Mandie and the Buried Stranger

Mandie #31

by Lois Gladys Leppard

It's spring break from the Misses Heathwood's School for Girls, and Mandie can't wait to get home and see her friend Joe Woodard. When he left on the train to go to college after the Christmas holidays, he yelled something out the train window that she couldn't hear, and she's been anxious to find out what it was ever since.

But when Mandie and Joe get together, she becomes shy around him and doesn't understand why. Then while they are one their way to see Sallie Sweetwater, they discover a huge pile of mica and no one knows who moved it there. It's an even bigger mystery when the whole mound totally disappears the next day. Who would do such a thing, and why? And who has been stealing wagons? Are the two related?

Will Mandie ever find out what Joe said from the train?

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Christian, Christian Fiction, Childrens, Fiction, Young Adult

176 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1999

About the author

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".

Reviews

[Lindsey (Books for Christian Girls) · Rating 4 out of 5]

About this book:

“It's spring break from the Misses Heathwood's School for Girls, and Mandie can't wait to get home and see her friend Joe Woodard. When he left on the train to go to college after the Christmas holidays, he yelled something out the train window that she couldn't hear, and she's been anxious to find out what it was ever since.
But when Mandie and Joe get together, she becomes shy around him and doesn't understand why. Then while they are one their way to see Sallie Sweetwater, they discover a huge pile of mica and no one knows who moved it there. It's an even bigger mystery when the whole mound totally disappears the next day. Who would do such a thing, and why? And who has been stealing wagons? Are the two related?
Will Mandie ever find out what Joe said from the train?”


Series: Book #31 in “Mandie” series. (To read the reviews of the previous books in this series, click the number to be taken to that review: #1! #2! #3! #4! #5! #6! #7! #8! #9! #10! #11! #12! #13! #14! #15! #16! #17! #18! #19! #20! #21! #22! #23! #24! #25! #26! #27! #28! #29! and #30!) {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- A Scripture is mentioned, quoted, & prayed; A few Prayers; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Mentions of God; Mentions of churches & church going; Mentions of Christmas; Mentions of a statue of an angel; A few mentions of Bibles & Bible reading; A couple mentions of prayers & thanking God; A couple mentions of miracles; A couple mentions of a missionary; A mention of Heaven;
*Note: A couple mentions of a rumored curse.


Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘dumb’, a ‘stupid’, and ten ‘shuck’s; Mentions of gunshots & enemies; Mentions of being tied up, gagged, & buried alive; Mention of crimes, criminals/thieves, & stolen items; Mentions of hunting & animals for food; A mention of drowning.


Sexual Content- A few Touches & Warmth (barely-above-not-detailed); Some Noticing & Crush-like feelings (blushes & feeling shy); Mentions of Mandie & Joe marrying when they’re older & blushes; Mentions of pretty girls & handsome boys; Mentions of being interested in someone & secret crushes; A couple mentions of married couples kissing;
*Note: A mention of someone butting into things.

-Amanda “Mandie” Shaw, age 13
P.O.V. of Mandie
Set in 1902
126 pages (also available in a collection with two other Mandie books.)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Pre Teens- Three Stars (and a half)
New Teens- Four Stars
Early High School Teens- Three Stars
Older High School Teens- Three Stars
My personal Rating- Four Stars
We’re just on the role with all the Mandie and Joe feels, y’all.
[And I approve. ;) ]
Like the last book, the mystery didn’t interest me so much, but it was still cute. Mandie gets shy and blushing during Joe, and the poor thing, she can’t understand why! It’s pretty cute to see her growing up, but also still the same Mandie at times.
The titled does sound a bit more, er, morbid than the book actually is. Even though the title suggests a (dead) body, it isn’t and what it is happens near the end. It is very clean like all Mandie books.


Link to review:
https://booksforchristiangirls.blogsp...


*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.

[AshPotatoes · Rating 2 out of 5]

I actually took a few noted this time to help organize my thoughts a little better.

Here we go.

