Ginny Gordon is the main character in a series of five mystery books for adolescent girls published by the

Whitman Publishing Whitman Publishing is an American book publishing company which started as a subsidiary of the Western Printing & Lithographing Company of Racine, Wisconsin. In about 1915, Western began printing and binding a line of juvenile books for the Hammi ...

Company of

Racine, Wisconsin Racine ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Root River. Racine is situated 22 miles (35 km) south of Milwaukee and approximately 60 ...

from 1948 to 1956. The books were written by

Julie Campbell Tatham Julie Campbell Tatham (June 1, 1908 – July 7, 1999) was an American writer of children's novels, who also wrote for adults, especially on Christian Science. As Julie Campbell she was the creator of the Trixie Belden series (she wrote the first s ...

, writing as Julie Campbell. Margaret Jervis was the illustrator. In 1947 the Whitman Publishing Company was seeking juvenile mystery and adventure book series, and Tatham sent them an outline and sample chapters of ''The Swap Shop Mystery'', with Ginny Gordon as the heroine. The publisher liked the story, and it became ''Ginny Gordon and the Mystery of the Disappearing Candlesticks''.Ernie Kelly, Interview with Julie Campbell Tatham, ''The Whispering Watchword'', September 1996, page 27 Tatham considered Ginny Gordon to be "a little sophisticated for the time," and she had added a sense of romance between Ginny and John. But Whitman dropped the series after five books so the author could concentrate on

Trixie Belden Trixie Belden is the title character in a series of "detective" mysteries written between 1948 and 1986. The first six books were written by Julie Campbell Tatham, who also wrote the Ginny Gordon series; the stories were then continued by various ...

books, the second series begun by Tatham.

Characters

Ginny Gordon is fourteen years old, has brown eyes and chestnut curly hair, and lives in Harristown, New York. She has an interest in solving mysteries. Her father is the owner and publisher of the ''Harristown News'', the local newspaper.Julie Campbell, ''Ginny Gordon and the Mystery of the Disappearing Candlesticks'', pages 11 - 25 & 43, Whitman Publishing, 1948 Lucy Tryon has blonde hair. She is Ginny’s best friend, and only recently moved to the area. Lucy is more reluctant than her friend to become involved in solving mysteries, but is willing to help when needed. John Blaketon is fifteen years old, has thick black hair, and his hobby is carpentry. He is often the voice of reason, trying to keep Ginny out of trouble. Whiz Reilly is John’s thirteen year old twin cousin. He has freckles and red hair, and likes to tease Ginny. Whiz can repair most items that are run by electricity. Babs Reilly is John’s other thirteen year old twin cousin. She has freckles and red-gold pigtails, and often tells people clues that Ginny wishes had remained a secret. Ginny, Lucy, John, Whiz and Babs belong to a club entitled the Hustlers. Though Ginny is the only club member actively seeking a mystery to solve, all of them help with investigations, and discover clues.

Books in series

# ''Ginny Gordon and the Mystery of the Disappearing Candlesticks'' (1948). The Hustlers start a swap shop as a money-making project, but have to solve the disappearance of two of Ginny's Great-Aunt Betsy's four heirloom silver candlesticks. # ''Ginny Gordon and the Missing Heirloom'' (1950). The Hustlers still have the swap shop, but now old Mrs. Arnold's pin is missing from a box she consigned to the shop, but now wants back. Ginny suspects someone wants to take over Mrs. Arnold's estate.Julie Campbell, ''Ginny Gordon and the Missing Heirloom,'' pages 16, 61- 62, Whitman Publishing, 1950 # ''Ginny Gordon and the Mystery of the Old Barn'' (1951). The Hustlers sold the swap shop and now have a snack barn as a hangout for young people. Two criminals accidentally leave money at the snack barn. # ''Ginny Gordon and the Lending Library'' (1954). The Hustlers' latest project is a subscription lending library, and someone keeps trying to steal a popular novel. # ''Ginny Gordon and the Broadcast Mystery'' (1956). The Hustlers plan a used book sale at their lending library, and a rare and valuable book of Mrs. Arnold's is mistakenly donated. When Mrs. Arnold tries to recover the book, all the Hustlers are certain it wasn't sold, but it cannot be found. A radio station asks Ginny to do a program on books.

References

External links

Ginny Gordon site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Ginny Book series introduced in 1948 Characters in young adult book series Female characters in literature Literary characters introduced in 1948 Characters in American novels of the 20th century Juvenile series Children's mystery novels