I had an impulse to read Adirondack stuff. This is one of the few semi-interesting things to turn up in our library catalog.I've never read an American Girl book before. I can't say I'm too thrilled with it, but it wasn't _bad_ really. And it was interesting to get a look at the Adirondacks of the past, I guess.Samantha and like.. newly adopted sisters or something.. go visit her grandmother and her new husband at a lake house. And I think it's like the late 1800s or early 1900s. And mysterious things happen. And will her grandmother sell the place? ( )

This one reminded me a bit of a Nancy Drew type mystery- things are going wrong to try to force a sale on a property (in this case, Piney Point). Samantha figures out that it's a set-up, her big question is who's responsible for it. Meanwhile she's trying to recreate all the summer fun she's had at Piney Point in the past. Samantha and Nellie get themselves into quite a bit of trouble solving this one. ( )

This story takes place the summer directly following the previous Samantha mystery, The Curse of Ravenscourt. If you haven't read that one, you WILL be spoiled for certain plot points by this book. It won't ruin the primary mystery of Ravenscourt, but there's a secondary mystery that crops up a few times, and knowing the details from the beginning of Loon will make it completely obvious.

I'll start off by saying that Nellie's characterisation is probably my favorite part of the book. Usually in Samantha books written after 2004, I feel like Nellie is way too whiney and annoying to be likeable, rather like a Debbie Downer, though I did like her in the original six books. That Negative Nellie (pardon the pun) is gone here, and instead we have a girl who actually manages to be happy and to play and have fun, even while maintaining the cautious and somewhat quiet personality traits she has always had. Nellie is a good foil to Samantha's overwhelming optimism and bossiness, rather than sitting around and wringing her hands all the time.

The basic plot of the book is this: Grandmary and the Admiral take Samantha, Nellie, Bridget, and Jenny to their property in the Adirondack Mountains for the summer. But when they get to Piney Point, things seem to keep going wrong. Not only is the weather dreary at first, but accidents keep happening, and Samantha overhears Grandmary and the Admiral talking about selling Piney Point! Samantha thinks Grandmary seems quite sad, and she suspects that if they don't figure out who is causing the trouble around the place, Grandmary will give in and sell it. It surely doesn't help matters that strange people are spotted wandering around, nor that some of the people who work at Piney Point don't seem very trustworthy.

There are a lot of fun descriptions of the area around Goose Lake where Piney Point is, which brings to mind Samantha Saves the Day, which was also set at Piney Point. There are adventures, too: one day, the girls and the Admiral go to a carnival across the lake; another day, they hike up the mountain and almost get lost; Samantha teaches Nellie to swim, too, which is lucky when their canoe springs a leak in the middle of the lake (definitely not good what with bulky Edwardian bathing costumes!).

I feel as though the mystery plot is secondary to the growth of the characters and the lovely scenery, if I'm honest. But I like that. Samantha is a pre-teen now, and this book shows her growing up a little bit, especially with regards to her relationship with her grandmother. Of course, we're reminded that she's still very much a stubborn kid when she and Nellie chase after the villain and get locked in the ice house! I also really like the care that Grandmary and her (relatively) new husband the Admiral receive. I grew to really like them by the end of the book, whereas in other Samantha stories, they were flat and not very interesting. Finally, I very much like the themes that run through the story, such as the loons. I don't suppose that having loons appear at certain points was precisely necessary to the plot or anything, but they helped bring a lovely texture to the story.

I think this is my favorite of the Samantha mysteries, and it's among my favorite of all the American Girl Mysteries. ( )