Walt Disney's Annette and the Mystery at Smugglers' Cove

Walt Disney's Annette #3

by Doris Schroeder, Nathalee Mode (Illustrator)

Authorized Edition featuring ANNETTE,
star of motion pictures and television

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Childrens, Young Adult

210 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1963

Reviews

[Melody · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can not remember anything about this book. I've read it once when I was 17. I had ended up acquiring 3 Annette books along with some other random assortment of Whitman girls books. I ended up reading all of them except this. I remember being 17 and looking through my books and thinking "huh, why haven't I read this?". I wasn't allowed to buy books often when I was a kid so I re-read and re-read like crazy. So it was quite strange I left any book I owned unread. Funny thing is it appears it's previous owners had also left it unread because it is in almost new condition which is unusual for Whitman books.

SUMMARY:
Annette and her friend/house guest, Babs, are relaxing on the beach of Annettes' Laguna beach house. The girls are discussing an upcoming Luau they're going to be throwing with there friends when Rod and Neil sail up in their boat. The boys tell the girls how they're on their way to go skin diving and ask if Annette's aunt can give them some soda. Annette sends them into the house to get some and then jumps in the sailboat with Babs as a prank on the boys for not inviting them to go sailing.

As the girls sail out the waters get rough and the wind picks up causing them to head farther out then they had planned. Not able to turn around Annette is forced to sail down the coast in search of a bay that can protect the small boat from the wind. They end up in Smugglers' Cove and soon see a motorboat with 2 men fast approaching. The girls think it must be someone sent out by Neil and Rod on a rescue mission but once the boat gets close it begins doing fast circles around the small sailboat, causing violent waves before taking off. Babs quickly falls overboard and when she doesn't reemerge Annette jumps in to save her. Upon surfacing they find the sailboat on it's side. They hang on for a bit in hopes the motor boat will return but when it doesn't they swim for shore. The swim is almost fatal as Babs, already a weak swimmer, has grown tired from the ordeal and Annette struggles to help her to shore. Once safely on the ground they rest on the beach and quickly fall fast asleep, not even waking when the sailboat crashes into the rocks.

When the girls awake they walk up the canyon and find a quite little cottage and barn. It is the home to Mr. and Mrs. Marino and their grandson Pablo. Mrs. Marino is kind and gives the girls hot chocolate and cookies before they begin their long trek back to Laguna. However Mr. Marino glares at the girls from the barn door. Later Annette learns they are from San Marcos but have fled the small country due to the recent revolution. On the road a coast guard helicopter passes overhead looking for the girls and soon picks them up. On her arrival home Uncle Archie scolds Annette and tells her she will be paying for the repairs to the boat.

The next day Annette takes the two boys to smugglers cove to start repairing the boat. While they work she hikes up a cliff and notices the same motorboat coming towards the cove however it disappears after signalling to Mr. Marino who indicates for them to stay away. Annette and the boys are hoping to catch site of the motorboat again and see it's registration number so they can identify the owners and have them pay for the boat repairs.

When Annette returns home Babs is bursting with exciting news. Convinced that she has seen their new good looking Latin neighbor before she has spent the day scouring celebrity magazines and has finally discovered that Mr. Horton is actually the son of the exiled San Marcos President. Babs wants to rush over to his home and get an autograph and Annette goes with her. Once at the properties hedge Annette is shocked to see one of the men from the mysterious motorboat and quickly concludes that the Mr. Horton was the boats other occupant...
You can read the rest of this summary on my blog, vintagegirlsbooks.blogspot.com

REVIEW:
- I think Annette uncle is dumb to put so much blame on her for the boat accident. Two sixteen year old girls were almost killed because of two immature adult men and he still is angry at Annette.

- You can read the rest of this review on my blog, vintagegirlsbooks.blogspot.com

- You can see all the art work for this book and many others at Pinterest.com/nancydrewart

- You can support me at Ko-fi.com/vintagegirlsbooks

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Annette mysteries are similar to Nancy Drew or Trixie Belden-- teenagers stumbling upon a somewhat implausible "mystery". The characters are a generic, but I expected that going in. Is it quality literature? No, but the cheesy early 1960s dialogue and vintage illustrations are fun and delightfully nostalgic.

[Melodie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved Annette when I was growing up!

[James Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book Annette and her friends are going to have a luau near a beach area. That part of things go fine for her but the problems arise start when she takes somebody's small boat when someone in another book passes too near. To add other problems she runs into a rather nasty guy who doesn't want anyone on his cove.

Things get even more difficult when there seem to be some thugs around, a guy that owes these thugs money and a strange cylinder dropped from the sky. There's also a problem with the politics in a small country so Annette and her friends have a fairly good number of things they have to deal with.

It makes for a good story.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another one from my grandmother's bookshelf -- I was a voracious reader as a child. I have fond memories of reading the books my mother and aunt read as kids. The book is treacle-y, squeaky clean fun, hearkening to a time when things like manners were important but where things like sexism were rampant. It's not literature but it will make you feel warm and fuzzy. :)

[Swapna · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last book in the Annette series. Most of the mystery is focused on finding, hiding and then handing over a metal cylinder to its rightful owner. The attitudes of the characters seem outdated in today’s times, esp. the cold shoulder given to Neil by Annette & Rod when he wants to hold on to the cylinder for a couple of days and Neil’s offensive remarks against the girls. At the same time, it was pleasant to read about the strict upbringing of the 60's youngsters: Annette asking for permission from her aunt to stay out late and their planning of the Hawaiian themed party (minus any drinks and party drugs). Those were the days!
The San Marino political situation seemed similar to the San Theodoros (Alcazar’s country) in the Tintin books. The chase at the end of the book is exciting.

I enjoyed reading all the books in this series and wish that the author had written more. Moonstone Bay was the best of all.

[Karen Szyszko · Rating 3 out of 5]

Such a cute story. I loved the part when Annette and her friend, Babs, are ga-ga over a man with whom Annette's Uncle Archie is talking. Babs comment, that he's very handsome for an "old man. He must be about 30," or something to that effect, really made me laugh. Yes, I guess at one time, we all thought 30 was old - especially at 16.

[John Peel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Annette and her friends go sailing - into trouble, as usual. Their boat is swamped and damaged, and recent arrivals in Smugglers' Cove seem to be at the heart of it. This is perhaps the least interesting of the series and the final book has a new author, so Doris Schroeder may have been getting tired of the series.

[LobsterQuadrille · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Certainly not on the level of the Three Investigators books, but this was still a fun little beachy mystery. It only cost me a dollar at a thrift shop and I'm an Annette fan anyways, so I couldn't really go wrong with this one!