The Midnight Mystery

The Boxcar Children #95

by Gertrude Chandler Warner

The Boxcar children are attending an Invention Convention at the home of an eccentric artist known for her whimsical, wonderful, one-of-a-kind clocks. The clocks sound loudly at every hour, especially at midnight, when the children are treated to a hilarious concert of chirping, clanging, chiming, and gonging. But the clocks aren't the only noise the kids hear at midnight. Something or someone is tapping in the night. Is someone inventing trouble for the convention?

Genres: Mystery, Childrens, Middle Grade, Fiction, Chapter Books, Audiobook, Young Adult

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Gertrude Chandler Warner was born in Putnam, Connecticut, on April 16, 1890, to Edgar and Jane Warner. Her family included a sister, Frances, and a brother, John. From the age of five, she dreamed of becoming an author. She wrote stories for her Grandfather Carpenter, and each Christmas she gave him one of these stories as a gift. Today, Ms. Warner is best remembered as the author of THE BOXCAR CHILDREN MYSTERIES.

As a child, Gertrude enjoyed many of the things that girls enjoy today. She loved furnishing a dollhouse with handmade furniture and she liked to read. Her favorite book was ALICE IN WONDERLAND. Often on Sundays after church, Gertrude enjoyed trips to visit her grandparents' farm. Along the way, she and Frances would stop to pick the wildflowers they both loved. Gertrude's favorite flower was the violet.

Her family was a very musical one. They were able to have a family orchestra, and Gertrude enjoyed playing the cello. Her father had brought her one from New York ---a cello, a bow, a case and an instruction book. All together, he paid $14. Later, as an adult, she began playing the pipe organ and sometimes substituted for the church organist.

Due to ill health, Ms. Warner never finished high school. She left in the middle of her second year and studied with a tutor. Then, in 1918, when teachers were called to serve in World War I, the school board asked her to teach first grade. She had forty children in the morning and forty more in the afternoon. Ms. Warner wrote, "I was asked or begged to take this job because I taught Sunday School. But believe me, day school is nothing like Sunday School, and I sure learned by doing --- I taught in that same room for 32 years, retiring at 60 to have more time to write." Eventually, Ms. Warner attended Yale, where she took several teacher training courses.

Once when she was sick and had to stay home from teaching, she thought up the story about the Boxcar Children. It was inspired by her childhood dreams. As a child, she had spent hours watching the trains go by near her family's home. Sometimes she could look through the window of a caboose and see a small stove, a little table, cracked cups with no saucers, and a tin coffee pot boiling away on the stove. The sight had fascinated her and made her dream about how much fun it would be to live and keep house in a boxcar or caboose. She read the story to her classes and rewrote it many times so the words were easy to understand. Some of her pupils spoke other languages at home and were just learning English. THE BOXCAR CHILDREN gave them a fun story that was easy to read.

Ms. Warner once wrote for her fans, "Perhaps you know that the original BOXCAR CHILDREN. . . raised a storm of protest from librarians who thought the children were having too good a time without any parental control! That is exactly why children like it! Most of my own childhood exploits, such as living in a freight car, received very little cooperation from my parents."

Though the story of THE BOXCAR CHILDREN went through some changes after it was first written, the version that we are familiar with today was originally published in 1942 by Scott Foresman. Today, Albert Whitman & Company publishes this first classic story as well as the next eighteen Alden children adventures that were written by Ms. Warner.

Gertrude Chandler Warner died in 1979 at the age of 89 after a full life as a teacher, author, and volunteer for the American Red Cross and other charitable organizations. After her death, Albert Whitman & Company continued to receive mail from children across the country asking for more adventures about Henry, Jessie, Violet and Benny Alden. In 1991, Albert Whitman added to THE BOXCAR CHILDREN MYSTERIES so that today's children can enjoy many more adventures about this independent and caring group of children.

Books about Gertrude: https://www.goodreads.com/characters/...

Reviews

[Shawnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story with good lessons for youngsters.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

We begins with 4 children named Henry ,Jessie, Violet and Benny. They have recently lost both there parents and were living in a box car. Until there grandfather found them in a wooded area. He decided to bring them house to his wife Isabel. They tried to settle the children into there home, The children met there 2 dogs Ruff and Tumble and a black cat with green eyes called Midnight. the part of the house the children are in belonged to his grandfathers mother . A woman who made unusual clocks. They were all cuckoo clocks but they all had different animals sounds. the clocks would all chime at midnight and at 12 noon. As the children went to sleep .They suddenly heard noises. but the grandparents secured the house. The children were all stunned to see the front door open. No one was there . Now the children are frightened and is there something else going on the house?
This is a very good middle grade read , I highly recommend ,it was very entertaining and full of surprises

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this series when I was young.

[aem · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another fun adventure for boxcar children

[Joseph D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 95 of the Boxcar Children. ​This was a fun low key mystery. Aside from crazy clocks and inventions galore, the children chase around several suspects. The “happen to pull the exact right book and open to the exact random right spot” I think was the low point in this one. Aside from that it was pretty standard to what we have seen lately from plot line. Overall a solid read and worth the time.

Joseph McKnight
http://www.josephmcknight.com

[Janete on hiatus due health issues · Rating 4 out of 5]

SYNOPSIS: "The Alden children are staying at the home of a famous inventor known for her one-of-a-kind clocks. The clocks sound loudly at every hour, especially at midnight! But the clocks aren't the only noise. Is the house haunted by the ghost of the inventor? The Aldens are determined to find out!"

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of the better boxcar children books I have listened to. They go to help set up an invention convention of a famous clock maker. We'll there they discover her books explaining how to make the clocks is missing so they set put to find it. I never would have guessed the location, so that was a nice surprise.

[Cherish Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4☆ Would recommend)
I loved these books as a kid & I'm really enjoying reading through the series again. I liked the mystery & the suspense. I like how there is more than one possible suspect, who each have reasonable motive. Would recommend.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got soo annoyed with Martha and how she just kicked them out like she owns the place like gosh still a good book tho

[Kara Kuehl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book! I often like the Boxcar books with riddles so this one was great!

[Charles Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

84%
Hey I use one of Benny's inventions!

[V. Arrow · Rating 2 out of 5]

If I read the words "flashlight hat" one more time I'm going to start biting.

[Kim Hampton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great addition to the series.

[Aziza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Henry, Jessie, Violet and Benny are orphans. Determined to make it on their own they set out to find a safe place for them. They lived in an old box car in the woods because they didn't have any family left that they knew about. One day the oldest one named Henry saw an add for a race and he decided to go there. The coach's last name was Aladin just like their last name. Then the man went over to Henry and realized that was one of his missing grandchildren, so they went and got the rest of the children and they all lived together. I liked this book because it has a lot of action in it and it is a mystery book.

[Manda]

i have read all of them but could not find the first one so i just picked on to put up

[Shanjida begum · Rating 5 out of 5]

WHO IS MARTHA ????

[Rebecca]

One of my favorite childhood series. I read over a hundred of them. The first 50 or so were in order; after that I read whatever book I could get my hands on :)

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

great when ur little