Customer Reviews

Closed for the Season

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Logan Forbes has just moved into the most run down house he has ever seen. To make matters worse
Arthur, the know-it-all kid next door makes himself at home in their new house. Logan's mother doesn't like Arthur and decides he is not to be believed. Especially when he tells them that the old lady who lived there before them was murdered. Arthur proves to Logan that the story is true. The two boys set out to prove who murdered the old lady.

This was a quick and easy read. I liked the characters. They were well developed. All of us has met the kid that no one likes. He is the one who is different. Maybe it is because he is the smartest kid in class. In Arthur's case he is the smartest, but also different because he lives with his grandmother and doesn't have a lot of special clothes like his classmates dol. He doesn't really care either. Unfortunately, Logan fits right in with Arthur. The main difference is he has never broken the law until he moved next door to Arthur. I also loved the contrast between his mother and father. His mother is a very uptight person who wants to be part of the social crowd. His father is the laid back art teacher at the high school. Logan takes after his father and his mother is determined to change him. There were some twists and turns that I had not expected that made it a refreshing book. Another reason for me to keep reading this author's books.

I really LOVE to read Mary Downing Hahn's books!!! This was a great mystery! I would highly recommend this book!! She is such a great writer~she hooks you on page one and doesn't let you go until the last page!!

It is very difficult to find a book that my young son will enjoy but this one he read and couldn't stop til he finished. That says more than I could.

I believe in taking a very generous approach to teen and ya fiction, but I just do not see the appeal of this book.
Plot is not the high point of any teen mysteries, but this one is a real carnival of coincidence, implausibility, and fortunate clue finding. Don't see how this is going to help a young reader appreciate the genre. This is at best in Hardy Boys territory.
Which leads to the biggest problem, the protagonist is sort of whiny and pretty much stays a sad sack throughout the book. Not a very appealing hero. And, why do some authors feel that the hero's parents have to be clueless jerks? To what reader does this appeal? In this novel Mom is a dense, jittery, overreactive social climber, and just this side of requiring medication. This has no relevance to the plot or the development of the story, really, and is purely gratuitous.
So, given how many really good teen books are coming out now, I don't quite see why this one is being resurrected. You can do a lot better.

Mary Downing Hahn books have often popped up in my Amazon recommendation box, but it's only recently that I've been able to sit down with one of her stories. Although I wasn't *hugely* impressed with "Closed for the Season," it was enjoyable and well-written enough to make me want to seek out more of her books - preferably the ones that have a more supernatural tone.

Logan Forbes has just moved with his parents to a small Virginian town called Bealesville, only to find that his ramshackle new house was the scene of a murder. It is his new neighbor, the talkative, quirky, know-it-all Arthur Jenkins that informs him that the elderly Myrtle Donaldson was found dead at the bottom of her stairs after being accused of embezzling money from the Magic Forest theme park. Now a "cold case" murder, no one knows who killed Mrs Donaldson or where the stolen money is - but Logan and Arthur are determined to team up and find out.

This entails plenty of trips to the library and the beautifully-realized Magic Forest: an abandoned theme park covered in kudzu vines and filled with the steadily-rotting remains of the fairytale attractions. Along the way they discover a plethora of suspects: an attractive reporter, a violent convict, a smarmy businessman and the frightened daughter of the murdered woman. Suffice to say, none of these characters are what they seem.

Hahn portrays the social outcast Arthur with a deft hand: he's not ostracized *just* because he's poor or because he lives with his grandmother, but because he genuinely is quite annoying and socially inept. Even Logan's mother dislikes him, and when she encourages Logan to find new friends, he's forced to choose between climbing the "pecking order" or remaining true to a quirky but loyal friend. As well as this, there's plenty of insight into the nature of bullies (usually they are bullied themselves) and of family dynamics (Logan takes after his laidback father rather than his highly-strung mother).

The climax comes in the middle of the Magic Forest in the dead of night, where all suspects and plotlines converge to create a fairly gripping denouncement. Older readers may see several revelations well in advance, but this is a brisk and easy read with realistic, likable characters and a plot that unfolds at a cracking pace. I get the feeling that this is not Hahn's best work, but its quality is of a standard that makes me eager to seek out more of her work.

The Magic Forest is closed for the season, but when boys investigate the old amusement park, they find it actually hasn't been open for years, and looks quite dangerous. When they go inside to solve the mystery of who killed Myrtle Donaldson, they find even more danger in this riveting story of courage and discovery.

New to the neighborhood, Logan isn't exactly thrilled when Arthur, the weird kid next door, bustles over to welcome him. Right away, Logan can tell that Arthur is going to be a challenge.

The other less than thrilling thing that Logan learns about his new home is that its previous owner, Myrtle Donaldson, was murdered. How come his parents didn't check out something like that before they agreed to buy the rundown place?

At least it's summer vacation, so Logan has time to get to know the place before he's thrust into making friends at school. He's not much of an athlete, and if his past school experiences are any indication, making friends with the cool kids will probably be a disaster.

When Arthur shows up on Logan's doorstep and offers to show him around, he guesses his friendship is better than nothing. The two end up having a lot in common and finding Myrtle Donaldson's killer turns them into a sort of crime-fighting team.

The murder, the possibility of the killer's involvement in embezzlement, and the bulldozing of a local, historic amusement park all combine for some great adventure. Normally law-abiding Logan find himself following the lead of reckless Arthur as they investigate Logan's musty attic, the local library, and the overgrown grounds of Magic Forest. They are clever and creative enough to discover some clues that lead them into some dangerous territory.

Mary Downing Hahn is a master of mystery. As the author of novels for young people, she captures the spooky atmosphere of the old amusement park and the excitement of the chase as she reveals the clues to the years old murder mystery.

CLOSED FOR THE SEASON is an excellent addition to any middle grade mystery collection.

Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"

This book is written very well and will draw you in. You will not be able to put it down. I'll give a summary.
A family moves into a murder house. Their son and next door neighbor decide to find out who murdered the homeowner and they both run into so many problems. And it has a surprise ending you'll never see coming.
I hope this helps you make an important decision!

i have always loved Mary Downing Hahn books since i was little so i was excited when i heard about this. its about a kid named logan who moves into a terrible house. The weird kid next door tells him the lady that used to live here was murdered.so they try to find the killer. I thought this book was good but not as good as the ghost stories

This was another well done book by an accomplished children's author, and most children who enjoy mysteries will enjoy this book. And fans of Hahn's will most likely not be disappointed by this book, even though it is just a mystery and not a ghost story.

The main character, Logan Forbers, moves into a new house, which he soon finds out that the previous owner, Myrtle Donaldson, was murdered in - and the murderer was never caught. Logan's new quirky and often annoying neighbor, Arthur Jenkins, makes Logan his friend and the two of them decide to do a little sleuthing. Along the way they visit the now closed Magic Forest amusement park, where Hahn uses her talent in giving her readers some wonderful creepy atmosphere. While solving the mystery, Logan has to learn how to deal with some not so nice peers and even some bullies. Most of the characters are realistic and many children will be able to relate to Logan's struggle dealing with friends and a mother who doesn't understand him.

While not my favorite Hahn novel, it is a pleasurable mystery, very easy to read and fast paced. While this is not a ghost story, or any other kind of supernatural story, it does provide some uneasy moments, particularly in the Magic Forest and the climax of the book. This book will be well appreciated by its intended audience of upper elementary readers and even those adults that like a fun quick mystery!