The Boxcar Children Collection / The Mystery at the Crooked House, The Hockey Mystery, The Mystery of the Midnight Dog

The Mystery at the Crooked House: When Mrs. McGregor, the Aldens’ housekeeper, learns that she cannot afford to keep her childhood home, the Crooked House, the Aldens want to help. For years, there has been an unsolved riddle about the house, and solving it could lead to a treasure! Will the treasure save the Crooked House? Can the Boxcar Children find it in time?

The Hockey Mystery: The Aldens’ favorite hockey star, Kevin Reynolds, is coaching a girls’ hockey team and build a new skating rink right in Greenfield. But when team practices begin, equipment is missing and Kevin’s plans for the new rink are almost ruined. Is someone trying to stop Kevin?

The Mystery of the Midnight Dog: When the Aldens first arrive in Elbow Bend, they meet Kate Frances, who tells them all sorts of ghost stories about the town! The scariest tale is about a ghost dog who howls at midnight and appears to warn people of danger! The Aldens think it is just a story until they hear dogs all over Elbow Bend howling at midnight. Does the ghost dog really exist or is someone playing a trick on them? The Boxcar Children are determined to find out.

The Boxcar Children Series was created by Gertrude Chandler Warner, a teacher, when she realized that there were few, if any, books for children that were both easy and fun to read. She drew on her own experiences in writing the mysteries. As a child, she had spent hours watching trains near her home, and often dreamed about what it would be like to live in a caboose or freight car. In each story, she chose a special setting and introduced unpredictable, unusual or eccentric characters, to help highlight the Aldens’ independence and resourcefulness. Miss Warner lived in Putnam, Massachusetts until her death in 1979.