Customer Reviews

Curse of Ravenscourt: A Samantha Mystery (American Girls: Samantha)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When Uncle Gard and Aunt Cornelia decide to do some renovations on their house, the family -- which includes Samantha and her adopted sisters Nellie, Bridget, and Jenny -- temporarily moves to Ravenscourt, an elegant new apartment building. However, soon after the family moves into Ravenscourt, things begin to go wrong. Samantha hears rumors of a curse on the building's owner, and begins to wonder if it's responsible for the strange happenings. Then Uncle Gard has to leave on business, and soon after Aunt Cornelia leaves as well, supposedly to visit her mother in Connecticut. Samantha begins to wonder if Aunt Cornelia lied about her reasons for leaving, but if she feared the dangers of Ravenscourt, how could she leave her adopted daughters there? Samantha decides she must find out the truth about what is happening at Ravenscourt before something goes even more terribly wrong.

This is a nice mystery that will be enjoyed by the many girls who are fans of the American Girls, especially those whose favorites are Samantha and Nellie. The longer length of this book will be appreciated by girls who are beginning to outgrow the regular American Girls books. The story will also be enjoyed by young readers who haven't read other American Girls books, but who enjoy historical mysteries. And as someone who grew up reading American Girls books, including those about Samantha, I really enjoyed revisiting one of my favorite childhood characters.

If you like Nancy Drew, you'll like this book. It may be just a tad simple for the Nancy Drew crowd, but it's well enough written that it's an entertaining read. Definitely aimed at preteens. I just want parents to be aware that there is a looking back section at the end of the book that discusses ghosts and seances. It has NOTHING to do with the storyline, but if you would be offended by your daughter discovering this stuff in an American Girl book, this is not the book for you.

This book rocked!! i dont recomend childeren under8 to read this before bed.When i read it the first time i was at my grandmas and when the book said the door opened by its self and a piese of paper floted in and landed on the dresser my door closed by its self.also it said a rat got in a wall, and the walls at my grandmas started creaking. so i dont recomend this for a bed time story.I thoght it rocked. and i also recomend every ag book.

Samantha looks up at the massive building. Outlined against the grey sky, the carved ravens stared down at her from the rooftop. "It can't be cursed," she told Nellie, trying to sound brave. But inside, she felt a shiver of fear.

"A Samantha Mystery: The Curse of Ravenscourt" is among Sarah Masters Buckey's list of "succeeding whodunits yet." Set in the year 1906, eleven-year-olds Samantha and Nellie, whom are the two main characters of the book outline, temporarily stay at the new apartment-hotel Ravenscourt, coordinated by Mr. Raven and his daughter Eloise. As both young girls learn not only of the somewhat quaint hotel staff, but also the omens of the hotel; blood on the elevator doors, eerie night sounds, and various moments of suspicion, they begin an adventure to capture the ruthless prankster behind the antics, which leads to discover his foremost intentions of the caper-making.

Speaking from my experience, this particular American Girl mystery book will thoroughly succeed in catching your interest in the midst of the plot; you will find it difficult to put down this thoughtfully written book! Mrs. Buckey did a fabulous job with the research of s?ance' performances/ghost shows and historic Victorian hotels, proving this with her concise summary of "Looking Back: A peek into the Past." Overall, I give this book an A+ and highly recommend it to any young, ambitious sleuths.

This is another in the History Mystery series from American Girl, in which a young American girl is confronted by a mystery that will test her resolve and her ability. This is another story of Samantha Parkington, a ten-year-old orphan girl living in the America of 1905.

While their house is being redecorated, Samantha's adoptive father moves the family to an apartment. However, when he leaves on business, Samantha learns that the apartment building is cursed and many mysterious things are happening. When Samantha's adoptive mother leaves under strange circumstances, Samantha and her sister Nellie are left to unravel the mystery by themselves. But, by using the knowledge of solving mysteries given them by reading Sherlock Holmes, the girls might just bring a little more justice to the world!

Overall, my fourteen-year-old daughter and I found this to be a great book. The mystery is very well written, keeping you wondering just who is up to what. Also, I liked that the book gave a clear-eyed view of the harsher side of life in early twentieth century America, but handled it without being heavy handed.

So, if you have a younger reader who likes a good mystery, then get this book. It is a wonderful addition to the Samantha series of American Girls books, which my daughter and I both highly recommend.

i loved it...it was a tru samantha story. the decription was amazing and the suspense was incredible. ms. buckley put lot sof effort into making this book a success!!

While their house is being renovated, Uncle Gard and Aunt Cornelia move Samantha, Nellie, and her two younger sisters Bridget and Jenny to a new residential hotel. The hotel is suffering a run of what looks like bad luck--nonworking furnaces and electricity, an invasion of rats--and things get worse when Bridget and Jenny catch chicken pox and Aunt Cornelia suddenly must go away to nurse her mother.

The mystery portion of the story is pretty good--it will probably keep readers guessing--but Samantha has too much freedom for a rich Victorian girl and she never strikes me as realistic as the other American Girls.

If you're and American Girl lover, you can keep the fun going with the Mystery novels.

Personally, I thought the "Mystery" was a little cheesy, even for ages 9 and up. In any case however, it was great to have the characters back to read about in a new story however, that is longer and different from the other Samantha stories.

The one thing that was lacking from this book was the phenomenal pictures American Girl books are famous for. If you ever just found the pictures distracting however, this book will not disappoint.

This book was really cool. It kept me in suspence. I thought this book would be boring, but it taught me to not judge a book by its cover.

Samantha Parkington couldn't be more excited about the prospect of her family moving into a posh, upscale apartment-hotel. Temporarily, that is. Sure, she'll miss her home. But with all of the renovations currently taking place there, it has been impossible to get any peace and quiet. However, Samantha seems to be the only one excited about moving to Ravenscourt. Nellie and her younger sisters - Bridget and Jenny - appear to be petrified about the move. And instantly begin to think that this is simply Uncle Gard and Aunt Cornelia's way of slowly displacing them from their newly adopted families. But Samantha knows that such a though is preposterous. Uncle Gard and Aunt Cornelia love all of the girls - even if they are rowdy and noisy at times. Upon arriving at Ravenscourt, however, Samantha begins to feel nervous about her new surroundings as well. After all, Nellie knows the owner of the apartment-hotel, and is aware of a horrible curse that was placed upon him years earlier. A curse that appears to be affecting how things work at Ravenscourt. The girls become terrified as they witness Ravenscourt succumb to one problem after another - from Jenny and Bridget falling ill with chicken pox, to rats in the building, and to Aunt Cornelia leaving the girls on their own with no one but Gertrude to look after them. Samantha begins to think that perhaps Nellie was right. Perhaps the curse of Ravenscourt is true. But Samantha refuses to begin believing in any curse until she has had the opportunity to do a little investigating herself. After all, the great Sherlock Holmes wouldn't jump to conclusions about crime, and Samantha refuses to do so herself. Now, with the help of Nellie, she intends to get to the bottom of the curse of Ravenscourt. But the more she investigates, the more she realizes that perhaps detective work is better left to the police, or Sherlock Holmes himself, because it is a dangerous job; and both Samantha and Nellie are putting their lives on the line by getting involved in it.

Samantha has been one of my favorite American Girl characters since I was just a child, which is why I find it impossible to resist reading any of the new tales written about the precocious New Yorker. THE CURSE OF RAVENSCOURT is the perfect example. Samantha's inquisitive nature is as strong here as it was in the previous novels about her life. Her interest in her surroundings, and her kindness towards those less-privileged than herself are refreshing; while her love for her newly adopted sisters - Nellie, Bridget, and Jenny - is enjoyable to witness. The four girls have such a powerful relationship with one another, and it is wonderful to see no sign of sibling rivalry. However, readers will feel sympathetic towards Samantha as she witnesses how much stronger the bond between Nellie, Bridget, and Jenny is when she is not around. The disappearance of Aunt Cornelia and Uncle Gard in this particular novel give it a bit of a more grown-up feeling, as the girls appear to have more free reign to sneak around, and conduct detective work; yet the few times their guardians come into play is quite enjoyable. An exciting, can't-put-down novel for middle readers that will leave them searching for a mystery of their own to solve!

Erika Sorocco
Freelance Reviewer