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American Girl History Mysteries #4
Voices at Whisper Bend
In their Pennsylvania town in 1942 twelve-year-old Charlotte and her classmates collect scrap metal for the war effort only to have it disappear from the school basement
162 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1999
About the author
Katherine Ayres
20 books36 followersKatherine Ayres is the author of ten books for children and teenagers. She lives in Pittsburgh, PA where she teaches writing to graduate students and Chatham University.
At age 19 she appeared on the TV show, To Tell the Truth--as a liar. "It was good practice for becoming a fiction writer," she says. "These days I have to make up stuff all the time. And I like it!"
Then, as now, Ayres was a convincing story spinner--members of the panel believed her impersonation as young readers believe and enjoy her characters today.
To get to know Katherine better, visit her website (www.katherineayres.com) and her blog (katherineayres.blogspot.com).
At age 19 she appeared on the TV show, To Tell the Truth--as a liar. "It was good practice for becoming a fiction writer," she says. "These days I have to make up stuff all the time. And I like it!"
Then, as now, Ayres was a convincing story spinner--members of the panel believed her impersonation as young readers believe and enjoy her characters today.
To get to know Katherine better, visit her website (www.katherineayres.com) and her blog (katherineayres.blogspot.com).
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
October 11, 2016
An interesting read. This story really was able to give a feeling of some of what it was like for children living in a factory town during WWII. Besides a mention of going to church on Sunday morning, there really wasn't any mention of Christian things. I did enjoy the story, and learned some things I had never really thought about.
March 23, 2017
Here again is me liking juvenile fiction - perhaps that's my maturity level?
Read
January 27, 2023This is my first non-AG doll mystery book, and I am incredibly impressed.
July 28, 2024
“Intrigue for girls 10 and up” sure is correct! I loved it! Cried 4 times. Gasped aloud definitely more than 4 times. Read in 1 sitting.
July 30, 2021
I love a good WWII home front story. I think I prefer this one to Molly's stories. I feel that I learned more quicker, and also Charlotte wasn't as bratty. It's not a super mystery mystery. Not as much sleuthing, but a good story and plot.
March 17, 2020
Reading this made me feel a little better, during the fearful time we currently find ourselves in. I confess I've been feeling a little... Selfish, I suppose, when you outright think about it. I'm not really scared of the virus itself, but more fearful of the way it's affecting every day life. But when you look at in light of something like living through WW2, or the Great Depression, you really just realize how blessed we have been, how blessed we still ARE. There is still a net of safety about us in these uncertain times. As in this book, there's a lot of finger pointing and blaming going around, and we need to stop a moment and look at the bigger picture. Sometimes it takes a book to remind you of things like this. I'm reminded of a quote, by CS Lewis I believe.. 'A children's story that is written only for children, is a bad children's story'....
February 11, 2022
Had a mad dash to finish this on the last day as it was due at the library and couldn’t be renewed.
It was just okay. Not only did the book take place at the same time as the Molly series, but also in the same region of the US. And the plot is that the metal for a scrap metal drive gets stolen. Minus the thievery part, this is the same plot as Molly Learns a Lesson. I thought the author could have been a bit more original. Also, the protagonist doesn’t have a single personality trait whatsoever. The only mildly interesting thing she does is come up with the idea for the scrap metal drive, which didn’t make much sense as you’d think the school would organize that themselves. I didn’t love Pam Lowder in the last book, but at least there was something to her.
The plot was fairly fast-paced, but it’s like after the metal is stolen there is no progress made on the mystery at all. The kids don’t find clues; they just suspect random people and are proved wrong again and again. Then they ACCIDENTALLY come across the scrap metal towards the end and don’t decide to inform a single adult, instead planning their own stakeout.
