Way Back Wednesday - Trixie Belden #14

Trixie Belden and The Mystery of the Emeralds (#14) - 1965

By Kathryn Kenny

After Trixie finds an old letter in her attic, she tries to solve a 100-year-old mystery She and the Bob-Whites go to Williamsburg, Virginia, to find an old plantation house - Rosewood Hall - that was the home to the Sunderland family during the Civil War. Rumor has it that a cursed emerald necklace is buried in a secret passageway there. But after all that time, Rosewood Hall is just a ruin. Is it too late for Trixie to find the missing emeralds?

What I like about this book is the fact that the trail of the mystery starts in Sleepyside and leads Trixie somewhere else. The mystery is well written and it has great scenes with a couple twists, and the suspense will keep you turning pages.

Way Back Wednesday - Trixie Belden #13

Trixie Belden and The Mystery on Cobbett's Island (#13) 1965

By Kathryn Kenny

"When the Bob-Whites arrive on Cobbett’s Island for vacation, Trixie finds a mysterious letter. Many years ago, a fortune was hidden. But the clues in the letter are hard for Trixie to understand. What does “start sailing” mean? Is this a treasure hunt on land . . . or on sea?"

Honey and Jim have invited the Bob-Whites to a vacation on Cobbett's Island. When Trixie announces she just wants to relax, none of her friends believe her - Trixie relax? Yeah, right!

The gang arrives on Cobbett's Island just as a fierce storm hits. The Bob-Whites find a letter in the library of the house they are staying in and it sends them on a treasure hunt to find some missing money.

This is one of my favorites in the series, because everyone is having fun and they come together in the end to solve the mystery. The characters are shown without some of considerable flaws being over exaggerated like in other books. Even Diana - the 'fraidy cat of the bunch - is able to contribute.

Way Back Wednesday - Trixie Belden #12

Trixie Belden #12 - The Mystery of the Blinking Eye - 1963

By Kathryn Kenny

While on vacation, theBob-Whites are staying at the Wheelers' deluxe apartment in New York City, where they will meet their friends from Iowa - Ned, Barbara and Bob. When the gang goes to the Kennedy Airport to pick up their friends, Trixie helps out a mysterious traveler who hands her a strange written fortune. Leave it to Trixie to stumble into a mystery!

Later, while window shopping with Honey, Trixie finds an ugly wooden statue she just has to have. Soon after buying the curious little statue, Trixie is followed by menacing strangers. Do the fortune and the statue have anything in common? Read The Mystery of the Blinking Eye and find out!

Way Back Wednesday - Trixie Belden #11

Trixie Belden #11 - The Mystery at Bob-White Cave - 1963

By Kathryn Kenny

The gang heads to Uncle Andrew's fishing lodge in the Ozarks. Trixie gets everyone to go spelunking in hopes of finding some cave fish and winning $500 for charity. But it looks like there's competition from an Englishman, plus Trixie doesn't quite trust their guide. Throw in a "ghost" cabin and you've got another mystery for Trixie to solve.

Although I enjoy most of the Trixie Belden books, this is problem my least favorite - I think because the thought of being in a cave scares the bejeezus out of me!

Way Back Wednesday - Trixie Belden #10

Trixie Belden #10 - The Marshland Mystery - 1962

By Kathryn Kenny

When a child prodigy and her mean old aunt come to stay with the Wheelers, you can guarantee a mystery will follow. The child will be performing as a guest artist with the symphony, and believe it or not, she is so spoiled, she puts Bobby to shame!

After accidentally running their botany teacher's herb collection, Trixie and Honey venture into Martin's Marsh to collect flowers and herbs to make her a new one.

While Trixie and Honey are exploring, they come across a burned out house near the marsh. Trixie tells Honey about the legend of Captain Kidd's hidden pirate treasure, which is supposed to be buried near the Marsh.

But when the child prodigy disappears, it's all hands on deck!

Although this is not one of my favorites, it does have an interesting, but full, storyline.

Way Back Wednesday - Trixie Belden #9

Trixie Belden #9 - The Happy Valley Mystery - 1962

By Kathryn Kenny

During this adventure, Trixie and the Bob-Whites are headed for Iowa to the Belden's Uncle Andrew's farm - Happy Valley Farm.

When they arrive, they discover Uncle Andrew's sheep have been disappearing. Being the detective that she is, Trixie is determined to find out what's going on. Her main suspect is a man with a black beard. In addition to this book's mystery, there is a flood which also endangers Uncle Andrew's sheep. These sheep end up being major trouble for the Bob-Whites.

