A Cherokee superstition seems to have come back to haunt Mandie and her friends the gold they discovered has been donated to build a new hospital, but something or someone is tearing down the walls as fast as they can be built. The guard posted to watch the site is knocked out, tied up and blindfolded.
Will Mandie be able to find her friend Joe? Will Mandie and Sallie be rescued from their kidnappers? Will Mandie learn her lesson about jumping to conclusions?
Lois Gladys Leppard was the author of the Mandie series of children's novels. Leppard wrote her first Mandie story when she was only eleven and a half years old, but did not become a professional author until she was an adult. Leppard has also worked as a professional singer, actress, and playwright. At one time, she and her two sisters, Sybil and Louise, formed a singing group called the Larke Sisters. There are forty Mandie books in the main series, an eight-book junior series and several other titles. Leppard said that she could write a Mandie book in two weeks, barring any interruptions. The eponymous heroine lives in North Carolina in the early 1900s, encountering adventure and solving mysteries with help from her friends, family, and pet cat, Snowball. These young reader novels are meant to teach morals as well as be fun and captivating stories to read. Leppard stated that her books contain "nothing occult or vulgar", and Mandie is depicted as a faithful Christian. The Mandie books often deal with issues of discrimination and prejudice relating to race (particularly with regard to the local Cherokee), class, and disability. Lois Gladys Leppard based some of the incidents in her Mandie books on her mother's experiences growing up in North Carolina. The dedication in the first book is: "For My Mother, Bessie A. Wilson Leppard, and In Memory of Her Sister, Lillie Margaret Ann Wilson Frady, Orphans of North Carolina Who Outgrew the Sufferings of Childhood".
I’m torn in rating this. My eight-year-old self (target audience) probably have enjoyed these books. My present self (not target audience) really struggled through this story.
Middle Grade isn’t my preferred audience in general. The writing style & dialogue are very old fashioned and frankly rather stilted and unnatural.
There are some lovely Christian themes & lessons woven in. The mystery/adventure isn’t anything spectacular and a bit far fetched. But, again, for the target audience it would probably be enjoyable. (I remember they were all the rage in our local Christian bookstore when I was growing up, but for some reason I never read them at that time.)
I’ll probably hang onto these books and maybe try to tackle them again when I’m in a different reading mood.
{Welcome to Pre-Teen Week! Every quarter we’re going to try to do a full week dedicated to finding great Christian books for girls ages 8/9-12 every week day! This is Day Two of this quarters’!} {Day 1 Here!}
About this book:
“A Cherokee superstition seems to have come back to haunt Mandie and her friends the gold they discovered has been donated to build a new hospital, but something or someone is tearing down the walls as fast as they can be built. The guard posted to watch the site is knocked out, tied up and blindfolded. Will Mandie be able to find her friend Joe? Will Mandie and Sallie be rescued from their kidnappers? Will Mandie learn her lesson about jumping to conclusions?”
Series: Book #6 in “Mandie” series. (Read the reviews of: #1 Here! #2 Here! #3 Here! #4 Here! And #5 Here!) {There also is the “Young Mandie Mystery” series, (Book #1 review Here and Book #2 review Here!) but they do not connect together well}
Spiritual Content- Hebrews 11:1 at the beginning; Talks about God; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Prayers & a Blessing over food; A couple Scriptures are quoted, mentioned, and prayed; a Mention of what the Bible talks about; Uncle Ned refers to Heaven as “happy hunting ground”; *Note: Mentions of Cherokee gods, curses, spirits, bad luck & a medicine man.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘shut up’; April is still mad/rude to Mandie & Celia; Tsa’ni doesn’t like white people and acts out.
Sexual Content- Joe gets jealous when Dimar & Tommy are there as all three boys have crushes on Mandie; A Mention of Joe & Mandie marrying when they’re older.
-Amanda “Mandie” Shaw, age 12 P.O.V. of (mostly) Mandie Set in 1900 121 pages (also available in a collection with four other Mandie books.)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Pre Teens- Four Stars New Teens- Four Stars Early High School Teens- Four Stars Older High School Teens- Three Stars My personal Rating- Three Stars {Ratings are lowered as ages get higher due to the simple plot.} This wasn’t my favorite Mandie book, but it was still good. :) *See my thought on this series versus the younger series, Here!
