Trixie Belden Is Back!

God bless Random House. In an act of remarkable corporate wisdom -- nay, genius! -- they are reissuing the Trixie Belden mysteries in glorious plastic hardback. At only $6.99 a pop. (Paperbacks aren't $6.99 anymore!) With the original illustrations from the 1950's, and beautiful brand new covers which perfectly evoke the period while nodding to romance pulps and magazine illustrations of the day.

(With people who don't look 2D! But Trixie is strawberry blonde to redhaired, not mostly blonde with a couple pink reflections from her sweater! Honey's the blonde...sigh. And where're Trixie's freckles? Oh, well, minor complaints...easy to fix on later covers, right?)

For those of you who never met Trixie and the rest of the BWG, she was a tomboy with freckles, brains and spunk who led her friends into mystery, intrigue and danger...and generally not by doing stupid stuff or twisting her ankle. Oh, no, she was a leader with initiative. The boys didn't boss around the girls, Trixie's boyfriend Jim liked her being a strong female character, and the characterizations and storylines were generally more realistic and complex than those in Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys.

The Trixie Belden Homepage is probably the oldest and most extensive page; it also includes a fair amount of fanfic. The Trixie Belden Library has lots of photos of the authors and old editions, as well as some nice themes and downloadables. Labyrinth has fanfic about Trixie and her friends as adults. From there you should be able to get to most of the online Trixie Belden world.

I'm only sad I didn't realize sooner that this world was coming into being. I guessed I've missed Trixie more than I thought. (And they issued five more books back in the eighties? With Jody Lee covers? And I missed 'em? Sigh.)