This part was INFURIATING. It is totally for plot convenience that the kids don’t seek help. In real life, most young kids would tell an adult immediately if they found stolen property. They do briefly consider telling the police, but the protagonist’s friend Paul Rossi (who is portrayed as ~wise beyond his years~) is like “No, the police will laugh us off, they’re short handed enough as it is (apparently).” Ummm. Scrap metal was stolen twice from the school that was going toward a war effort. That’s a legit crime. And the school staff was pissed off about it, so clearly there are adults who care.
After deciding not to tell the police, Charlotte thinks to herself (I took a picture of this dumb sentence so I wouldn’t forget it) “She’d spent the afternoon trying to think of a better way to catch the thief and she’d come up empty.” Uh, hello??? TELL YOUR TEACHERS AND/OR PARENTS. You’re telling me not one of the four kids involved had an instinct to go run and tell Mom?
The culprit reveal scrambles to explain everyone’s motivations and tie up a happy ending. This is when you can tell a mystery is poorly done, I’ve noticed.
Anyway, giving it three stars because it wasn’t a chore to finish. Pretty run of the mill stuff.
P.S. I’m not taking a break anymore and I think I figured out why. The AG mystery books draw me in with their beautiful, beautiful illustrations on the cover. It’s like I can’t resist.
It was just okay. Not only did the book take place at the same time as the Molly series, but also in the same region of the US. And the plot is that the metal for a scrap metal drive gets stolen. Minus the thievery part, this is the same plot as Molly Learns a Lesson. I thought the author could have been a bit more original. Also, the protagonist doesn’t have a single personality trait whatsoever. The only mildly interesting thing she does is come up with the idea for the scrap metal drive, which didn’t make much sense as you’d think the school would organize that themselves. I didn’t love Pam Lowder in the last book, but at least there was something to her.
The plot was fairly fast-paced, but it’s like after the metal is stolen there is no progress made on the mystery at all. The kids don’t find clues; they just suspect random people and are proved wrong again and again. Then they ACCIDENTALLY come across the scrap metal towards the end and don’t decide to inform a single adult, instead planning their own stakeout.
This part was INFURIATING. It is totally for plot convenience that the kids don’t seek help. In real life, most young kids would tell an adult immediately if they found stolen property. They do briefly consider telling the police, but the protagonist’s friend Paul Rossi (who is portrayed as ~wise beyond his years~) is like “No, the police will laugh us off, they’re short handed enough as it is (apparently).” Ummm. Scrap metal was stolen twice from the school that was going toward a war effort. That’s a legit crime. And the school staff was pissed off about it, so clearly there are adults who care.
After deciding not to tell the police, Charlotte thinks to herself (I took a picture of this dumb sentence so I wouldn’t forget it) “She’d spent the afternoon trying to think of a better way to catch the thief and she’d come up empty.” Uh, hello??? TELL YOUR TEACHERS AND/OR PARENTS. You’re telling me not one of the four kids involved had an instinct to go run and tell Mom?
The culprit reveal scrambles to explain everyone’s motivations and tie up a happy ending. This is when you can tell a mystery is poorly done, I’ve noticed.
Anyway, giving it three stars because it wasn’t a chore to finish. Pretty run of the mill stuff.
P.S. I’m not taking a break anymore and I think I figured out why. The AG mystery books draw me in with their beautiful, beautiful illustrations on the cover. It’s like I can’t resist.
August 23, 2018
3.5 stars This was not the most earth-shattering read, although I am probably not the target audience. I chose it as I am interested in reading more historical fiction set in Pittsburgh, and this fits the bill. I enjoyed reading about the PIttsburgh setting - river, steel mills, etc, and the perspective of a child during WWII. However, even for middle grade fiction, it was not one of my more favorite books and I wouldn't recommend it unless you were particularly interested in Pittsburgh.
December 10, 2021
Charlotte is often hypocritical and is more of a liability than an asset in solving the mystery.
