Thoughts before reading:
I definitely read this one at least a few times when I was a kid, although I never owned it. I'm starting to think I might actually have read all the Mallory books back then, up until the ones that came out after I outgrew the series. This particular book was right up my alley then too. I loved anything with a mystery, or a little spookiness. This would have been just before I got really into Goosebumps and Nancy Drew. Anything to do with an old diary would also have fascinated me. My other obsession at this age was the Dear America diary series.
I can't remember the specifics of this plot, other than Mallory finding the trunk and diary. However, I do clearly recall writing a "novel" about an old trunk with a diary because of this book. The main character was even named Sophia, and in here the diary writer's name is Sophie. Clearly I was not yet familiar with plagiarism...
The basics:
Mallory's mom sends her over to Stacey's new house with a casserole, as a welcoming gesture. It's been a week since they moved in, and they're finishing up packing and getting settled in. Claudia's also over when Mal arrives, helping them straighten up. Mallory stays and pitches in too. The three girls go into the attic for the first time to put away some boxes, and find it packed with old, dusty things. Among them is a huge locked trunk. Stacey's mom wants to throw it out to clear some space, to Mallory's dismay. She's enchanted by it, and they end up letting her keep it instead. Later, at home, the Pike kids break the trunk open, and find it full of old girl's clothes from the 1800s. At the bottom there's a diary by a girl named Sophie.
During this time, Buddy Barrett is struggling with his reading in school. His mom finds out he's reading way below grade level and needs extra help, but she doesn't have time to tutor him. The BSC steps in to help, and Mal ends up getting the job. She's excited to help someone discover how great reading is, but their first tutoring session is a disaster. Buddy's a very unwilling student, who already thinks he hates reading and doesn't want to try.
One evening Mallory starts reading Sophie's diary, and becomes engrossed in her life story. The gist of which is: Her mom died giving birth to her baby brother, Edgar. Her maternal grandfather, Hickman, blamed her father, Jared, because he risked her life trying to have a son. Plus Jared has a shady past involving stealing and a violent temper. Soon after her mother's death, a portrait of her goes missing from Hickman's house. He blames Jared, and writes the whole family out of his will. Jared's reputation is also ruined. Sophie vows to clear her father's name, or else she thinks their spirits will never be at rest.
After reading this, Mal panics, thinking Stacey might be living in a haunted house. She consults the BSC about the story. Kristy figures out that Sophie's grandfather is Old Hickory (see book #17). He's the old, rich miser who is supposed to haunt the cemetery in town because he didn't want a gravestone, but got one anyway. Mallory decides they must hold a séance, but Kristy goofs around the whole time, pretending Sophie is speaking through her.
Mallory does figure out how to make reading fun for Buddy though. First she uses comic books to peak his interest. She then moves him on to mysteries, and shows him the diary. He's excited by it too, and wants to see the trunk. While exploring it, his hand gets caught in a secret pocket. Inside, they find Old Hickory's confession: apparently he had his daughter's portrait painted over because he was too distraught to look at it or get rid of it. When people started asking him what had happened to it, he lied and said it was stolen, then let everyone suspect Jared.
Buddy and Mal race over to tell Stacey. The trio searches her attic again, and they find a painting of ships that's chipping in one corner. Stacey's mom sends the painting to an art restorer, and sure enough, it's the missing portrait. They decide to keep it and hang it up in their new house.
Timeline:
It's only been a week since the last book, but still no idea about the time of year.
My thoughts:
This was a pretty average read now, especially in comparison to how much I once loved it. It's really not much of a mystery at all, even for young readers. There's no investigating or research involved at all, in the end the solution just falls into their laps by luck. After reading Sophie's story, no one has any ideas about what to do. It was so long ago there are no real leads or avenues to pursue. Reading this did remind me of how much it influenced me as a kid though. Storylines like this really got my imagination going, even if it was only to copy the same ideas...
What I really liked about this now was how it was truly about the importance of reading. That's where the storyline with Buddy Barrett goes, since we have Mallory, who loves to read, trying to show someone reluctant how amazing it is. Even before she's thinking up ideas for Buddy, she mentions how she's grateful to be able to read Sophie's diary. There's a nice passage about reading too:
"As I read, I thought about how lucky I was. I mean, just to be reading. When you read, you can sit in your room and travel back and forth in time, or to other countries, or to made-up lands, or to outer space. And all without moving a muscle, except to turn pages." (pg 43)
I liked how determined she was to make Buddy a reader, because she knew that doing so would change his life. Anyone that loves to read can really relate to this sentiment, especially when you're trying to explain it to a non-reader, who just doesn't get it. Once she realizes the problem is that his school reading is boring him, she easily finds reading material that excites him and turns everything around. By the end, he's reading Hardy Boys mysteries by himself and moving up in his class reading group. I also truly believe everyone would be a reader, if they were matched up to the right reading material. There's something for everyone.
Misc:
*Another reason I related to Mallory: I also kept a journal all during my childhood.
*The plot of this book hinges on the fact that Stacey just moved back to town. Such a nice change from all the books where a storyline happens during that one book and then isn't mentioned again. These last two flowed so nicely together.
*Mallory complains in her journal about how she feels like she's been 11 forever, when the other years of her life flew by. Could this be more ironic?
*We also get Mal's journal entries in this book, which are delightfully full of preteen angst. I bet mine from junior high sounded very similar.
*I remember being jealous of the Pike kids having a rec room, haha...
*Dawn and Mary Anne mention their parents are getting serious about each other.
Books mentioned:
*Green Eggs and Ham, by Dr Seuss
*Katie and the Sad Noise, by Ruth Stiles Gannett
*The BFG, by Roald Dahl
*Encyclopedia Brown, by Donald J. Sobol
*Hardy Boys Series
*GOOPS and How To Be Them, by Gelett Burgess
My rating:
3.5 stars, for all the memories.
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