Amish Country, shoofly pie, and a witch tree! Let's Discuss! Add your comments to this posting below and let me know what you think of this story. Does it rate as a good spooky mystery apropos for a fall setting? Did you like the original or revision better? What's your favorite cover art of the 2 classic covers?A Few Fast Facts:
Original Ghostwriter: Harriet Adams
1 Illustrator: Rudy Nappi
Synopsis From My Website:
Nancy, Bess, and George travel to Pennsylvania to search for missing furniture and uncover the meaning behind the witch tree symbol hex sign that keeps appearing. Their search for a clue in an old table leads to solving an ancient mystery and helps reunite a young Amish woman with her family.
I really like this Nancy Drew mystery for several reasons. The setting is late summer and there's lots of veggies being harvested, the food sounds fabulous and mouth watering, and the countryside so quaint! The spooky cover with the witch tree that I had growing up (2nd art) always intrigued me and I enjoyed the mystery with the historical George Washington tables and the old ancient lore behind the missing family members and what happened to them. It wasn't an overly spooky or suspenseful mystery but it was a fun travelogue. The Sleuths made this book our convention theme in 2008 when we headed to Amish country. We were there in the fall in October and it was just fabulous all around. One of my favorites.Original vs. Revised - 1 Interesting Clue:
1. Not in the original, but added in the revision is George saying, "Hypers!"
3 Mysterious Things About Nancy:
1. She hates making a nuisance of herself to the police!
2. She doesn't approve of her dog Togo roaming the streets.
3. Nancy carries matches in her pocket.
Sleuthworthy Rating on a Scale of 1-10:
9--Loved the setting, the historical mystery, and the activities and sleuthing in the books.
Jenn:)
5 comments:
This book would have to make my top ten (I have a favorite title and then no particular order for the rest). The New Order Amish versus Old Order Amish, living "side-by-side" really was interesting and inspired me to read a book on their lifestyle as a child (our community has new order Mennonites--in fact my family is descended from them on one side). As a travelogue, this book could have done more for Pennsylvania Dutch country than others. I liked the depictions of the markets, the foods, and the families Nancy encountered. As a child, I loved to check out this book (OT) from the library and read it several times. It reads well, and almost all elements are plausible (the barn dance, I think must be non-members-young people- of the community). . . it remains one of my favorites, and was the first Cameo I found with a Jacket. :)
I like the second cover's spookiness. On your website someone mentioned that their husband had pointed out that there is a witch on a broomstick hidden in the branches! So neat, once it was pointed out I could see it. Thanks, Rudy!
MK
I love that Rudy Nappi hid a broomstick-riding witch in the branches on the revised cover! Someone on this board said their husband had noticed it, and now I see it too. Thanks, Rudy!
MK
I liked the first cover, again since that's the one I remember reading. I loved the food in this one! Meals have always been an important of the books, but they outdid themselves in this story!
Nancy
Chick Dick Mysteries
Better late than never! I loved this book - I've only ever read the original version. (After this blog party, one of my new goals is to re-read them all, reading as many originals and revisions side by side as I can get my hands on).
KSMADMAN (Junior) - you're so lucky you had Nancy Drew books in the library when you were a kid! Ours does now, but when I was a kid, Nancy Drews and other series books were "too non-literary" for my libraries (both school and public), so all I had was what I had from my mom or had saved to buy myself, or what my friends had that we could trade and read.
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