November 3, 2021
3.75 stars or maybe a little less rounded up
It's 1942 and the U.S. has recently entered the war. Along the Monongahela River everyone is doing their part to help fight the war. 12-year-old Charlotte's older brother Jim enlisted in the Navy, having spent his whole life on the river with their father, a tug boat captain. Charlotte's dad is an essential worker during the war, keeping barges and bridges safe. Even her mom finds a job at the nearby steel plant, in spite of the grave danger. Her little brother Robbie enjoys the air raid drills and helping their dad on his boat. Only Charlotte doesn't know what to do. When she discovers her neighbor's house and yard are full of rusty old junk, she decides to start a scrap metal drive at school. Working with her best friend, Betsy, a girl of German descent, Charlotte is determined to show her friend is just as patriotic as any other American. When their gigantic stash of metal is stolen from the school Betsy becomes a suspect merely because her great-great grandparents happened to be from Germany! There are much better suspects, like an 8th grade teacher of Italian descent who isn't off fighting like he should be. The school bullies are definitely suspects, as is Paul Rossi, a weird boy in Charlotte's class. The only one she is certain isn't guilty is Mr. Willis, the kindly janitor. Other kids suspect him because he has a stutter but Charlotte knows he would never do something like that, would he? The kids redouble their efforts in vain for the metal is stolen a second time. Circumstances force Charlotte to not only work together with Paul and Robbie but also to face her fears. Will they catch the culprit before the villain sells their metal? Will Charlotte get to play hero or will her nightmares come true?
I know I read this years ago but I don't remember a thing. I got caught up in the story and wondered whodunit. I was surprised at the reveal. It wasn't what I expected but typical of American Girl, complete with rosy ending. As a tween reader I probably would have really enjoyed this book. The descriptive details of life on the Monongahela are incredibly rich and detailed. My parents were just in Pittsburgh so I have a frame of reference. I'm glad the river isn't filled with oil anymore. Gross! However, as an adult historian, I had some problems with this book. AG and kidlit in general would have us believe literally EVERYONE in the U.S. was rah rah patriotic and eager to do their part to win the war. That simply wasn't true. Many people were against the war and thought Europe's problems were none of our business. People railed against FDR and said all the same things people say about the president they did not choose. Most people just kept calm and carried on the same as normal. Yes there was rationing but you did your best. It wasn't quite as dire as novels make out. If you had money and time to visit multiple stores you could usually find what you wanted. They missed red meat, real butter and coffee more than sugar. Their sugar rations were more than adequate but they also consumed more sugar than we do now. Propaganda aimed at women encouraged the use of sugar as an energy food to keep up morale on the homefront. Women were expected to bake their own desserts because it was patriotic but it was also patriotic to go to the bakery and buy them to support the economy! It was NOT allowed to hoard sugar in advance of rationing as is mentioned in this book. Anyone who did so was requested to turn in their extra at the beginning of the first ration period.
Anyway, I liked Charlotte but I thought she was kind of a Mary Sue at times. She's too good to her little brother. Robbie is an annoying 9-year-old pest but she knows how to deal with him. Somehow, he actually listens when she makes him do chores. Charlotte has PTSD from falling off her father's boat into the oil soaked and mud filled river. I don't blame her! No one understands except her oldest brother who rescued her. Everyone else thinks because they were born and raised on the river, it automatically makes her LOVE the river. She gets less likable in the middle of the story when she starts randomly accusing people she doesn't like of stealing. She learns her lesson though and becomes likable again. She feels lost in the beginning of the story and wants to help do something to win the war and bring her brother home. Collecting scrap metal makes her feel important and the theft is personal so she's angry. That's understandable but she still has more lessons to learn. It's all very much AG's brand of storytelling.
Robbie is young and innocent. Air raid drills are fun, working on his dad's boat is fun, he wants to join the navy like his brother when he's old enough. He knows his brother is in danger but I don't think he really understands war and all it entails. Like most young boys, he probably thinks it's a grand adventure. Robbie is kind of bratty with his sister but he listens because she knows how to get him to do his chores. Robbie ends up being the one character I really liked because he has a lot of empathy. Charlotte's parents are a bit stern but loving. Her father was born to the river and doesn't consider anything else for his children. He works hard doing important work. He's stoic and doesn't show feelings or emotions. Their mother tries to be stoic by avoiding talking about the war. She would prefer not to hear the war news at all. She comes around and gets a job as a real life Rosie the Riveter, another fiction perpetuated by kidlit. In reality most women didn't work outside the home.
