Wednesday, October 3, 2012

"The Brady Bunch in The New York Mystery" by Jack Matcha - Chapter 3

1) PLOT SYNOPSIS –The Brady’s inform the police that they can find nothing missing in the house, though it was clearly invaded. At Greg’s urging, Jan tells the police about the suspicious men she saw in the days before. The police assure the Bradys the burglars were probably looking for cash Mr. Brady had withdrawn from the bank for the trip; but Mike’s travelers checks were undisturbed. Alice serves a hardy breakfast of eggs, pancakes, bacon, sausage and orange juice. On the way to the airport, Mike picks up the plans to the bank at his office. Jan thinks she spots one of the men who was in front of the house at the airport, then sees two of the men on the plane……. 2) CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT – Peter is supposedly obsessed with photography, but Greg needs to remind him to bring the camera on the trip. Alice worries about losing her touch if she goes an entire week without cooking. ….. 3) RELEVANT CULTURAL ISSUES – Women’s Lib: Greg says about Jan, “I thought she was just being nosey – you know, like a woman” Ageism – At the time of this novel, there was a popular phrase, “Don’t trust anyone over thirty.” Obviously, the Brady kids buy into this to some degree. Jan says of the suspicious man, “He did look pretty old, thirty, maybe.” And Bobby says he’s not a kid, he’s 11……. 4) HIP SLANG – “Say Cheese” (Peter, taking a picture of the family. But Alice insists she doesn’t like cheese and should say “Baloney”.)…….. 5) CONTEMPORAY CULTURAL REFERENCES – Saving film to take pictures of the Empire State Building. (No talk of Twin Towers.)…… 6) FAVORITE PASSAGE: “Who me?” Afraid of airplanes?” Alice made a face. Of course not. Except I do know that if Mother Nature had wanted us to fly-“ “She’d have given us airline tickets” Cindy and Bobby chorused, laughing. ....................Shocked to find that Goodreads doesn't have this fine book listed. Sure, they have Jack Matcha's "The Brady Bunch in The Adventure on the High Seas", but not this book.

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