Mystery Fiction / A Hardy Boys Adventures Book Report

I've been away from my desk for a while ... please excuse my long absence from my blog. School can get busy you know. But I'm back 😁 ... with a book report  ( ☹ ) that's due tomorrow!!!

Mystery Fiction Assignment   

HARDY BOYS ADVENTURES

MYSTERY OF THE PHANTOM HEIST

By: Franklin W. Dixon  

                                                                             

Summary

Imagine the excitement of two teenage boys solving crimes and mysteries. Franklin W. Dixon tells the story of two brothers, Frank and Joe Hardy who tried to solve a mystery about a gang that trashed their town of Bayport! It got a lot more interesting when the gang (who called themselves the “ScareDevils”) started vandalizing properties and set the Hardy boys’ garage ablaze! The brothers felt the pressure to solve this case quickly, because a girl who was targeted by the gang was worried about safety at her ‘sweet sixteen’ birthday party. It was supposed to be the biggest party that Bayport had ever seen and they suspected that the gang would attempt to sabotage it. Frank and Joe went undercover at the party and their suspicions were confirmed when they saw their main suspect gained access to the party and had a caused havoc with concealed weapons. The Hardy boys were able to stop the gang in time and the police arrived to arrest them.

Questions

Have you ever wondered how Franklin W. Dixon could write a series about two young detectives solving crimes in 1927, and still be writing the series in 2013, 86 years later? I found out that the original series was started by Edward Stratemeyer, and was continued by ‘ghost writers’ under the name of Franklin W. Dixon. That’s why the Hardy Boys series is published still today and the books are updated with new technology and up to date methods used by police and detectives. If I ever met the team of writers (aka Franklin W. Dixon) I would ask how they kept the tale of these characters alive and timeless. This book really was a great page turner! I wonder how the writers kept up the suspense throughout the book and the whole series, for that matter. With all those writers working together, I wonder how they narrowed their ideas down and agreed on how the plot would unfold.  

Connections

It might be hard for some people to believe that my great-great-grandfather bought the original collection of the Hardy Boys series and they have been passed down through the generations and still will! If I could talk to the 12 year-old version of my great-great grandfather, I would talk to him about the series. We could talk about how the writing style and word choice has changed over the decades. I would also talk to him about how a good Hardy Boy mystery is timeless. I have just finished reading The Tower Treasure (another book in an earlier series, circa 1959) and it was great! I though the language was interesting. For example, instead of the word 'friend' they would call each other 'chum'. After that book, I read "Mystery of the Phantom Heist" from the new series of the Hardy Boys Adventures (2013). In this book, there are far more examples of modern technology. For example, they describe a device in which you can hear whispers up to 100 feet away (pg. 43)! Also, there are sports cars and high speed boats! What kid would not find that interesting! Finally, they use cell phones to call in the police. I would trade places with the Hardy Boys any day of the week because I find it cool that they are solving mysteries. I can't wait to get my hands on the rest of the series and read all of the Hardy Boys books.

My great and great-great grandfathers

Final Thoughts

If I were to rate this Mystery Fiction novel out of 10, I would
give it ...

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

7 stars!

I really enjoyed how the story developed throughout the book. It
is interesting to know that the group of authors can come
together, and shared ideas to create such a great series and
write under the name of Franklin W. Dixon.

If my friends and I were to get together and collaborate to write a
series, I suspect it would be a mystery fiction, similar to the
Hardy Boys adventures.