I'm on page 19 of 121 of Mandie and the Medicine M: An very Interesting book and can be very controversial at the start, but while you get deeper into the book you can see and understand more things, and personal things about the character and the people around them.. This book also has an Interesting Vocabulary of word's, I've found "Flustered", And "Reprimanded".
The Mandie books are fun Christian mysteries for children, but I still love reading them. Even though she doesn't age very quickly and seems to get far too many breaks from school during the year, she's a lot of fun.
A great series of books for children/young adults. Often recommended for girls, because the main protagonist is female, these books could still be a good read for boys, too.
Title: Mandie and the Medicine Man Author: Lois Gladys Leppard Series: Mandie, 6 Format: ebook, bind-up Length: N/A Rating: 3 stars
Synopsis: A Cherokee superstition seems to have come back to haunt Mandie and her friends the gold they discovered has been donated to build a new hospital, but something or someone is tearing down the walls as fast as they can be built. The guard posted to watch the site is knocked out, tied up and blindfolded. Will Mandie be able to find her friend Joe? Will Mandie and Sallie be rescued from their kidnappers? Will Mandie learn her lesson about jumping to conclusions?
Favourite character: Uncle Ned Least favourite character: Tsa'ni
Mini-review: This was one of the betters. I wasn't a fan of the beginning in which Mandie and Joe talk about everything that's happened between book one and now. I know authors do stuff like that for the readers who haven't picked up the next book in the series for a while or someone starting the series in the middle, but it's just so awkwardly and annoyingly done. It was in a way unneccessary, because Mandie kept talking about it with Sallie. Joe was there, Sallie wasn't. Leave it with the Sallie conversations. It didn't feel realistic. Mandie and Joe don't feel like they've been written for their ages, they seem to act younger. If you gave me some Mandie scenes and told me she was ten I'd believe you. My new favourite scene from this series is now Morning Star running towards Tsa'ni with a broom screaming at him in Cherokee.
Fan Cast: Amanda "Mandie" Shaw - Emma Rayne Lyle Joe Woodard - Louis Hynes Dr. Woodard - Gideon Emery Elizabeth Shaw - Malin Akerman Uncle Ned Sweetwater - Zahn McClarnon John Shaw - Robert Downey Jr. Tsa'ni - Booboo Stewart Morning Star - Irene Bedard
Book six of the Mandie series sees a shorter story and arguably the weakest entry so far. There is a bit of a formula now, especially near the end, Mandie realising where she went wrong, Ned giving her advice and Mandie seeking forgiveness and pledging to do better. The good thing is the books are flowing along and in a continuous time line, I hope we see her get to get older as well.
Someone is tearing down the walls of the hospital that is being built for the Cherokee Nation. When Mandi's friend, Joe, is kidnapped she is seriously upset. She also learns not to be to hasty in judging others.
I admit it: I am reviewing these books years after reading them. However, do not even suggest that I'm no longer qualified, that too many years have passed to remember. My battered and faded copies of these books testify to how many times I read them growing up and plots and entire passages are seared in my memory forever.
Snowball always ran away, Mandie always got in trouble, Uncle Ned always rescued her, and Joe and Tommy bristled at each other. I myself prefered Joe, but Tommy's cosmopolitan airs nearly tipped the balance a time or two. I recall- fondly and as though it were yesterday- my glee when Mandie went off to Europe, my disgust at the new baby, my delight in Mandie's wardrobe of sky blue frocks, my puzzlement at all her near escapes and handy school vacations, my terror during the daring midnight adventures. Ah me, to be young and silly again...
If I had written goodreads reviews at the age of eleven, all Mandie books would've received automatic five-star ratings and gushing descriptions. As an adult, I will honestly give them all three stars, except for my special pets. And if I ever have a little girl, I will buy her the entire set. Oh, and did you know there are more than forty books in the series by now? And I'm guessing Mandie never grows up, either.
My favorite part was when mandie solved the mystery. The worst part was when the hospital was getting torn down. My favorite character was mandie. The worst character was the medicine man. Auryn 10 years old, 2014
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I liked Joe in this story. And the part where he wakes up from unconsciousness was one of those "Leo Don't..." moments (an inside joke from the 1990 "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" movie)!