In another storyline, Trixie impresses a boy, Ned Schulz, with her basketball skills. The gang also meets twins Barbara and Bob Hubbell and Trixie becomes jealous of a pretty girl's interest in Jim. That green-eyed monster is finally rearing its ugly head ...

Way Back Wednesday - Trixie Belden #8

Trixie Belden #8 - The Black Jacket Mystery - 1961

by Kathryn Kenny

Dan Mangan comes to town and he appears to be a bully. He will be living and working with Mr. Maypenny. However, the Bob-Whites think the new kid is nothing but trouble.

Naturally, Trixie becomes suspicious of who Dan really is and if he's responsible for some bad things that have started happening around Sleepyside.

In another storyline, a catamount (short-tailed wildcat) is loose on the Wheeler's game preserve. Is the gang safe when they go horseback riding? Just another mystery for the Bob-Whites to try and solve.

Way Back Wednesday - Trixie Belden #7

Trixie Belden #7 - The Mysterious Code - 1961

By Kathryn Kenny

After a string of vandalism in the community, the Sleepyside school board targets "gangs" for extinction including the Bob-Whites of the Glen (B.W.G.) - and you thought gangs in the 21st century were a new phase.

To prove the B.W.G.s are a group of peace and not vandalism, Trixie comes up with the idea of having an antique show to benefit UNICEF (how appropriate the date of this review is 2 days before Halloween - I still remember trick-or-treating for UNICEF!) While trying to find antiques to sell, Trixie discovers a key in the Wheelers' attic, leading her straight into another mystery. Attached to the key is a tag with a coded message.

While babysitting her little brother, Trixie and Bobby are robbed by three masked men as the men are stealing antiques from a neighbor. When the B.W.G.s report the robbery to policeman Spider Webster, Spider seems unconcerned. Trixie becomes convinced someone has targeted people with antiques and she is afraid the antique show collection will be the next target. Do the robberies and the mysterious code have anything to do with each other? Leave it to Trixie and the Bob-Whites to solve this mystery.

Way Back Wednesday - Trixie Belden #6

Trixie Belden #6 - The Mystery in Arizona - 1958

By Julie Campbell

Trixie and the rest of the Bob-Whites are off to spend the Christmas holiday at Di's Uncle Monty's dude ranch in Arizona. At first, Trixie was afraid she would not be allowed to go because her school work wasn't up to par. But after her brothers, Brian and Mart, put in a good word for her, Trixie is allowed to go on one condition: she must work on her algebra and English theme at least one hour every day. Bummer!

After a long flight to Arizona, the gang is rearing to go, only there is a problem. Uncle Monty's hired help mysteriously packed up in the middle of the night and left. There is a ranch full of guests and no one to take care of them. It looks like the Bob-Whites will have to turn around and go home! But leave it to Trixie to come up with a plan.

Much to the chagrin of the others, Trixie volunteers the Bob-Whites to be the kitchen help and maids. The boys end up cooking and waiting tables, while the girls are left to wash dishes and make beds. Some holiday!

Even with all the work to be done, and Trixie's daily homework to complete, there is still time for some riding and picnicking, as well as a mystery to solve.

This book is the first time all the Bob-Whites have traveled out of state together, so the change of surroundings was interesting. However, I did miss the escapades of little Bobby and the interaction with Reagan and Miss Trask.

Way Back Wednesday - Trixie Belden #5

Trixie Belden #5 - The Mystery Off Glen Road - 1956

By Julie Campbell

If you've read the first book in this series - The Secret Manison - you will remember that Jim left Trixie a diamond ring. Because of Trixie's "tomboy" nature, her parents are keeping the ring for her until she grows up. In The Mystery Off Glen Road, Trixie is trying to convince her parents she is grown up and feminine enough so they will give her the ring.

The real reason Trixie wants the diamond ring is so she can use it as collateral for her oldest brother, Brian - he is trying to buy his dream jalopy (car), but doesn't have the money for a downpayment. Trixie feels she and her brothers can earn the money, if they can convince the owner not to sell the car to someone else.

In another story line, the Wheeler's surly gamekeeper quits without notice. Trixie and Honey agree to take on the gamekeeper's duties - again to help Brian earn money for his car. But another mystery hits the Bob Whites, and they soon fear a poacher is loose in the Wheeler's game preserve.

