What do You think about Mandie And The Secret Tunnel (1983)?
This book is pretty much why I fell in love with this series. It is to me a different version of Nancy Drew, but more unique to a younger group of kids. Mandie, short for Amanda, is eleven years old in turn of the century mountains of North Carolina. Her daddy has died, and she thinks that God has stopped loving her. With the help of Uncle Ned, she manages to get away from the horrid family that her mother sent her to after she got remarried. Mandie ends up living at her Uncle John's home, and t
—Caedy Eries
I was introduced to the Mandie series through my church's library. The books were so neatly lined up and my friends (even boys) were reading them so I checked them out. I was about 10 or 11. The first book I read was number 3 or 4 in the series, but the next one I read was this first one- Mandie and the Secret Tunnel. Right from the start this book had me. I have always been a softy for someone who looses a parent. I guess the biggest thing I learned from this book was that my life was pretty boring- comparatively. But reading it this second time all grown up- I learned to trust God. Especially when everything looks like it is going wrong. I need to love God even when it feels like He does not love me. More from me- www.girlhoodclassics.blogdrive.com
—Larissa Langsather
I've always loved this book. I read it and the whole series many times as a young girl, and again just recently as a mom. I was rather disappointed this time around, however, with the series; it was unsettling for me to notice the blatant disobedience and sneaking out (often without consequences or even an addressing of the fault) among other things common throughout the series. Mandie is not the best of role models for girls...I enjoyed her adventures as a child and I don't think they affected me negatively; however, I would recommend reading these books yourself before putting them into the hands of a young girl, or reading them with her so you can discuss Mandie's attitudes and choices. Honestly though, there are much better books out there for girls (for instance, the Grandma's Attic books by Arleta Richardson, anything by Louisa May Alcott and Lucy Maud Montgomery, the Hattie Marshall books by Debra Smith, Katie's World by Karen Mezek, to name a few).
—Jodi
