I got the Hardy Boys back-to-back book 1 and 2. I found it at a thrift store and I’m glad I got it.
In the first book, The Tower Treasure, written by Franklin W. Dixon, the Hardy boys try to solve the mystery of Hurd and Adelia Applegate’s missing jewels and securities, which had been stolen from their home. Hurd Applegate is certain the thief is Robinson, their caretaker. However, the Hardy boys are certain that he isn’t the thief. With the wellbeing of the Robinson family on the line, Hardy boys must find the real criminal and the treasure before Robinson is thrown in jail for good.
There were questions I wanted to be answered. For example, who was the man who nearly ran over the Hardy boys twice, who stole the tower treasure, why does Mr. Robinson not want to divulge where he got his nine hundred dollars from and what promise did he make? I was completely in the dark along with the Hardys, so I was along for the ride the whole time.
There was suspense as the Hardy’s searched for the treasure, and I laughed when the Hardy boys solved the mystery and celebrated their victory. Characters like Detective Smuff and the station agent made me laugh, and I enjoyed Smuff’s reaction to the news that the boys solved the case. The Hardy boys’ success felt well-earned since the mystery wasn’t easy to solve. I don’t know if I would’ve ever guessed the treasure’s hiding place, but the Hardy boys proved their cleverness by figuring it out. They also proved to be good friends to Slim, whose father was the one accused. They were determined to solve the mystery to help Slim and his family, so they are good role models for readers on how to be a good friend to others.
I also appreciate that the Hardy Boys are clever enough to save most of their money in the bank. That can give kids an important lesson on saving money for later rather than spending all up.
The one thing I didn’t like was that there was one person in the story who could’ve immediately cleared most if not all suspicion from Robinson from the very beginning but chose to stay quiet out of fear. They waited until after the mystery was solved and after Robinson had already been put in jail for a crime he never committed. I know this is a mystery story, so some things have to be hidden for suspense. But the fact this person waited so long to reveal the truth makes them look a bit careless. Why wait to reveal information that would’ve been beneficial to the case? It makes them partially responsible for the pain he and his family went through. However, the person apologizes for the trouble and makes it up to him later.
There is also a point where the Hardy boys and their friends lie to Smuff so that he doesn’t ruin the case. I understand why they had to stop him, but that’s not an excuse for lying.
One lesson that can be learned from the book is that you mustn’t jump to conclusions. Things are not always as they seem. Mr. Applegate believed Mr. Robinson was the thief because he knew the code to the safe and he had received a large, unexplained sum of money. But other than that, there was no evidence he stole their treasure. Despite this, he was eager to have his caretaker thrown in prison.
Sometimes we may form conclusions based on what little information we have, convince ourselves that they are correct, and then become shocked when they’re proved false by more evidence. We can’t form conclusions based on lacking information, otherwise, we’ll get things completely wrong. It also doesn’t help to ignore the possibility that we are wrong about something. Despite Mr. Hardy’s warning that there wasn’t enough evidence against Mr. Robinson, Mr. Applegate was willing to have him thrown in prison. Why? Because in his mind, he couldn’t be wrong. In his mind, the culprit was obvious. His pride and rashness caused Mr. Robinson and his family a lot of unnecessary pain, and all because he believed he was right.
We may forget that we can’t always trust in our own judgment or the judgments of others. You can only trust in God. We have to stop and remember to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding,” (Proverbs 3:5). The best thing we can do is ask God for His insight on a matter and ask Him for His perspective on things. God sees and knows everything. We can trust Him.
I enjoyed this book, and I would recommend this book to children who like mystery stories. I’m looking forward to finishing the second book, The House on the Cliff.
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