The literary criticism you can get from the Oxford edition (check your local library); the commentary is thorough (which parts did Twain write? which parts Warner?) and informative. My reasons for recommending this book have nothing to do with its literary value (spotty) and everything to do with its subtitle. Every now and then an old book teaches us that much of what we take to be modern and sophisticated is truly old hat. One of the best descriptions of the Cold War was written by Thucydides, and one of the best depictions of the go go dot.com economy was written by Twain. Substitute web sites for depots and bandwidth for rails and the conversations in this book could have been overhead on cel phones in San Jose. IPO's and bubbles are not twenty-first century innovations: as Twain shows us,it may be possible to get rich from hard work, but it's more tempting to get rich by looting the pockets of the uninformed. Senator Dilworthy's dedication to pork evokes Byrd, and we learn lecherous behavior in Congress didn't start with Condit. An entertaining validation of Ecclesiates: there truly is nothing new under the sun.

Moving stuff at the start, very funny in spots, and heartily American. The end wasn't all I'd hope for but there is still good stuff up till the end which is hard to do in any book. Like I said in the title, I liked it better than Huck Finn because Huck Finn is more of the kitchy journey story which is too easy whereas this one is not a road trip but a full fleshed tale.

This book, written by Twain and Warner, pokes fun at American society during what they called "the guilded age". This term has stuck and is often used by historians to describe the period 1877-1914. Twain and Warner see this time as one where men care only for money. These men will not work hard, but merely scheme and plot in order to strike it rich. The dialogue in the book is very snappy, the best being when Laura Hawkins arrives in Washington, DC and meets with the other high society ladies. I would recommend this book to anybody interested in United States History, or just those who want to read a good novel. The book can drag at times, but overall is very engrossing.

This book is about four children and a dog who help an elderly woman fix her house which was partly destroyed during a hurricane. While helping her fix her house, they discovery pirate's gold in a gate on the front yard of the house.

The children are brother and sisters. They are Benny Alden who is six years old, Violet Alden who is 10 years old, Jessie Alden who is 12 years old and Henry Alden who is fourteen years old. The dog's name is Watch Alden. He is a terrier. The elderly woman's name is Mrs. Ashleigh.

The children were know as the boxcar children. They were called this because after their parents died, they didn't realize that their grandfather James was looking for them, and they lived in a box car until their grandfather found them. The grandfather took the children back to live with him and brought the boxcar with him so the children would feel comfortable.

While fixing the house, the children hear tales that the island that the house was on contained pirate's buried treasure. The house was located on Sullivan Island which is off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina.

The gate to Mrs. Ashleigh's fence was known as the Pirate's Gate. It was called that because her great great great great grandfather who's name was Mr. Fitzhugh was supposed to have been a pirate. During the hurricane, the gate landed in a neighbors yard. When the children looked for the gate, they saw that the neighbor who's name is Jackie James was trying to put the gate in her car. The children quickly told her that the gate belonged to Mrs. Ashleigh and they had the gate brought back to Mrs. Ashleigh's yard.

Because the gate had been broken, Mrs. Ashley arranged for a gate repairman named Mr. Farrier to fix the gate. During the time that this was being done, the children found some papers in Mrs. Ashleigh's home which contained a treasure map. They took the map outside the house to try to follow it and find the treasure. While Benny was holding the map, someone came and stole the map. The theif was wearing a grey jacket.

While the children were looking at more papers in Mrs. Ashleigh's home, they found information about the gate. It turned out that Mr. Fitzhugh ordered the maker of the gate to make it hollow. The children thought that gold was inside the gate.

When Mr. Farrier brought back the gate, the children told him what they thought. Instead of attaching the gate to the fence, he brought it back into Mrs. Ashleigh's house. The children now decided to set a trap to catch the thief who stole the treasure map. They put the gate against the fence and went into Mrs. Ashleigh's house. In the meantime, a hurricane began and Mrs. Ashleigh closed all the windows and doors. The children could not see outside. After the storm passed, they told their grandfather about their plan. When they looked outside, the gate was missing. As they looked around, they saw that someone was taking it. Watch ran and grabbed the person's leg. It turned out to be Mike Carsen. He was the same person in the grey jacket. The other person helping him was Jackie James. They were trying to steal the gate so they could sell it.

Mrs. Ashleigh decided to donate the gate to a museum on the island. The gate was displayed at the museum information about how it was found and how the children solved the mystery.

As you can tell by the title, this is a mystery book.

The setting of the story is in an island called Sullivans Island, and all occurs in a neighborhood.
Sullivan's Island is small and plain. The neighborhood is full of old houses. In the oldest one of these houses is where the mystery occurs.

The main characters in the story are Henry, Jessie, Violet and Benny. They are the box Car Children. Other characters are Mrs. and Mr. Asheligh, Jackie, Mike and Mr. Farrier.
Henry, Jessie, Violet and Benny are brothers and they love to solve mysteries. Mrs. Asheling is a nice woman who has a not so nice son called Mr. Asheling. Jackie and Mike seem nice and good, but at the end of the story they are totally the opposite. Mr. Farrier is an expert on things like iron and also about a buried treasure.

At the beggining of the story Mrs. Asheling tells the Box Car Children, about a special gate: The pirate's gate.
Sice that moment on the children wanted to find the treasure.

The problem begins when, in the middle of the treasure hunt, they fall in a mystery. The mystery was that someone was trying to steal the pirate's gate.