Charlotte's best friend Betsy is rather more timid and uninteresting than Charlotte. She blames it on her mother, who is strict, but she is a good girl who obeys her mother's rules. Betsy doesn't deserve to be accused of stealing. She can't help her last name or where her ancestors were from. She didn't even know them! She's working to help collect scrap metal just as hard as Charlotte. She would never steal because she's a good girl and stealing is wrong. Charlotte and Betsy think Paul Rossi is weird because his idea of current events news stories to share consist of murders and unsolved crimes. It's morbid to be sure but there's nothing wrong with that. It beats the horrible war news. Paul becomes a suspect because he's weird and not super friendly to the girls. I ended up really liking him though. He's intelligent and sensible. He would make a better detective than Charlotte. Sophie Jarwoski, on the other hand, is just plain silly. She doesn't have an individual thought in her head and is quick to judge other people based on speculation.
Mrs. Dunbar, the old lady next door, is elderly and unable to care for her yard or house. Instead she feeds stray cats and collects them as pets. I think today she could probably be in assisted living but of course such things didn't exist in the 40s. She's the town eccentric and the kids think of her as kind of a witch-like figure. I didn't like how they used her for their own gain. Mrs. Alexander, Charlotte's teacher, is excellent. She's smart, honest and a good mentor for the girls. The kids should have told her Mr. Willis, the school janitor, is always kind to Charlotte. She thinks highly of him because he's nice. He speaks with a stutter, when he speaks at all, therefore, other kids are quick to judge and label him. Paul thinks the thief is someone desperate for money. Could it be Mr. Willis stole the scrap metal for money? Perhaps because of his speech the school thinks he's not smart enough to realize he isn't being paid very much. Perhaps he needs the money for some reason. He's certainly the most likely suspect, having the means and opportunity to steal the metal from the school.
Another suspect is Mr. Costa, the 8th grade science teacher. He's a suspect because he's youngish, single and most importantly, Italian-American. *sigh* I do hope it's not him. Every time I read one of these stories it breaks my heart to think about what my family must have experienced outside their ethnic community. I never asked and they didn't want to talk about it. Frankie Zalenchak and Danny Merkow are the school bullies. They're mean and nasty all in the name of patriotism. Could that be a cover for stealing the metal? Perhaps they wanted to make someone else look guilty for personal reasons? I don't think kids would do something like that to hinder the war effort.
The actual thief is a sympathetic character, of course. Like in all AG books, if you get to know someone and find out what motivates them, you find out they're not so bad after all. Cue happy ending!
I recommend this to those who loved Molly's stories. It's essentially the same.
It's 1942 and the U.S. has recently entered the war. Along the Monongahela River everyone is doing their part to help fight the war. 12-year-old Charlotte's older brother Jim enlisted in the Navy, having spent his whole life on the river with their father, a tug boat captain. Charlotte's dad is an essential worker during the war, keeping barges and bridges safe. Even her mom finds a job at the nearby steel plant, in spite of the grave danger. Her little brother Robbie enjoys the air raid drills and helping their dad on his boat. Only Charlotte doesn't know what to do. When she discovers her neighbor's house and yard are full of rusty old junk, she decides to start a scrap metal drive at school. Working with her best friend, Betsy, a girl of German descent, Charlotte is determined to show her friend is just as patriotic as any other American. When their gigantic stash of metal is stolen from the school Betsy becomes a suspect merely because her great-great grandparents happened to be from Germany! There are much better suspects, like an 8th grade teacher of Italian descent who isn't off fighting like he should be. The school bullies are definitely suspects, as is Paul Rossi, a weird boy in Charlotte's class. The only one she is certain isn't guilty is Mr. Willis, the kindly janitor. Other kids suspect him because he has a stutter but Charlotte knows he would never do something like that, would he? The kids redouble their efforts in vain for the metal is stolen a second time. Circumstances force Charlotte to not only work together with Paul and Robbie but also to face her fears. Will they catch the culprit before the villain sells their metal? Will Charlotte get to play hero or will her nightmares come true?
