The Kachina Doll Mystery by Carolyn Keene; The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder – Pooja Book Review

I devoured both the Nancy Drew and Little House books when I was in elementary school, so it feels a little odd to read them in such close succession now. I still enjoy them, but I’ve rather lost the cuddly feeling since then. It’s more obvious to adult me that the books were written in the expectation of reaching a certain sort of child, and that child did not look like me.

The Kachina Doll Mystery – 3 stars

When Nancy Drew is summoned to Arizona by an old friend, she must solve the mystery of a strange ghost that haunts the ranch.

One of the books from the period in which the series was shifting from being published by Grosset & Dunlap to Simon & Schuster, this book follow the usual Nancy Drew formula of combining Nancy’s adventurous nature with high femininity. There’s a Native American ghost, a young boy in danger of being branded a criminal, and plenty of near brushes with death.

I read plenty of Nancy Drew when I was a kid, though I never got to this book. While I enjoyed the setting and the eeriness of the Kachina doll storyline, this is probably not one of Nancy’s best outings. She more stumbles upon answers this time round, with very little deduction required. Bess and George are lacklustre here, without much to do.

The Long Winter – 3.5 stars

Over the course of a long, hard winter, the Ingallses move into town, where they must endure a barrage of blizzards, dwindling food supplies, and maddeningly dull days.

The sixth book in the Little House series, this book recounts the Ingallses’ experiences during the unusually harsh winter 0f 1880-81. A sense of foreboding is established early on and builds in a way that jangles the reader’s nerves as much as it does the Ingallses’. Laura begins to take a more adult role in supporting her parents and the household. We also get to properly meet Almanzo here, though he and Laura don’t really get acquainted until the next book.

I read this series all the time as a kid, but I will admit I didn’t recall much about this story except for the scene where Pa forcibly buys some of Almanzo’s seed grain – and apparently with good reason. It was interesting to see all the ways the Ingallses contrived to make do with their dwindling supplies and how they kept their spirits up. But as the days grow slow and dull for Laura, the book slows down too. By the Shores of Silver Lake will keep its crown.