Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #169231 in Books
• Published on: 2005-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Customer Reviews

Great mystery for Samantha fans.
When Uncle Gard and Aunt Cornelia decide to do some renovations on their house, the family -- which includes Samantha and her adopted sisters Nellie, Bridget, and Jenny -- temporarily moves to Ravenscourt, an elegant new apartment building. However, soon after the family moves into Ravenscourt, things begin to go wrong. Samantha hears rumors of a curse on the building's owner, and begins to wonder if it's responsible for the strange happenings. Then Uncle Gard has to leave on business, and soon after Aunt Cornelia leaves as well, supposedly to visit her mother in Connecticut. Samantha begins to wonder if Aunt Cornelia lied about her reasons for leaving, but if she feared the dangers of Ravenscourt, how could she leave her adopted daughters there? Samantha decides she must find out the truth about what is happening at Ravenscourt before something goes even more terribly wrong.

This is a nice mystery that will be enjoyed by the many girls who are fans of the American Girls, especially those whose favorites are Samantha and Nellie. The longer length of this book will be appreciated by girls who are beginning to outgrow the regular American Girls books. The story will also be enjoyed by young readers who haven't read other American Girls books, but who enjoy historical mysteries. And as someone who grew up reading American Girls books, including those about Samantha, I really enjoyed revisiting one of my favorite childhood characters.

Why the Seance Info?
If you like Nancy Drew, you'll like this book. It may be just a tad simple for the Nancy Drew crowd, but it's well enough written that it's an entertaining read. Definitely aimed at preteens. I just want parents to be aware that there is a looking back section at the end of the book that discusses ghosts and seances. It has NOTHING to do with the storyline, but if you would be offended by your daughter discovering this stuff in an American Girl book, this is not the book for you.

Hotel Mystery
While their house is being renovated, Uncle Gard and Aunt Cornelia move Samantha, Nellie, and her two younger sisters Bridget and Jenny to a new residential hotel. The hotel is suffering a run of what looks like bad luck--nonworking furnaces and electricity, an invasion of rats--and things get worse when Bridget and Jenny catch chicken pox and Aunt Cornelia suddenly must go away to nurse her mother.

The mystery portion of the story is pretty good--it will probably keep readers guessing--but Samantha has too much freedom for a rich Victorian girl and she never strikes me as realistic as the other American Girls.