This book really shows Trixie's determination in following through with a project. She cares more about helping her brother than doing things for herself. This is a lesson that siblings today could learn from.

Way Back Wednesday - The Gatehouse Mystery

Trixie Belden #3 - The Gatehouse Mystery - 1951
by Julie Campbell

Jim Frayne is now officially Honey's new brother because her parents decided to adopt him. And Honey couldn't be happier; she always wanted a sibling. Jim now lives on the Wheeler estate, but he still has his own money in trust account, thanks to the fortune of his great-uncle.

The Gatehouse Mystery focuses on a mysterious new chauffeur hired by the Wheeler family. But Trixie thinks there is something funny going on with this man and she just doesn't trust him. Someone has been sneaking into the gatehouse behind the Wheeler estate and Trixie is determined to find out who. Trixie and Honey have also found a diamond, which Honey says does not belong to either of her parents.

This book is the first time we get a hint of the Bob-White Club that will be formed. The Bob-Whites include Trixie and Honey, as well as Jim and Trixie's older brothers, Brian and Mart.

Way Back Wednesday - The Red Trailer Mystery

Trixie Belden #2 - The Red Trailer Mystery - 1950
by Julie Campbell

We learned at the end of The Secret of the Mansion that Jim Frayne had ran away. His great uncle's lawyer showed up, revealing that Jim had inherited half-a-million dollars and is going to finally be removed from his abusive stepfather's custody.

The Red Trailer Mystery picks up there. Trixie and Honey - along with Honey's governess, Miss Trask - set off in the Wheeler's trailer to find their missing friend. They make a plan to check several boy's camps upstate, since Jim mentioned getting a job there. The problem is, Jim always appears to be one step ahead of them.

On the trip, Trixie and Honey are faced with an interesting obstacle. At the trailer park where they are staying, there is a family living next door in a very fancy trailer. This family does not appear to be the owners of the trailer. They make friends with Mrs. Smith who is a very motherly person, and Trixie and Honey learn that her daughter is missing.

While trying to help this family and look for Jim at the same time, they become entangled in a trailer robbing ring; and there are two suspicious workers at their trailer camp who may or may not be involved. Trixie knows that the mysteries are all tied together and the answer lies somewhere in the nearby forest, if only they could find it.

This book ends on a truly happy note. Once again, Trixie saves the day - with a little help from her friends.

Way Back Wednesday - The Secret of the Mansion

When I was a little girl, Trixie Belden was my hero. I loved reading these books over and over again. My babysitter's daughter was the one who got me hooked on Trixie Belden and I could lose myself for hours in the adventures of Trixie and the Bob-Whites (a club formed by Trixie, her brothers, and her friends). I owned the original 16 books, the Whitman 1970s hardcover editions, and these were my pride and joy as a youngster.

After I married, my collection of Trixie books was given to a neighbor girl. I had reservations about giving them away, but my neighbor was so excited to read them. When I had girls of my own, I really missed those books, so I started to buy the new paperback versions of the books.

As a surprise to me, my wonderful hubby found me the first 16 books, in the original hardback covers I had as a child. I was so exited to have these books in my possession again. Now, I can't wait to read them to my grandchildren.

Because of my love for Trixie, I've decided to start a new segment here on Bobbi's Book Nook and I'm calling it Way Back Wednesday. I'm going to do reviews of the Trixie Belden books from my past. Today I'm starting with the very first book in the series, The Secret of the Mansion.

The Secret of the Mansion - 1948
by Julie Campbell

The book opens with thirteen-year-old Trixie begging her mother for a horse. Her two older brothers - Brian and Mart - are away at camp for the summer and Trixie is stuck on the family farm with her younger brother Bobby. The Belden family - who live on Crabapple Farm - can't afford a horse, so Trixie is trying to save all her money. I could relate to Trixie because I wanted a horse so badly when I was younger, but never had the opportunity to go riding.

Trixie is excited when people start moving into the mansion on the hill - and a horse trailer is seen unloading horses! The Wheelers, a wealthy family from New York City, are moving into the mansion with their teenaged daughter, Honey.

At first, tomboy Trixie thinks Honey is a stuckup sissy, but they soon become fast friends. Trixie realizes that Honey really is a "poor little rich girl." Honey's parents are never home, and she has grown up in boarding schools, camps and with governesses. Trixie helps her new friend overcome these things.

