Trixie Belden Books

Welcome back, Trixie! Well, actually, she never left.
Trixie has been the girl-detective for several generations.

What is it about this fictitious teen detective that brings us to the tenth publication of her series?

Trixie Arrives

In 1948 a new literary character arrived as Trixie, a 13-year old girl from a middle-class, rural family, complained to her mother she would die if she couldn't have a horse. Boredom had claimed poor Trixie's summer months.

But Trixie was only minutes away from discovering a new neighbor was unpacking her things (including a stable full of horses) in the Manor House near-by. Honey Wheeler, the frail, lonely daughter of wealthy, New York City socialites, was about to meet her new BFF. Honey's loneliness would be traded for a life of adventure, friendship, and even danger as she partners-up with the impetuous Trixie.

Meanwhile Trixie, and her thousands of loyal followers, would never be bored again.

Bob-Whites of the Glen

Trixie and Honey form the Bob-Whites of the Glen, and indirectly a book series about the two girl detectives and their club-members who solve all the mysteries and crimes that wind their way to the farm outside of the sleepy town of Sleepyside-on-the Hudson. It took eight books to get the full-membership of the Bob-Whites inducted. And every decade saw another edition of the series released, while new adventures with Trixie and the B.W.G.'s unfolded.

New Fans

Several decades after Trixie debued, my oldest sister came across eight titles from different editions in various states of abuse at a used book-store. After buying them, she gave two each to myself, my other sister, and the two neighbor sisters next door. Armed with these eight mysteries, and a few others we located on our shelves, we spent our summer sitting outdoors reading our shared books - our own version of a mini Bob-Whites fan club. (Here's remembering old times, Carla, Lisa, and Robin.) Our biggest problem was finding another place to sit when the hot Nebraska sun eliminated whatever shade the four of us had managed to find.

And before the summer was up the next edition of Trixie Belden books rolled off the presses enabling us to complete the collection. That was the edition we now call "Uglies." I believe we paid 79 cents each.

I had already been a book lover, but I liked "old fashioned stories" instead of the "now-a-days stories." (My vocabulary hadn't evolved to where I could say I prefered historical fiction to modern literature.) The dividing line between "old" and "now-a-days" was phones and cars. Trixie and her friends had crossed the divide into modern literature: they called each other on the phone and Brian drove them around in his old jalopy. They were, I was quite sure, part of my "now-a-days" generation.

Passing Decades - New Editions

Those old books that formed the basis of my collection were read and re-read. Until, eventually, they were outgrown and relegated to a box. That old, almost-forgotten box resurfaced years later when my own kids read them. Concerned that the old books couldn't withstand another generation of heavy use, I called Random House in the early 1990s to ask if they were going to reprint the series. No, the series had been closed - for good I was told. They had other publishing priorities.

The publishing house spokeswoman was wrong. Two other editions have come out since then. As this is being typed, the tenth edition (some say ninth) is starting to hit the market.

May 1, 1935?

Trixie, the series informs us, has a birthday on May 1, eleven months after her almost-twin Mart with a June 1st birthday.

Now if the first book came out in 1948, we might assume Trixie should have a DOB of May 1, 1935. If so, she would be ninety years old as of May of this year.

But to her followers, she remains a perpetual teenager.

Why Should Kids Today Read Trixie?

The Belden and Wheeler's phones and cars and electric stoves made them "modern" to the kids in the fifties, sixties, seventies, even eighties and nineties. But a new dividing line has emerged: cell phones and the internet. Many of the scrapes the Bob Whites found themselves in wouldn't have happened if they had carried a cell phone in their back pocket. Will the youngest generation accept Bob Whites patroling the Wheeler's Hudson Valley game preserve on horseback? And without cell phones?

Do people still real Sherlock?

Yes, today's kids read Trixie. A slightly different perspective for some, perhaps, because the absence of digital devices signals the Bob-Whites aren't our current next door neighbors. But history has it's own appeal.

So once again, 9 - 12 year olds (and certainly others both younger and older) can grab the latest version of Trixie Belden and join the Bob-Whites on their adventure-loving, fun-packed, crime-solving mysteries.

Oh, and Happy Ninetieth Birthday, Trixie!