Gertrude Chandler Warner
The Alden children are going back in time by helping at an old Victorian house that has been turned into a museum. But rumor has it that the place is haunted by the spirit of practical joker Horace Wagner! Is there really a ghost?
The Aldens find a mysterious painting hidden in the attic. The children learn that it is a portrait of their grandmother, whom they never knew, wearing the necklace Grandfather gave her when they were married. The necklace disappeared on their first anniversary — and was never found. Can the Boxcar Children track down a necklace missing for so many years?
The Aldens are going with grandfather to visit his friend, old Cap Lambert, a retired riverboat pilot who lives in a cabin in the woods. To get there, the Boxcar Children take a wonderful trip down the Mississippi in a paddlewheel boat. But when they arrive at Cap Lambert's cabin, they find some mysterious things are going on. Spooky phone calls, eerie flickering lights, strange dark figures. Is the cabin haunted?
It's time for the annual Greenfield art contest, and the Alden children are meeting the artist and learning all about art! But when they receive a mysterious message signed by the "Tattletale," they realize that not everything is as it seems. What could the Tattles want from the Aldens — and who is the mysterious message-writer? It's a painting puzzler for the Boxcar Children!
The Boxcar Children have a chance to be in a real play — The Wizard of Oz! Jessie is chosen for the Cowardly Lion. Benny will play a munchkin. Even Watch has a part and all the Aldens are helping with the show. Then mysterious things begin to happen. Someone makes a threatening phone call and a costume is destroyed. Maybe the show won't go on — unless the Boxcar Children can solve the mystery before opening night!
One day in the park, the Aldens' dog, Watch, comes across a mysterious box with a note inside. "Congratulations!" the note says. "You've found it!" The box is part of a game called Geocaching. Soon, Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny are searching all over town for hidden boxes and making friends with other kids in the geocaching club. But is one of the club members a thief?