Later in the book, we learn another of Trixie's neighbors has been taken to the hospital. Trixie uses this chance to explore the old man's rundown old mansion. Trixie and Honey climb inside an unlocked window to look around. They are shocked to find a tall, redheaded boy asleep on a mattress!

The boy turns out to be Jim Frayne, the old man's grand-nephew, and he is running away from his abusive stepfather. The three become friends, and the girls start smuggling food up to the mansion for Jim. Local rumors say the old man hid his money somewhere in the house. Honey and Jim are doubtful, but Trixie is sure the money is there somewhere, if only they could find it before Jim's evil stepfather comes looking for him. I can remember having strong feelings of dislike for this evil stepfather. Up until this point, I had only read about wicked step-mothers.

Eventually, the stepfather does come looking for Jim after a newspaper article appeared, telling of a jet crashing near Sleepyside-on-Hudson (Trixie's home town); the newspaper also features the legend of the old man's fortune.

The very night the article appears in the newspaper, Jim's stepfather shows up. Mysteriously, the mansion catches fire and burns to the ground. When Trixie and Honey go to the old house the next morning to visit Jim, they find him gone.

Jim has run away again ... this time with a half million dollars! The money had been hidden in the mattress Jim had been sleeping on all the time! Trixie and Honey are confronted by the stepfather's lawyer who asks them to track Jim down for him. This story is continued in The Red Trailer Mystery.

Full of thrills, chills and mystery, The Secret of the Mansion is the book that started my fascination with the world of Trixie Belden.

Way Back Wednesday - Raising Arizona

Raising Arizona is a 1987 comedy directed by the Coen Brothers. Now, before I start, I must say I'm not a fan of the Coem Brothers - mainly because of all the "potty humor" - but I do enjoy this movie and it always makes me laugh.

The movie stars Nicolas Cage, Holly Hunter, William Forsythe, John Goodman, Frances McDormand and Randall "Tex" Cobb. Although Raising Arizona was not a blockbuster at the time of its release, it has gone on to a cult following. The movie is ranked number 31 on the American Film Institute's 100 Years... 100 Laughs.

Cage plays criminal Herbert I. "Hi" McDunnough who meets a policewoman Edwina "Ed" (Hunter) - the eventually get married, making a hilarious "odd couple." They soon learn Ed is infertile and find they are unable to adopt because of Hi's criminal record.

While watching the news one night, they learn about the "Arizona Quints," sons of locally famous furniture tycoon, Nathan Arizona (Trey Wilson). Between Hi's criminal techniques and Ed's knowledge of the law, they kidnap one of the five babies - Nathan Junior.

From here on, the story is one funny ride. When ex-convict friends of Hi's decide to steal the baby from Hi and Ed and hold him for ransom from Arizona, the couple decides to return the baby to his family, where they hope he will be safe.

Favorite quotes:

[During Hi's mug shot]
Hi: What kind of name is Ed for a pretty thing like you?
Ed: Short for Edwina. Turn to the right.
Hi: You're a flower, you are. Just a little desert flower.

Hi: Biology and the prejudices of others conspired to keep us childless.

Hi: Need a beer, Glen?
Glen: Does the Pope wear a funny hat?

[Evelle is buying diapers]
Evelle: You know how to put these things on?
Grocer: Well, around the butt and up over the groin area.
Evelle: I know WHERE they go, old timer. I just want to know if I need pins or fasteners.
Grocer: Well, no, they got them tape-ettes already on there. It's self-contained and fairly explanatory.

Reporter: Mr. Arizona, do you have any messages for the kidnappers?
Nathan Arizona Sr.: Yeah: Watch your butts.

Ed: We finally go out with decent people and you break his nose. That ain't too funny, Hi.
Hi: His kids seemed to think it was funny.
Ed: Well they're just kids.

Way Back Wednesday - The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree

This week, I am reviewing my very favorite Christmas book. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree by Gloria Houston; illustrated by Barbara Cooney

Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Dial; 1st edition (September 30, 1988)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 080370299X
ISBN-13: 978-0803702998

Although this book was published in 1988, I didn't discover it until 1995, when my youngest was 3 years old. We first read it from the Mercer Public Library, but we checked it out so many times, I finally had a local bookstore order it for us. The library was kind enough to laminate the dust jacket for us.

Ruthie has been waiting patiently for her father to return from the war. As Christmas approaches, Ruthie's mother begins to worry about the Christmas tree tradition in their small Appalachian town of Pine Grove. The Pine Grove Church chooses one family each year to supply the Christmas tree. Ruthie and her father were so excited, because their family had been chosen to provide this year's tree.

