Ah, first in the series. It's so bizarre that this book, about four homeless orphans and how they survive in an abandoned boxcar in the woods, wound up being the series it is today. It was about 20 years before the first sequel came out and the kids started solving mysteries. Warner wrote 17 more books after that over a course of thirty years. Then in the '70s, she died. In 1991, someone started making more, and in the 20 years following, there have been more than 120 new books added to the series.
The classic books also got new covers, in a '90s-riffic style. Here we see several hallmarks of covers to come. All four kids crammed onto the cover, someone gesturing urgently, and truly ridiculous pants. The inside of the book still takes place in 1924, by the way. It's pretty good, but contains no mystery. There is no indication that the kids will become amateur sleuths, and the boxcar or their time in it doesn't really feature in any of the coming books. So I guess the real mystery is... What the hell happened? Let's find out.
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