I know I read this years ago but I don't remember a thing. I got caught up in the story and wondered whodunit. I was surprised at the reveal. It wasn't what I expected but typical of American Girl, complete with rosy ending. As a tween reader I probably would have really enjoyed this book. The descriptive details of life on the Monongahela are incredibly rich and detailed. My parents were just in Pittsburgh so I have a frame of reference. I'm glad the river isn't filled with oil anymore. Gross! However, as an adult historian, I had some problems with this book. AG and kidlit in general would have us believe literally EVERYONE in the U.S. was rah rah patriotic and eager to do their part to win the war. That simply wasn't true. Many people were against the war and thought Europe's problems were none of our business. People railed against FDR and said all the same things people say about the president they did not choose. Most people just kept calm and carried on the same as normal. Yes there was rationing but you did your best. It wasn't quite as dire as novels make out. If you had money and time to visit multiple stores you could usually find what you wanted. They missed red meat, real butter and coffee more than sugar. Their sugar rations were more than adequate but they also consumed more sugar than we do now. Propaganda aimed at women encouraged the use of sugar as an energy food to keep up morale on the homefront. Women were expected to bake their own desserts because it was patriotic but it was also patriotic to go to the bakery and buy them to support the economy! It was NOT allowed to hoard sugar in advance of rationing as is mentioned in this book. Anyone who did so was requested to turn in their extra at the beginning of the first ration period.
Anyway, I liked Charlotte but I thought she was kind of a Mary Sue at times. She's too good to her little brother. Robbie is an annoying 9-year-old pest but she knows how to deal with him. Somehow, he actually listens when she makes him do chores. Charlotte has PTSD from falling off her father's boat into the oil soaked and mud filled river. I don't blame her! No one understands except her oldest brother who rescued her. Everyone else thinks because they were born and raised on the river, it automatically makes her LOVE the river. She gets less likable in the middle of the story when she starts randomly accusing people she doesn't like of stealing. She learns her lesson though and becomes likable again. She feels lost in the beginning of the story and wants to help do something to win the war and bring her brother home. Collecting scrap metal makes her feel important and the theft is personal so she's angry. That's understandable but she still has more lessons to learn. It's all very much AG's brand of storytelling.
Robbie is young and innocent. Air raid drills are fun, working on his dad's boat is fun, he wants to join the navy like his brother when he's old enough. He knows his brother is in danger but I don't think he really understands war and all it entails. Like most young boys, he probably thinks it's a grand adventure. Robbie is kind of bratty with his sister but he listens because she knows how to get him to do his chores. Robbie ends up being the one character I really liked because he has a lot of empathy. Charlotte's parents are a bit stern but loving. Her father was born to the river and doesn't consider anything else for his children. He works hard doing important work. He's stoic and doesn't show feelings or emotions. Their mother tries to be stoic by avoiding talking about the war. She would prefer not to hear the war news at all. She comes around and gets a job as a real life Rosie the Riveter, another fiction perpetuated by kidlit. In reality most women didn't work outside the home.
Charlotte's best friend Betsy is rather more timid and uninteresting than Charlotte. She blames it on her mother, who is strict, but she is a good girl who obeys her mother's rules. Betsy doesn't deserve to be accused of stealing. She can't help her last name or where her ancestors were from. She didn't even know them! She's working to help collect scrap metal just as hard as Charlotte. She would never steal because she's a good girl and stealing is wrong. Charlotte and Betsy think Paul Rossi is weird because his idea of current events news stories to share consist of murders and unsolved crimes. It's morbid to be sure but there's nothing wrong with that. It beats the horrible war news. Paul becomes a suspect because he's weird and not super friendly to the girls. I ended up really liking him though. He's intelligent and sensible. He would make a better detective than Charlotte. Sophie Jarwoski, on the other hand, is just plain silly. She doesn't have an individual thought in her head and is quick to judge other people based on speculation.