During the spring before Papa left for the war, he and Ruthie climbed to the top of the rocky ridge to pick out the perfect tree. To mark this tree from all the rest, Papa takes one of Ruthie's hair ribbons and ties it to the top of the tree. Ruthie is so happy, because as the provider for the traditional tree, she will also get to portray the "heavenly angel" in the Christmas pagent.

When Mama realizes her husband may not make it home for Christmas, she and Ruthie set out in the wee morning hours of Christmas Eve in search of the marked tree. The trip is long and hard, but Ruthie and her Mama stick together and after many hours of hard work, they are able to deliver the tree to the church.

Back at home, Mama settles Ruthie in for a long winter's nap. Exhausted herself, Mama can't sleep because she is determined to make Ruthie's wishes come true. Because her husband had not returned, there was no money to buy Ruthie a new dress for the Christmas pagent or to buy her the doll she asked for from Santa. But Mama has a plan.

All day as Ruthie slept, Mama was at work on a new dress. Taking her beloved wedding dress, Mama cuts it down to make Ruthie an angel costume. Then she takes her last pair of stockings and fashions an angel doll, using the rest of the wedding dress to cloth the angel just like Ruthie.

When Ruthie awakens on Christmas Eve night, she is overjoyed with her angel costume. When they arrive at the church, Mama and Ruthie are so proud of the beautiful Christmas tree. After the Christmas service and pagent, Santa arrives to hand out presents to the children. Santa hands Ruthie the beautiful angel from the top of the tree (Ruthie had no idea her mother made the angel).

But the best present was yet to come. Leaving the church happy and joyful from the pagent and the present, Ruthie sees her father waiting outside the church door.

No matter how many times I read this book - and I still read it yearly, even though my children are grown - I still cry. This book has such a good morale and it makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough - it is the perfect Christmas story.

Way Back Wednesday - A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol (full title, A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being A Ghost Story of Christmas) is a novella by English author Charles Dickens

This book was first published in December 1843 and quickly became a commercial success and won critical acclaim. The story has been credited with returning the holiday to one of merriment and festivity throughout Britain and America. A Christmas Carol remains popular, has never been out of print - it has been adapted to film, opera, and other media.

Ebenezer Scrooge is a miserly, cold, unfeeling, old man who denounces Christmas. In one last attempt to redeem his soul, Scrooge is visited by four ghosts on Christmas Eve seven years after the death of his business partner, Jacob Marley. The ghost of Marley is the first to appear before Scrooge and warns him that his soul will be bearing heavy chains for eternity if he does not change his greedy ways. Marley tells Scrooge he will be visited by 3 more ghosts.

The first, The Ghost of Christmas Past takes Scrooge to the scenes of his boyhood and youth which stir the old skinflint's gentle and tender side. The Ghost of Christmas Present, takes Scrooge to the market with people buying the makings of Christmas dinner and to the family feast of Scrooge's near-impoverished clerk Bob Crachit. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come shows Scrooge his impending death.

I'm sure most of you have watched some version of A Christmas Carol on television or at the movies, but you are missing a treat if you have never read the book. Why not check it out this year with your family? It could be the start of a new Christmas tradition for your family.

Way Back Wednesday - Snowbound with Betsy

Snowbound With Betsy by Carolyn Haywood, was the first book in the Betsy series I read as a child and it has remained one of my favorite children's books.

The week before Christmas, a terrific snowstorm hits, and Betsy, Star, and their parents are snowbound, much to the girls' delight. There are snowmen to be built, Christmas presents to be made, and a tree to be decorated.

Not only was Betsy's family snowbound, but they also took in a mother and her little boy who became stranded in the neighborhood.

I can remember making birdfeeding cups out of orange rinds and peanut butter just like Betsy and her little sister, Star. I laughed so hard reading about the popcorn they tried to "dry out" in the oven, only to have popped corn all over the kitchen. I also remember making snow angels for the first time after reading how Betsy and her friends made them.

And when Christmas finally arrived, everyone received homemade gifts because it was impossible to get to the store to buy gifts. The children made new objects out of old objects they found in the attic. This has always been my inspiration for making homemade gifts every year for the holidays.

Snowbound with Betsy was written the year I was born 1962. When my older girls were little, I bought the newer "paperback" version of this book, but I really missed the original cover. When my youngest daughter was four, I was able to find a vintage copy of Snowbound on eBay - with the cover I remembered and loved.

