Part of "The Boxcar Children Graphic Novel" series, this story follows the Alden children, Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny, as they seek to uncover a mystery. Grandfather Alden tells the children the history of a man who used to take care of his horses and who disappeared forty years ago from a run-down yellow house on Surprise Island. The children cannot let the mystery go. They uncover and follow clues that eventually lead them to a hermit in the woods of Maine. Originally written in 1924 and revised in 1942, the Boxcar Children stories follow the adventures of four independent orphans. This new, graphic novel version of these books follow the basic plots of the original stories. The six books in the series of "Boxcar Children Graphic Novels" include The Boxcar Children, Surprise Island, The Yellow House Mystery, Mystery Ranch, Mike's Mystery, and the Billie Bay Mystery. The thirty-two page format has three or four color panels per page. The last page in the book carries a brief biography of the original creator of the series, Gertrude Chandler Warner. Reviewer: Phyllis J. Perry