It's clear that we are getting some groundwork laid for a Mandie and Joe romance plot. Mandie is feeling suddenly shy, getting butterflies when she and Joe touch, and has missed him a lot even though they just saw each other two months ago. However, I am VERY uncomfortable with their ages here and I am more uncomfortable with the constant reminders. 3 years is no big deal for adults, but for a 13 & 16 year old, it's gross. I don't want to hate Joe, but I wish the author would have made them closer in age at this point in the story or she should have done a time skip so it wasn't so gross.

On this train of thought, the hallway scene was uncomfortable. Joe doesn't need to be grabbing Mandie's arms. We are well aware that he is older and bigger then Mandie and she's here as a guest. He needs to stop being so territorial as well. It's not charming for him to be upset about her existing around other boys, especially when the other boys are more age appropriate.

More offensive depictions of people of color. Including, but certainly not limited to, the discrediting of the Cherokee school. They make it clear that they believe the school being run by a white missionary (yikes) who is only successful because he has a 13 year old Cherokee girl (yikes again) volunteering her time to help him teach (double yikes) is superior in every way to the school that the Cherokee children have been attending for years. They also point blank state that the Cherokee children must learn the "ways of the white world" to continue existing. I am upset, this is gross, make it stop.

Riley O'Neal is a creep and no one can convince me otherwise. Every time he appears, he is staring and smiling at Mandie to the point that she literally starts hiding from him. In this book, Sallie was actively speaking to him but he kept staring at Mandie regardless. Get a grip, pervert. Never trust a white missionary, is2g.

On to the writing complaints.

Halfway through the book, Uncle John sends word that he is extending the trip by a few days. Mandie and Joe spend those extra days wondering around a mountain. I felt like this was unnecessary and just a ploy to extend the book while once again rushing the ending.

This book was better about sprinkling in clues and interesting information such as meeting Beethoven, finding the stolen wagon, and speaking with witnesses (Miss Abigail).
But, there were still logical leaps being taken for no real reason to solve the mystery and, once again, the humans will search for hours just for Snowball to slip away and stumble onto the answer at the right moment. It happened twice in the last chapters of this book. Uncle Ned decided that the stolen wagons were used to move the mica. Fair enough, but there were no further questions after that. Who stole them? Why were they moving the mica? Mandie also just decided that because Beethoven was young and cute, he couldn't be a criminal or have ill intent wondering the wilderness. That's WILD y'all. Uncle Ned decided Tsa'ni was involved in the mica moving because a loose arrow was found, but that really doesn't prove anything in this small town.

Things that were never resolved for me and ways to fix it. Uncle Ned's group took off and did their own search ALL DAY without notifying Mandie's group at all. Why? We never found out. In fact, the group packed up and went home the second everyone was reunited. It felt like the other group's adventure was taking place offscreen and I was missing it. Super frustrating. Where did the mica actually go? What was the path? What was the plan? Why did this happen? This was also never explained. We never actually saw Tsa'ni or any of his companions in this book, their reason for this whole thing was not explained, and any punishment was also left out. Mandie also lost her shit when she saw the graveyard covered in mica. I'm still not sure why. Was I supposed to infer that this was the same graveyard where her father is buried? Were there headstones that were made illegible by the mica? Why couldn't this wait until morning to clean up? Wouldn't it help with getting onto the perpetrators if the town saw what they did to the cemetery?

Alright, let's talk about simple fixes that would improve this book. First, and most obvious, stop being racist, Ms. Leppard. Second, it would have made a better story if instead of Uncle Ned splitting off for no reason, his cart was stolen. He tried to track it down with no luck. Between the tracking and the travel by foot, his group is late to meet with Mandie's group. The gang decides to investigate as planned, but their cart is attempted to be jacked by the perpetrators. The gang manages to scare them, but everyone quickly hops aboard to follow the perpetrators. A chase ensues! The perps lead the gang to boats in the river (accidentally) but manage to get away. The gang sees that the boats have traces of mica. They connect that the stolen carts may have something to do with the moving mica. Miss Abigail says Mr. Smith did borrow her cart, but she is surprised he has not yet returned.

