old!

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this whole series as a young girl. My daddy brought home the first one for me to read when I was in about 4th grade and home sick from school. It was the first "big" book I remember reading and I was hooked on reading from that point on!

[Melodie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did so love these books when I was a kid!! I remember buying them for $.59 at Kresge's when I had money or asking for them for Christmas. Man, were things a LOT simpler then!

[Joy Gerbode · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoying these re-reads ... noticing some interesting things that are great reminders of our lives back in the middle of the previous century.

[Shelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it as a child and love it now!

[Freyja Vanadis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now this is more like the Donna Parker I'm familiar with. She's still a bit clueless when it comes to other people's feelings, but she's nowhere near as hateful as in a few of the other books.