Mrs. Dunbar, the old lady next door, is elderly and unable to care for her yard or house. Instead she feeds stray cats and collects them as pets. I think today she could probably be in assisted living but of course such things didn't exist in the 40s. She's the town eccentric and the kids think of her as kind of a witch-like figure. I didn't like how they used her for their own gain. Mrs. Alexander, Charlotte's teacher, is excellent. She's smart, honest and a good mentor for the girls. The kids should have told her Mr. Willis, the school janitor, is always kind to Charlotte. She thinks highly of him because he's nice. He speaks with a stutter, when he speaks at all, therefore, other kids are quick to judge and label him. Paul thinks the thief is someone desperate for money. Could it be Mr. Willis stole the scrap metal for money? Perhaps because of his speech the school thinks he's not smart enough to realize he isn't being paid very much. Perhaps he needs the money for some reason. He's certainly the most likely suspect, having the means and opportunity to steal the metal from the school.
Another suspect is Mr. Costa, the 8th grade science teacher. He's a suspect because he's youngish, single and most importantly, Italian-American. *sigh* I do hope it's not him. Every time I read one of these stories it breaks my heart to think about what my family must have experienced outside their ethnic community. I never asked and they didn't want to talk about it. Frankie Zalenchak and Danny Merkow are the school bullies. They're mean and nasty all in the name of patriotism. Could that be a cover for stealing the metal? Perhaps they wanted to make someone else look guilty for personal reasons? I don't think kids would do something like that to hinder the war effort.
The actual thief is a sympathetic character, of course. Like in all AG books, if you get to know someone and find out what motivates them, you find out they're not so bad after all. Cue happy ending!
I recommend this to those who loved Molly's stories. It's essentially the same.
May 25, 2022
This American Girl History Mystery includes great local color and historical detail about the early days of America's involvement in WWII, but the mystery is very subpar. A lot of random stuff happens in the book that doesn't propel the plot, and when the characters finally happen upon the stolen scrap metal, they decide to handle this independently, endangering themselves in multiple ways without enlisting adult help or even telling someone where they're going.
The Light in the Cellar: A Molly Mystery is my favorite American Girl mystery, partly because the kids call for adult back-up. It's a very realistic story, and it excited me as a child to read a mystery where children solved a case but didn't do anything absurd, disobedient, or wildly risky in the process. I would recommend that and the other Molly mysteries as an alternative to this, if someone is looking for WWII-based mysteries. Voices at Whisper Bend is mainly just for American Girl completists.
The Light in the Cellar: A Molly Mystery is my favorite American Girl mystery, partly because the kids call for adult back-up. It's a very realistic story, and it excited me as a child to read a mystery where children solved a case but didn't do anything absurd, disobedient, or wildly risky in the process. I would recommend that and the other Molly mysteries as an alternative to this, if someone is looking for WWII-based mysteries. Voices at Whisper Bend is mainly just for American Girl completists.
November 3, 2021
Voices at Whisper Bend (American Girl History Mysteries, #4)
I read this book because it was really close to Halloween and this book was about mystery and kind of thriller a bit.
That kind of linked to Halloween season and I thought it would kind of be a good book to read.
By as I start to read the book I started to recognized the greatness of this book and how well the whole story was made, and it was interesting to read and also made me use my brain a lot.
Usually I don't really like mystery books or something close to that but this is one of my few mystery book I found interest on other than the Sherlock Holmes series.
I read this book because it was really close to Halloween and this book was about mystery and kind of thriller a bit.
That kind of linked to Halloween season and I thought it would kind of be a good book to read.
