Mystery Ranch : The Boxcar Children Series #4

Rating:
Summary: What a flop!
Review: This is the most boring book I have ever read! I loved the boxcar children books, and all of them I would rate better the 3 stars, but this one was so borring. MYSTERY ranch? What MYSTERY? The was no mystery in this book at all. The whole thing was just so borring. It's the worst boxcar book I have ever read, and I have read about 42 of their so far 87 books! It's just so borring.

Rating:
Summary: I'll never forget the boringness--oops, I already did. Zzzz
Review: This was the book where the Boxcar Children ate peas for dinner and went to bed at 8:00. They took an entire chapter to plan what they were going to do that day, instead of just doing it. I think this is the right book, but I don't remember because they were all so boring I forgot them. If you are looking for a series for your children to read, I would advise you to keep this out of children's reach. They may need psychiatric treatment after reading this bore of a lifetime. Nothing worth your time is in this book, except that going to bed at 8:00 was a good laugh. --Andy, 12 years old

Rating:
Summary: It's not so mysterious
Review: Why isn't this book as good as the rest? I hated it when i was little, much as I loved the rest of the original series. Years have passed since then and I read it again and it's not so bad. But the other reviewers are correct in the fact that this is no mystery, really.

As for the purpose of this book in the scheme of the entire series, it's actually very important. This book is the important link between books 3 and the rest of the series. This book introduces Aunt Jane, a very important role in the future of the children, and it sets the groundwork for book 5, "Mike's Mystery", which takes place on the same ranch some time later. And book 5 is the springboard for Mike to be more important in later adventures. So there is a purpose to this book.

I can't really recommend it though. But any child who wants to read the whole series should not skip this book - it's still part of the experience, no matter how dull it may seem, and it's really not THAT bad.