The next morning, the carts have miraculously returned to their owners. But, the carts have mica dust in them. Suspicion confirmed, but who and why? Alarmingly, Miss Abigail's cart has also been returned with mica dust but Mr. Smith is nowhere to be seen. Mandie and Joe ask Mr. O'Neal about Beethoven and discover that he did not stay at the school overnight that night. They assume he has continued his travels until the see him walking out of the cemetery barn covered in mica. They stop to question him, he says he fell asleep in the barn and woke up surrounded by mica. Mandie and Joe don't believe him and are concerned when they find the barn full of mica and tools marked as property of a local mine. They suspect Beethoven is the culprit and have him detained. At leat now they know where the mica was taken from, they know it was brought up the river by boat, and must have been moved from boat to cart to mountain to barn. But who was Beethoven working with? They saw two perps yesterday...

The next day, Mandie and Joe make another attempt to visit the Shaw farm and discover the door has been kicked in. They find Mr. Smith tied and gagged in the cabin. They free him, he explains that he caught a group of boys attempting to steal his cart while he was on his way back into town, they jumped him. He did not recognize the boys, but they clearly recognized him because they brought him back to the cabin without him saying where he lived. He confirms that Beethoven was not one of the assailants and gives them a number of boys that jumped him. Mandie and Joe question Mr. O'Neal about attendance at the school. They collect a list of boys who have been absent this week. Once they have a list, they turn over their notes to Uncle Ned. Uncle Ned and a few other respected villagers begin questioning the boys and their guardians. They piece together that Beethoven was not involved (Mandie learns about jumping to conclusions/unjustified accusations) and that they boys were doing it to make money for the town. They saw how much the gold helped and wanted to do more. They got scared after Mr. Smith caught them taking his cart and decided to dump off the mica when it would be found quickly and returned the carts.

I took about an hour to draft this out and I feel like it's more satisfying than what we got.

[Partridge Public]

Leppard, Lois G. PB

[Kirby · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Mandie books were some of my absolute favorites growing up, and I've really been enjoying my reread of the entire series. You come to expect certain things whenever you pick up a title from this series, and I'm rarely disappointed.

In Mandie and the Buried Stranger, Mandie travels with her Uncle John to visit her good friend Joe Woodard and his family for a few days. Wherever Mandie goes, mysteries and antics are sure to follow, and this lovely title is no exception.

Something strange is going on in Mandie's beloved hometown, and she's determined to get to the bottom of it. Mica is found in random piles on a property where no mica mine is anywhere near, and then it disappears shortly thereafter. Some of Mandie's Cherokee relatives have also had their wagons go missing, with no reasonable explanation as to why. Mandie's also concerned about the whereabouts of Mr. Jacob Smith. She's determined to get to visit him at her father's house during this stay with the Woodard's, but he's uncharacteristically disappeared. No one has seen him, or has any idea of his whereabouts, and soon Mandie's questioning if his disappearance could possibly be connected to the missing mica and the missing wagons.

The Mandie books are truly delightful Christian children's mysteries that I can't recommend enough, even this many years later! This particular title is one of my favorites as the reader gets to return to Deep Creek with Mandie, and once again see Mandie reunited with Sallie, Joe, Uncle Ned and Dimar. The mystery is intriguing, and keeps the reader guessing right through until the end, and of course, Snowball is up to his good old mischief making like always.

There's some of my favorite childhood books that haven't seemed as amazing when I've reread them as an adult, but I'm happy to say that that is not the case with the Mandie series. I continue to enjoy these lovely mysteries, and I can't wait to introduce them to my nieces and nephews in the near future.

Final Rating: 4/5

[Shannie Joy Kosman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was written in ‘99, past the point when I was reading them as a kid. Because I’m rather nostalgic for the series, I’ve been reading them as I find them.

I like Mandie solving mysteries with Joe Woodward. I am surprised, at age 14, she still throws a spoiled brat temper tantrum and people cave to appease her. Uncle Ned remains a bright light in the books and here is a prime example.

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Glad Joe didn't disappear for good

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Tarissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun Mandie book, as always. I love the mysteries that involve the Cherokee people and her relatives. It comes with a bit of a twist ending too.

[Kari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun but slightly misleading title