Ruth Fielding in the Great Northwest

So. Ruth Fielding in the Great Northwest. This one was below average, but I think al the later ones in the series probably are. There’s also a distinct flavor of racism about the main story, which involves Ruth making a movie star out of an American Indian princess. The girl’s name is Wonota, and although everyone likes her and she’s beautiful and smart, there was an unspoken “even though she’s an Indian” at the end of almost every sentence describing her.

This is also the book in which the war ends, and by the end Tom is home, and he and Ruth are engaged, I guess, although they don’t really say it. Somehow their relationship has lost most of its appeal, possibly because it hasn’t really changed since they were children. Ruth grows up a lot over the course of the series, but Tom doesn’t so much, and it’s a little weird.

That’s it for the Ruth Fielding books on Project Gutenberg. I’m glad I read all of them, but I can’t say I’m sorry to be done. These later books in the series are sort of Nancy-Drew-ish, and I like Nancy Drew, but I know that Ruth Fielding can be better, so it’s a disappointment when she’s not.