The resolution to the problem happened when the Box Car Children made a trap and trapped the thieves. Then they noticed the gate was the treasure because it was made of pure gold.
At the end of the story, to make sure the gate was safe, they donnated it to a museum.
I recommend this book to everyone because it is an exciting story, full of mysterious things and action.
It is an excellent book. Buy it now and read it! I hope you do it. You won't be sorry.
ALEX

The Boxcar Children went to Charleston to help Mrs Ashleigh clean up her house after a recent hurricane had messed it up. But someone had been trying to steal one of Mrs Ashleigh's valuables, the Pirate's Gate. Why? Read this book to find out.

The Aldens are waiting for snow when Grandfather tells them that they are going to an inn with a competition. When they arrive, there are missing keys and 4 flat tires. The Aldens all enter an activity. Jessie does skating, Henry does skiing, Violet does ice sculpting, Benny does everything. Benny tries to put on his skiis but the laces are a little tight. So he decides not to try out for skiing. He builds some does some snow-sculpting with some kids his age, but someone has recked them! And some people have acted strangely. Will the Alden's solve this mystery? Will they be winners? Will they find more clues? Find Out all the answers in The Mystery In The Snow.

I am a 10 year old girl.I have read 2 Boxcar Children books so far (including this one)I think it was a great book!I really like mystery stories.So I am looking forward to reading more of the Boxcar Children books.

The story is very interesting,the culprit turns out to have a very good reason,and the answer to the mystery brings a family close.Fun and exciting story about caring,kindness and families.

With the Founder's Day celebrations quickly approaching, the Aldens begin plans to redecorate their boxcar as a float for the parade, until their boxcar suddenly and mysteriously vanishes. The dog has been stolen with it. Can they solve their most important mystery yet?

Henry, Jessie, Violet and Benny are fixing up their boxcar for a parade. But then it gets stolen, and worse, their dog Watch disappears! Can they find them both in time for the parade?

When the Alden children decide to enter their boxcar in a parade someone has stolen it with watch their dog. Is it a bratty little kid,a man that collects train(real ones-not models), a person working for Senator Teacher, or Sam,who sells ice-cream and his wagon broke. This is the most important mystery the Boxcar children will ever solve-if they solve it. It keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny used to live alone in a boxcar. Now they have a home with their grandfather, and are going to visit their cousins Joe and Alice. To the children's delight, Joe and Alice live near a wonderful amusment park. The park holds everuthing the Boxcar Children could ask for- a beautiful merry-go-round, lots of rides and games, all the cotton candy they can eat... and a mystery.

I forget pretty much of this book but I remebered it was the first Boxcar Children book I read and it brought me into liking the Boxcar Children.

There were some people think the old firehouse was bad, they want to build the new one. But the Aldens love the firehouse, they try to save it. Can they save the firehouse?

When the Aldens try to save the old Greenfield fire department they get more what they bargained for including damage to the floors and even the puzzling theft of an antique trophy. A blue notebook leads the way to who stole the trophy and will the fire department be saved?

When the Aldens go to the Greenfield Dog School they meet and become friends with a dog and a blind gold. In this story the Boxcar children learn what it is to be blind and the impotance of guide dogs. While doing this they solve a mystery. Watch as the blind girls keen senses help them do something they never done before.

The guide dog mystery is a great way to learn about dogs.

In my opinion, THE HOME RUN MYSTERY is the Best Boxcar Children book ever written! I won't spoil the book, but it's probably one of the most mysterious one ever. A+

Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny are taking another trip with their Grandfather, and you know what that means! Another mystery! This time they're involved in a baseball game, playing in a lot that has a story behind it, but time is running out. The lot may soon be changed into a parking lot! What happened to the legendary player Home Run Herman? And how is the opposite team winning the games? Can the Boxcar Children solve these mysteries before it's too late? Enjoy!

The book is a true complete guide to anything that shoots, even the airgun section is great..

It also includes a wonderful web directory, index of every known maker's address etc..

The only problem is with listed prices, some of them are little above average (I assume these are the manufacturer's suggested retail prices), While other prices listed are True market prices, which may confuse you a little.

GUN DIGEST IS AN EXCELLENT PUBLICATION ABOUT GUN & AMMO THAT IS AVAILABLE IN THE MARKET TODAY. I HAVE BEEN BUYING THIS BOOK EVERY YEAR SINCE 1980. DUE TO MY PREOCCUPATION I MISSED 1988, 1999 & 2000 EDITIONS WHICH I SHALL ORDER VIA THE INTERNET THROUGH AMAZON.COM. THIS BOOK WAS HELPFUL IN MY CAREER AS IT EXPANDED YOUR KNOWLEDGE MORESO WHEN I AM SO FOND OF HUNTING & SHOOTING.

So what if it appears only yearly...Gun Digest is the best periodical firearms publication going and has always been. The monthy magazines don't support scholarly firearms writing...only Gun Digest.

I read The Chocolate Sundae Mystery.
I thought it was a very good book because it was easy to read. It is a "boxcar children mystery" and the ice cream disappears and all the whipping cream has gone sour in Greenfield. I think 8 to 13 ages should read it.

THE CHOCOLATE SUNDAE MYSTERY is the second best Boxcar Children book besides THE HOME RUN MYSTERY & THE MYSTERY IN THE EMPTY SAFE. I can't decide between those two. I love the excitement and suspense. I was mad when my dad said it was time to go to bed right at the climax. A+

Dear Reader,

The Chocolate Sundae Mystery is a great book! It is the best mystery book ever! My favorite character is Jessie. You will never forget this book! These mysteries are very thrilling! You will love it!

Enjoy,

Natalie