2 out of 4 stars
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I chose to read The Mystery of the Hidden Cabin for a couple of reasons. I was drawn to the old-fashioned front cover. I found the stark contrast of the young girl against the vibrant green to be enticing. I also liked that it was written recently but set in the 1950s. As soon as I started reading, I found the town of Pineview conjured up images of Little House on the Prairie, particularly the scenes unfolding in the schoolhouse.
The author claims that this book is aimed at Middle-Grade children. I would probably target a slightly older audience. I found the language to be relatively simple, as was the plot. That said, the main characters are aged twelve and compared to the children of today, have a more mature way of speaking.
The Mystery of the Hidden Cabin focusses on the characters of Bess and her cousin Megan. They find a journal in a secret cabin and attempt to trace the identity of the writer. Their starting clue is the name ‘Abigail Morgan.’ Within the last year, Bess has moved from the city to the country. Over the course of the summer of 1954, she has learned to walk without aid since contracting polio. Megan and her family moved shortly after and it is their house that is attached to the mystery cabin being investigated. With her newfound walking ability and trusted cousin, the pair set out to speak with an array of locals to solve their mystery.
The first five words of each paragraph are formatted in capitals. I didn’t like this because I found it to be a distraction from the rest of the page. This is a personal preference, and I am aware that others may not be phased by it.
I rate this story 2 out of 4 stars. There were a few errors (spellings and missing apostrophes) in the book but not so much as to make the book difficult to read. The hardest part about reading the book was all the characters. I found myself forgetting who a lot of them were as they didn’t add any real value or insight. Many of the characters weren’t developed. I also thought we could have lost whole chapters because they served no real purpose e.g. joining a new school is the focus of the first chapter and is irrelevant, as is finding the puppies later on and the school sports day.
I liked that Bess had to consult many of the older generations with her findings to get to the bottom of the mystery. Despite this, I didn’t find the story very mysterious. There was no major drama or build-up. I wonder if the book would be better placed in a historical fiction or historical drama genre.
I think this story would appeal to pre-teens and young adults that enjoy reading the classics. As I mentioned before, the characters have a mature way of thinking and speaking and I think the audience will have to be of similar character. It has a similar tone to nineteenth-century novels whilst having the advantage of being produced more recently. Teachers and parents might appreciate their children reading this book aloud to them for reading and comprehension practice because the characters avoid colloquial language and poor grammar. Most of all, I think this book would appeal to the generation born around the 1950s. It stirs feelings of nostalgia for a sedate childhood. Although I was born a couple of generations later, I found myself smiling along as they talked of the recipes instructing things like, ‘They all say a dash of this and a pinch of that.’ It reminded me of my late grandma and her makeshift cookbooks. I did struggle to stay focused for the most of the book as I found the telling of the story rather bland.
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The Mystery of the Hidden Cabin
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