The Happy Hollisters and the Castle Rock Mystery

The Hollisters are written for a younger audience than the Famous Five books by Enid Blyton. Unlike the Famous Five, the Hollisters did not go on holidays alone without adults, and they did not usually five themselves in such extreme dangers. They still managed to live adventures and solve mysteries, though.

The books were written in the 50s and 60s, and it depicts a clean-cut, wholesome family, where children get along with their siblings and respect their parents. The plot is simple, as befits the target audience, and the chapters usually end in a cliffhanger to keep readers interested. The target audience is a bit too young for the books to appeal to adult readers, but then again they do not need to. Children between 5 and 12 are the show more target audience, and the books will work well for them.

In this book, the Hollisters investigate the mystery of the strange flying devices that have been sighted in several places around their town. They also look for a valuable deposit of titanium in an abandoned rock quarry, and for a couple of people connected to the quarry who had disappeared.

I read the Spanish edition, and this was published as book 3 in that edition. To my surprise, there were references to previous adventures that I had not read yet. The problem is that this is actually book 23 in the series, and the Spanish edition completely disregarded the original order after the first two books. Not such a big deal, because the adventures are independent and the characters remain the same throughout the series, but there may be some confusing references. Also, this book seemed a bit more complex and eventful than the first two, which may be a coincidence or an evolution of the author's style. From now on, I'll follow the original order. show less

The Happy Hollisters and the Castle Rock Mystery (Happy Hollisters, #23)
Love this book because it teaches me about rocks and my grandson loves them also. So interesting to learn about the quarry that is in their own town.
They meet with the owner and he's a specialist also. It's like a ghost town there but others roam around causing trouble.
They also introduce themselves to Jet Hawk a pilot and the girls get to share time with his daughter playing dress up dolls.
Strange lights at night and weather balloons and other things fastened to them are being let loose overhead.
NYC again to visit a friend and he takes them to a museum where they learn so much more about the weather balloons.

Una cantera de roca abandonada, misteriosos objetos voladores y un valioso depósito de titanio llevan a los cinco niños Hollister a su última y emocionante aventura.
Cuando un paquete de instrumentos de un globo meteorológico se lanza en paracaídas sobre su jardín delantero, los Hollister están desconcertados y muy emocionados. ¿Cuál es el significado del paracaídas naranja y su caja blanca que cuelga?