Disappointed that it was less mystery, and more like a Sweet Valley High book (minus the romance) where a high school girl named Judy Bolton is trying to fit in in a new school of upper-crust girls. This is not the kind of story I expected. I'm headed back to the comforts of Nancy Drew mysteries! ( )

There was a NYT article awhile back about reading: "the right book at the right time can ignite a lifelong habit." I can't say why this book started my mania for reading and collecting books--but this was the one. It was the first book of the Judy Bolton series that I owned and read. I was probably ten years old, so that would have been 1962 or so. I also read Nancy Drew, but Judy was my favorite. I liked that Judy had a brother, since I had one too, although her brother (Horace?) was much nicer to her than mine was.

I still have this original copy, but the dust jacket was destroyed long ago--too much love. The only reason I owned this book was because they weren't available in the library; my mother thought that my books were a foolish obsession. I remember that they cost $1.00 when I was a girl, so I would save up my allowance to buy them--25 cents a week. It was worth it. I loved the feeling of having all those books together on the shelf.

And of course now there's a Judy Bolton Mystery Series website: http://www.judybolton.com/ ( )

After reading this, the first Judy Bolton I've ever managed to get my hands on, I realized why Nancy Drew is much more popular- Judy is way too human! She has normal problems! Not everyone likes her!!! Wow! ( )

This is really the foundation book of the Judy Bolton series; The Bolton family moves to a new town, where there is a definite divide between rich and poor. Judy's house is at the dividing line for these different cultures. Judy is determined to be friends with the "mill girls" as well as the wealthy girls who attend high school with her. She and her brother work to solve the mystery of the attic in their new house.