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Any Nancy Drew fans in the house? I remember so vividly being a huge fan of those books. It’s been a while since I have read anything from this series, but they still hold a place in my heart.
In case you didn’t notice, I took a break from reviewing books. For a while it had become far too much of a project. Lately, I have been accepting a few more to review and even joining some tours. The timing felt right, especially because I am also balancing it with books I’m choosing to review for fun.
So, this book The Silver Box came around through WOW! Women on Writing. I actually put this tour together and when I spotted this book, I knew I was going to read it. I’m fact, it was this book that warmed me up to reviewing books again.
The thing is The Silver Box is book 3 in The Enchantment Lake Mystery trilogy, and I have not read the first two books yet. It’s a little backwards, I know, but after reading this book, I plan on going back to read the others. Which I think says a lot about this book and series overall.
In The Silver Box, we meet Francie. She’s waking up in the cold cabin near Enchantment Lake. Everything about her life is different now and there is a lot at stake with her figuring out this box that’s in her possession. She thinks it will unlock secrets to her mother’s whereabouts.
What slowly unfolds is a mystery surrounding this particular box and Francie finding her mother. Because this is a series, obviously stuff happened prior to this that is alluded to in the beginning. A few times in the beginning, I’m tugged towards wanting to know more of what happened beforehand, but I think that’s. A common thing when youdon’t read a series in order don’t read a series in order.
In this book, Francie is driven to figure out where her mother is at. She’s convinced she is still alive, despite not being able to find her. Her mother appears to have been involved in some espionage things, so there is a lot of secrecy surrounding her disappearance. Along with her best friend Raven, they stumble upon secrets surrounding what the box means along with this weirdo plant guy. Then, they get in trouble at school thanks to a mishap at a museum and and Francie realizes there is way more to this box than meets the eye. It’s what’s inside the box that is bringing all these creepers too close. The most important question becomes – will she find her mom?
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I would recommend reading the first two books, but in all honesty, I enjoyed this book without having read the ones before. When reading a middle-grade book, I’m sure parents are wondering would it be right for their child. Well, I would say yes. Beyond the mystery, there are moments when Francie has a chance to do the right thing and help a friend. So, there are lessons that can be learned within this book too.
Overall, I highly recommend adding this book to your reading list! Best of all, make sure you check out the whole Enchantment Lake series. Support local bookstores and get this book at BookShop.org for $15.59. Or add it to your GoodReads reading list.
About the Book, The Silver Box
In the final Enchantment Lake mystery, Francie’s search for the truth about her mother—and herself—plunges her into danger during a North Woods winter.
When she wakes in her aunts’ cold cabin on the shore of Enchantment Lake, Francie remembers: everything about her life has changed. Or is about to. Or just might. Everything depends on the small, engraved silver box that she now possesses—if only she can follow its cryptic clues to the whereabouts of her missing mother and understand, finally, just maybe, the truth about who she really is.
Francie, it turns out, has a lot to learn, and this time the lessons could be deadly. Her search for answers takes her and her best friends Raven and Jay as far afield as an abandoned ranch in Arizona and as close to home as a sketchy plant collector’s conservatory and a musty old museum where shadows lurk around every display case. At the heart of it all is a crime that touches her own adopted North Woods: thieves dig up fragile lady’s slippers, peel bark from birches, strip moss off trees, cut down entire forests of saplings to sell for home décor. But Francie is up against no ordinary plant theft. One ominous clue after another reveal that she possesses something so rare and so valuable that some people are willing to do anything to get it. When Francie’s investigation leads her into the treacherously cold and snowy North Woods, she finds out that she too is being pursued.
About the Author Margi Preus
Margi Preus is the author of the Newbery Honor book Heart of a Samurai and other books for young readers, including the Minnesota Book Award winning West of the Moon, and the Midwest Booksellers Choice Award book The Clue in the Trees. Her books have won multiple awards, landed on the New York Times bestseller list, been honored as ALA/ALSC Notables, selected as an NPR Backseat Book Club pick, chosen for community reads, and translated into several languages. New titles in 2020 include Village of Scoundrels, The Littlest Voyageur, and The Silver Box, part of the Enchantment Lake mystery series.
Back when such things were done, Margi enjoyed traveling, speaking, and visiting schools all over the world. Now mostly at home in Duluth, she likes to ski, hike, canoe, or sit quietly with a book in her lap.
You can follow her online at:
Twitter: @MargiPreus
Instagram: @MargiPreus
So glad you enjoyed this. I’m looking for more Nancy Drew-like books so reserved it at my library. They don’t have book 1 and 2. I’ll try to get them if I like this one. Thanks for reviewing it.
Oh I can’t wait for you to read this one! I hope you enjoy it!