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ahhleeishere's review against another edition
3.0
A little bit of a miss compared to the first one. I forgot how the series transformed into Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys mysteries instead of being about the kids in the boxcar. The first book was charming while this one was a little flat. Also concerned about the nonchalance of Uranium being buried and used in fires, but I guess this WAS the 50's, so who cares right?
devannm's review against another edition
2.0
Ok I try not to give low ratings to children's books because I usually figure that any complaints I might have would not really be an issue if I was a younger reader, and I loved this series when I was a child but this one was just really not good.
I mean first of all the whole 'missing or estranged relatives' plotline is getting REALLY OLD now so I hope we are heading more into the stuff that I remember soon, but also there is not really any mystery here at all ...or I guess there maybe is but the kids do not in any way 'solve' it. They just kind of hang around with their grumpy aunt for awhile and then some random dude shows up to explain that he's solved the entire plot while they were once again cooking really weird food. I'm so glad I didn't grow up in the 40's or 50's ...for many reasons really but also everything they eat sounds awful.
Anyway then the aunt literally signs over her entire ranch to them, as if they weren't already filthy rich enough. It's obviously nothing that I thought about as a child but I wonder what the wealth distribution was like during this time period because reading it from a 21st century American standpoint it's kind of sickening how easy these kids have it [not that kids shouldn't have it easy, I just mean it's very uncommon today].
Also ...its uranium just not as dangerous as I thought it was or did they just not know it was dangerous at this time? Because she's literally got a uranium fireplace and they're just walking around in fields of it touching it and stuff and I'm like ???? That's bad right ???? I don't know, the whole thing was just bizarre, even by Boxcar Children standards.
I mean first of all the whole 'missing or estranged relatives' plotline is getting REALLY OLD now so I hope we are heading more into the stuff that I remember soon, but also there is not really any mystery here at all ...or I guess there maybe is but the kids do not in any way 'solve' it. They just kind of hang around with their grumpy aunt for awhile and then some random dude shows up to explain that he's solved the entire plot while they were once again cooking really weird food. I'm so glad I didn't grow up in the 40's or 50's ...for many reasons really but also everything they eat sounds awful.
Anyway then the aunt literally signs over her entire ranch to them, as if they weren't already filthy rich enough. It's obviously nothing that I thought about as a child but I wonder what the wealth distribution was like during this time period because reading it from a 21st century American standpoint it's kind of sickening how easy these kids have it [not that kids shouldn't have it easy, I just mean it's very uncommon today].
Also ...its uranium just not as dangerous as I thought it was or did they just not know it was dangerous at this time? Because she's literally got a uranium fireplace and they're just walking around in fields of it touching it and stuff and I'm like ???? That's bad right ???? I don't know, the whole thing was just bizarre, even by Boxcar Children standards.
ladyyazzie's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.0
At least I got through it. It wasn’t impressive. Instead, I was a bit bored with this one. At the end of the book, I didn’t grow to like Aunt Jane. And Benny is still annoying.
sara_scussel's review against another edition
3.0
Wow, a re-read was really eye-opening! Not my favorite Boxcar Book. Uranium? Did I even get what was happening in this book as a child? Do I even get it now?
mrs_w24's review against another edition
5.0
Everything happens to the Aldens! They get a 1200 acre uranium ranch!
heathermassareads's review against another edition
3.0
Well, I had never read the Boxcar children and now Henry and I are reading them. They’re a little problematic but we are talking through that stuff.
The mystery wasn’t super mysterious
The mystery wasn’t super mysterious
mchoneyb's review against another edition
3.0
Such simple, old fashioned story lines, but they must be timeless in their own special way because my kiddos can't get enough of them! We flew through this one and my kids want to know when we can get the next one!
rhalinuviel's review against another edition
4.0
OK, so here’s another way these books are hilariously anachronistic as the kids play with raw uranium ore for a summer Aunt Jane’s ranch. And is it possible that Aunt Jane’s mysterious illness might be linked to the chimney in her home which made of these same uranium-bearing rocks? Call it a hunch...
starrynews's review against another edition
4.0
It's fun to learn more about Grandfather's past and his family in this entry in the series.