September 2010 Book Club Discussion--Trouble at the Arcade

[hardygirl847]

Okay...let the discussion begin!! If you have read the Clues Brothers series, please include a compare/contrast between that series and this new one geared for younger readers.

[MacGyver]

From what I can tell just skimming through these books, it really basically seems like The Hardy Boys' version of Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew. I can't tell a huge difference from these and Nancy Drew Notebooks and The Hardy Boys: Clues Brothers.
But I will have to track down a copy of the book to read before I can really comment further.

[hardygirl847]

Yeah I am soooo behind! I should be a better discussion starter by finishing things on time. 

[MacGyver]

I am actually in the middle of reading this book now, so I feel pretty confident I will have it finished pretty soon and then be able to add a real analysis of the book.

[hardygirl847]

Yay! THANKS MACGYVER!

[MacGyver]

Okay, I have finished this book now. It was a long, challenging read- but I managed to plow through all 87 pages fairly quickly and I didn't have to use the dictionary too often.

So yeah- The Hardy Boys Secret Files#1 "Trouble at the Arcade". It was about what you'd expect. Frank and Joe solve their first mystery. I wonder if this is meant to be set before The Clues Brothers series or if it really has no connection with it at all. I will give the book credit for having a bit of a twist and not making it the obvious scenario. But it's not like it was that hard to figure out either- but remember that the book is written for ages 6-9. Frank and Joe still maintain their basic personalities from the other books. Frank is more by-the-book and Joe is more off-the-hook. And Fenton is mentioned as being a private investigator who worked with the police in Bayport. And Laura appears too and is said to be a librarian. So besides Frank and Joe, both Fenton and Laura show up (and have speaking lines) and Chet and Iola show up and are friends with The Hardys already. Callie has an appearance and is mentioned as being the new girl in school. And I may be reading into it too much, but I think there are very slight hints of the future relationships Frank and Callie and Joe and Iola will have as boyfriend/girlfriend.
    And apparently Chet and Iola now have a little sister named Mimi who is 4. (Oh yes- and of course, Frank is 9 and Joe is 8.) Fenton is building a spare room- wonder who's that for? (It's not in this book, but Aunt Gertrude shows up later in the series to take that room.) Frank and Joe squabble a bit at first, but come to realize that their Dad is right when he says they make a great team. And the book has a neat comic strip at the end, as do all of them. The book kind of reminded me of an Encyclopedia Brown book in terms of the kind of mystery being solved. And because Frank and Joe make their treehouse their headquarters and decide to start solving mysteries and helping Bayport at the end. It's a fun read and a good start to the series.

[hardygirl847]

Thank you MacGyver for an AWESOME review/recap!!! I have to admit that I have been SOOO behind on all of my reading. I'm sooo glad I am almost done with my online Spanish class. lol

Anyways...some thoughts FINALLY...not that you were holding your breath or anything. lol


1. I liked SF better than CB because it seemed to be more modernized. I found the CB book I read to have some strange details that I couldn't relate to. A lot of the school information was so unlike what I experienced as a child and now, as a teacher.

2. I felt that Frank and Joe were more like their Casefile personalities. Obviously they have similar personality traits in all of the canon series...BUT I felt that compared with the CB series...they were a better match. I could totally picture the SF Frank and Joe growing up in 9 years and being in the Casefiles.

3. I enjoyed Fenton and Laura being a part of their lives. Fenton seems to hardly ever be around later in life (he is a famous detective though!) but the building the treehouse was just so cute.

4. LOVE that Callie was in this one and already causing trouble. I could see her later recalling that moment in the arcade as how she and Frank first met. hehe

5. This book was fast paced.  I read it in record time. I enjoyed the various illustrations. I did think the male characters seemed to look alike but I could tell who was Frank and Joe. That's all that matters to me.

6. SPOILER ALERT. Iola wins at everything? Too cute and sets her up as a nice compliment character to Joe.

7. Dad's emphasis on them being a team I thought was really cute too. Frank and Joe as teenagers sometimes disagree but still have the team mentality most of the time. It's nice to kind of witness when they learned this for the first time. Kind of an inside look to how they became who they are.

8. Aunt Gertrude is coming! Well, at least we can assume that from the spare bedroom being built. However, if Fenton has a private plane like in WHATM...why is HE doing the home improvement stuff?? Maybe he didn't make his riches yet.



All in all, it was a nice fun read. I like how it ended and it was a little surprise...not totally predictable. I think MacGyver mentioned that.

I will have to look for the rest of the series online as it is NOT in my closest stores.

[MacGyver]

Thank you MacGyver for an AWESOME review/recap!!! I have to admit that I have been SOOO behind on all of my reading. I'm sooo glad I am almost done with my online Spanish class. lol

You're welcome. I tried.

Since I'm actually currently reading one of this series, I also just realized that this book series is a bit similar to The New Bobbsey Twins book series as well. But honestly- I think the Bobbseys take on mysteries of a little bit more weight in those books than do The Hardy Boys at this age. (Of course, Nan and Bert are 12, so they would have a few years on The Hardys at this point. I think Freddie and Flossie are both 8 though, so they're at about the same age level.) But I guess that's a little bit different comparison because the Bobbseys have always been those ages and they've always taken on some fairly weighty cases in Lakeport (though probably not even quite to the same level that The Three Investigators do- though it's possible they might be a slight bit older, but it's nebulous there.)
Well, I've enjoyed reading them all. Though I feel that the Secret Files would probably be a series I might read from the library or something- I got the 1st. one in the series just to have at least one of the books in the series- but I don't know that this is one that I would want to collect all of or anything. (I guess I'm not hardcore enough for that yet. )

[hardygirl847]

I will have to check those out at the library to be more familiar with them. They sound good..I especially want to check out the Three Investigators.

Secret Files is a good series for a younger audience. Since I am around kids that age a lot, I definitely will keep them in mind to add to my collection. Am I in a real hurry? Not really. I will get them eventually. Sometimes they are super cheap through Scholastic. So...even better.

[MacGyver]

Ah- but you've got your classroom library and personal library. I meant more for my personal library I just don't think I would bother to spend the money.  And definitely check out The Three Investigators! They're sadly fairly hard to find (though you can probably get at least a few through your public library)- but they are definitely worth sleuthing out! www.threeinvestigatorsbooks.com is a very handy guide- it's pretty much my favorite T3I site.

[hardygirl847]

Ah- but you've got your classroom library and personal library. I meant more for my personal library I just don't think I would bother to spend the money.  And definitely check out The Three Investigators! They're sadly fairly hard to find (though you can probably get at least a few through your public library)- but they are definitely worth sleuthing out! www.threeinvestigatorsbooks.com is a very handy guide- it's pretty much my favorite T3I site.

Yeah I understand what you mean. Sometimes my personal and would-be classroom libraries intermix. lol Yes, they are hard to find! I found some on Amazon but looked online through my library and they had 1 audiobook. I will definitely check out the site. Thanks!