Way Back Wednesday - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Book #4) by J. K. Rowling

Believe it or not, I have a love-hate relationship with this book. I think the part I didn't like was the other 2 schools of magic - I thought it was too long and drawn out. And I missed the Quiddich matches! But the graveyard scene with Lord Voldemort - purely awesome!

Goblet of Fire is the 4th book in the Harry Potter series and was published in July 2000. I can vividly remember waiting in line at Walmart to buy this book. Goblet won a Hugo Award in 2001 and it is the only Harry Potter book to do so.

This book shows the beginnings of teenage misery and indecision. Although Harry, Ron and Hermione remain best friends, throughout the first section of the book, Ron rages around in a jealous snit because Harry was chosen to participate in the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Ron believes Harry is lying when he tells everyone he did not enter the contest. Later, Ron realizes the truth and he is once again at Harry side. Later in the book, the green-eyed monsters rears its head again as Ron becomes jealous of Victor Krum because he is Hermione's date to the Yule Ball. Poor Ron, he just can't catch a break. Rowling has a unique way of showing the teenage drama wouldn't being obvious.

The storyline with Professor Moody/Barty Crouch, Jr. was brilliant! Just as I was shocked to discover that Scabbers was actually Peter Pettigrew in the 3rd book, finding out the true relationship between these 2 men caught me totally off guard - I just didn't see it coming.

Goblet is also the book where we realize that Ron may actually have feelings for Hermione that go beyond being best friends. I think this was a little foreshadowing on Rowling's part for the last books in the series.

I was pleased with the way this movie turned out, considering this was the biggest book to date. The movie manages to capture all the major plot points of the book.

Way Back Wednesday - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (book #3 of the Harry Potter series) by J. K. Rowling.

This 3rd book was published in July 1999 and won the 1999 Whitbread Book Award, the Bram Stoker Award and the 2000 Locus Award. In an interesting note, this is the only novel in the series that does not feature Lord Voldemort in some form.

Harry and his best friends, Ron and Hermione, are entering their 3rd year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In the beginning, Harry runaway from the Dursleys after getting angry with Uncle Vernon's visiting sister and blowing her up like a hot air balloon; she blows away. He has his first encounter with the Knight Bus and eventually ends up at the Leaky Cauldron, where he learns that the murderous Sirrus Black has escaped from Azkaban Prison.

On the Hogwarts Express, the train is stopped and searched by the horrible Dementors, the evil creatures who guard Azkaban - they are looking for Sirrus Black. During the course of the book, Harry learns that Sirrus Black is actually his godfather and that it was he was was responsible for the death of Harry's parents.

This was my favorite book when it was released and it still rates in my top 3 favorite Potter books. There were so many new things we learned about the world of magic and I was enchanted with all the fascinating new details. However, this is probably my least favorite of the movie adaptations.

After the release of this book, buying Harry Potter books would never be the same again. By the time Azkaban circulated the USA, Harry Potter mania was in full swing. I can still remember where I was when I waited in line to by the 4th book in the series.

Way Back Wednesday - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Book #2 of the Harry Potter series) by J. K. Rowling

This book was published in the United Kingdom in July 1998 by Bloomsbury and in the United States in June 1999 by Scholastic, Inc.

The plot follows Harry's second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, during which a series of messages on the walls on the school's corridors warn that the "Chamber of Secrets" has been opened and that the "heir of Slytherin" will kill all pupils who do not come from all-magical families. These threats are followed by attacks which leave Muggle-born students of the school "petrified" (that is, frozen). Throughout the year, Harry and his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger investigate the attacks, and Harry is confronted by Lord Voldemort, who is attempting to regain full power.

In this book we get to see much more of Ron's little sister, Ginny - she plays a major role in the plot of the story. We are also introduced to Moaning Myrtle - a ghost who lives in the girl's bathroom on the third floor. Gilderoy Lockhart is the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, but he is not a character I enjoyed very much - I was happy to see him get his "just reward" in the end.

We also learn the existence of house elves in the world of wizardry when we are introduced to Dobby. Dobby is the lovable house elf who tries to warn Harry not to return to Hogwarts for his 2nd year. Dobby will go on to play important roles in future books of the series, although he has been cut out of all but one movie.

By the time this book was released in the USA, people just beginning to read this series. It wouldn't be until after the release of book #3 that Harry Potter became a raging success in the USA.