By as I start to read the book I started to recognized the greatness of this book and how well the whole story was made, and it was interesting to read and also made me use my brain a lot.
Usually I don't really like mystery books or something close to that but this is one of my few mystery book I found interest on other than the Sherlock Holmes series.
June 3, 2025
Written for kids a bit older than the target age range of the historical American Girl books, this mystery brings to life many of the hardships faced by families during WWII.
Charlotte and Robbie, the young protagonists, learn about compassion, sacrifice, the importance of pulling together and helping others, and the ugliness of judging someone by nationality or other differences from themselves.
Detailed and suspenseful, this book is educational entertainment for readers both young and old.
Charlotte and Robbie, the young protagonists, learn about compassion, sacrifice, the importance of pulling together and helping others, and the ugliness of judging someone by nationality or other differences from themselves.
Detailed and suspenseful, this book is educational entertainment for readers both young and old.
May 17, 2020
5/15/20 age 9 - The story is about a girl named Charlotte who wants to help the USA in war. I loved it! I liked the part when they found the metal junk. I did not like when Robbie's hand got cut up from a car door. Words that describe this book: exciting, funny, surprising, scary, entertaining. It was scary when they heard voices. I would recommend this book to people who like little bits of jokes here and there.
March 9, 2018
I read it out loud to my kids. They have loved listening to other books but they never seemed to enjoy this one. It was a drag to get through it with them.
August 4, 2018
Nice spooky
May 21, 2020
Fun mystery and great read!
April 11, 2021
Sweet! A little slow moving toward the end, but a nice read set in the Pittsburgh area during World War II. A good view of working class Americans during the War.
July 3, 2021
Absolutely Brilliant Book!
October 13, 2022
amazing! I personally read it in one day, thats how good it was! I could not put it down! a must read!
June 15, 2023
A moving middle grade WWII home front story.
July 29, 2023
exciting
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November 20, 2023in my nostalgia era
May 8, 2024
This was more like a 3, having read several other History Mysteries and liking them much better... but it gets an extra star for being set in Pennsylvania.
June 22, 2024
Definitely a new favorite ag mystery of mine.
February 15, 2025
Another interesting American Girl History Mystery. Set during World War Two. Schoolkids collect scrap metal for the war effort and it gets stolen. Page turner.
February 17, 2016
The story takes place in 1942, early in World War II. Charlotte is a typical student, her brother is in the Navy, her father pilots a tugboat and her school is going to have a series of materials drives thanks to an idea she had. Her grade is going to collect metal scraps and that they do, filling a basement room at the school.
Before the metal can be turned over to the mill, though, it is stolen. More metal is collected and it, too, is stolen. Everyone at the school is upset and the list of suspects includes both students and teachers.
Charlotte wants to find out who is the thief, but to do so she will have to go out on a rowboat on the river that she nearly drowned in when she was younger. She wants to help, but can she overcome her fear of falling into the water and drowning?
It's also not a clear-cut case of a bad guy taking the metal for his own profit; things turn out to be much more complicated than that. It's a good story and, as always, has a historical section to add background to the events in the story.
Before the metal can be turned over to the mill, though, it is stolen. More metal is collected and it, too, is stolen. Everyone at the school is upset and the list of suspects includes both students and teachers.
Charlotte wants to find out who is the thief, but to do so she will have to go out on a rowboat on the river that she nearly drowned in when she was younger. She wants to help, but can she overcome her fear of falling into the water and drowning?
It's also not a clear-cut case of a bad guy taking the metal for his own profit; things turn out to be much more complicated than that. It's a good story and, as always, has a historical section to add background to the events in the story.
March 7, 2015
This was a pretty good history mystery. It wasn't the best I've ever read, but it was written very well. Set in the World War Two era, this mystery took very unexpected turns which kept me reading farther and farther into the book until I finally reached the end and everything played out excellently. Another great one by Katherine Ayres!
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March 26, 2008J MYS. WWII
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews