"Mandie and the Dark Alley" by Lois Gladys Leppard

About this book:

  “Mandie and Celia travel with Mrs. Taft to visit Senator Morton in his hometown of St. Augustine, Florida, which is the oldest city in the United States. Among the senator's many servants is a man named Juan, who can't hear or speak. Mandie feels there is something sinister about the man, and his mysterious ways give her and Celia plenty of reasons to be concerned.
  Why is someone sneaking into the girls' wardrobe and rearranging their clothes? Did Mandie and Celia really see the strange woman, Miss Lucretia Wham, from the top of the lighthouse on Anastasia Island? And why do even grown-ups in St. Augustine believe in ghosts?
  Who's really behind all the mysteries taking place in St. Augustine?”


Series: Book #33 in “Mandie” series. (To read the reviews of the previous books in this series, click the number to be taken to that review: #1! #2! #3! #4! #5! #6! #7! #8! #9! #10! #11! #12! #13! #14! #15! #16! #17! #18! #19! #20! #21! #22! #23! #24! #25! #26! #27! #28! #29! #30! #31! and #32! ) {There also is the “Young Mandie Mystery” series, (Book #1 review Here and Book #2 review Here!) but they do not connect together well.}

Spiritual Content- Ecclesiastes 12:12 at the beginning; A Scripture is mentioned & quoted; A couple Prayers; Church going & a hymn; Mentions of Bibles, being raised on it, & preachers; Mentions of churches, church going, services, & Sunday School; A couple mentions of God; A couple mentions of thanking God;

*Note: Mentions of ghosts.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘dumb’ and three ‘shuck’s; Mandie pushes the rules a bit by going somewhere she’s been told to stay away from; Sneaking out & mentions of sneaking out without an adult knowing; Many mentions of thieves/crooks, burglaries, stolen items, & an illegal operation; Mentions of a girl causing trouble for Mandie & Mandie wanting to get her back; Mentions of breaking rules & finding ways around them; Mentions of fighting; A few mentions of lies & lying; A couple mentions of tobacco.

Sexual Content- A tiny bit of noticing a handsome boy;

            *Note: A few mentions of Mandie baby brother that died & her mother who almost died.

-Amanda “Mandie” Shaw, age 14
                                   P.O.V. of Mandie

                                              Set in 1902
                         124 pages (also available in a collection with two other Mandie books.)

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

While I’ve read this whole series year ago, I honestly can’t say I remember this or the next two books very well. Mandie didn’t quite feel like herself in this one. Mandie just a little bit too stubborn and doesn’t listen well. There also was—at least, I felt like—there was more (or maybe there was more of it) in this book, but there was a lot of written accents, which can be difficult for new readers.  

Overall it was an okay Mandie read, but probably a reason I didn’t remember it.

See y’all on Monday with a new review!

*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.