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Type of bind: Hardcover
EAN num: 9780448089324
ISBN number: 0448089327
Label: Grosset & Dunlap
Manufacturer: Grosset & Dunlap
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 192
Printing Date: January 01, 1953
Publishing house: Grosset & Dunlap
Age index: Young Adult
Sale Popularity Level: 158003
Studio: Grosset & Dunlap
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Rated by buyers 
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The way the authors wrote this series, you learn a little more about the main characters from book to book. In this book we learn that Chet Morton, Frank and Joe Hardys' best friend, was the great-grandson of Ezekial Morton, who was honorary Chief Wallapatookunk of the Pashunk tribe. We also meet the Ramapan tribe, which the author described as being 500 miles from Bayport. However, in real life it appears that neither the Pashunk nor the Ramapan tribes actually exist. The boys learn that someone is trying to take Ramapan land for a reason that they ultimately learn at the climax of the story.
We also learn that Frank and Joe Hardy and their best friend Chet Morton play football for Bayport High. Bayport High must also be a very small school, because Frank, Joe and Chet play on offense and defense. There is a mistake in my revised edition of this book that caused me to re-read a couple of pages. During the play against Hopkinsville, the text reads "Joe...a step ahead of the Bayport pass receiver." Joe is on Bayport High's team, and the team was playing against Hopkinsville, so he would have been trying to get the ball from the Hopkinsville receive.
Anyway, the mystery kicks off with a suspicious man trying to sell Laura Hardy, the boys' mother, a leather key case with the letter "R" surrounded by a design. The Frank and Joe Hardy observe the man through the window of their house trying to steal the key to their father's file cabinet. Unfortunately, when the boys confront the man their mother explains that the man was transferring keys to the new case. However, since this is a Hardy Boys mystery, we know this man is up to no good. The boys soon learn that the man, Breck, may be a criminal.
The boys learn that the symbol on the key case is that of the Ramapan tribe. The Ramapans are located in the woods about 500 miles from Bayport. It appears that they use suitcases hauled through the woods to deliver their hand-made crafts (seriously, that is what the books says - I had to laugh at this part). The Ramapan chief asks Frank and Joe to solve the mystery of where the deed for their land was buried. The previous chief buried the deed to protect it, and as the chief was dying he described the location of the deed to be where the crisscross shadow was located.
Things heat up for the Hardys as they uncover clues one-by-one. The boys and their best friend Chet discover that there is a gang out to find the deed. The gang is very dangerous, and tries to kill Frank and Joe by pushing them in front of a train, and members of the gang endeavor to push them off a cliff as well. Why is the gang trying to hard to take the Ramapan's land? That is the heart of this mystery!
While the boys are trying to solve the Ramapan's mystery, the story also remotely follows the boys' father, Fenton Hardy, as he battles against saboteurs. The entire family tries to keep their spirits up as there as Fenton appears to be in danger and then missing. At one point the boys encounter someone who looks and sounds just like their father, but this man appears to be injured and defeated. Things look grim for Fenton, Frank and Joe Hardy more than once in this book.
The boys resolutely follow the trail of the criminals and the clues, and eventually find a crisscross shadow, but they still have a hard time finding the box containing the deed and a valuable dagger. The criminals are right behind them and try to discover the location themselves. The criminals finally force Frank and Joe to point out the location of the deed to the criminals. The reader will have to discover what happens next.
This book is quite bumpy in terms of readability. Laura Hardy is quite annoying when she tells the boys that they are behaving badly, only to find out later that they are right. Given that the boys have behaved very ethically for 31 previous books, her behavior appears unwarranted and should have been out of character. While the description of the Native Americans was actually decent, the description should be updated. It is unlikely that any Native American land is so remote that it can not be reached by road. Lastly, the football descriptions should be updated as well. Even small schools usually have a separate offense and defense, with very few players play both, especially in back-to-back plays. These problems make this book slightly difficult to read and keep the rating in the 3 star range.
The Hardy Boys series is recommended for ages 8 to 12 because the series is relatively tame for the previous target audience of ages 10 to 14. This particular book is a good fit for that age range. Older readers may find it difficult to understand the social differences between this book and our current era, of which there are numerous examples throughout the book. However, a collector of the series will want this book regardless of the faults. ... Read More
Rated by buyers 
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There are two main characters in the book. They are Frank and Joe Hardy. When they come home from football practice there is a man in their house named Breck. The man is a leather goods saleman. He tries to sell their mother a key case. When their mother goes to get the money Breck takes a key and a picture from their house. The boys find the picture, but not the key. The boys go on a hunt to try to find where the key case was made. When they get to the place the place is an Indian tribe. The tribe sends them on a hunt for the deed to their property. When the boys find the deed they solve their mystery too.
Rated by buyers 
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Published in 1953, this was a swift paced adventure that took place primarily in the wilderness near an Indian reservation. The crooks were known early on in the book to the Hardys and there was a great amount of interaction. All & all I really enjoyed this book. The frontispiece ranks among my favorite, the cover was well drawn, the plot and mystery kept the reader turning from page to page. There actually was a good mystery here as the Hardys were in a race with the criminals to learn the location of the Crisscross Shadow. RATED B+
Rated by buyers -
This review concerns the original 1953 edition and the revised 1969 edition , which follows a plot similar to the original edition except it is shorter. When a phony leather goods salesman steals the key to Mr. Hardy's filing cabinet, Frank, Joe and Chet track a clue to an indian village and end up helping the indians find the lost deed to their land to prove their ownership. This book isn't bad, but it's not one of the really good ones either. The very first half of the book is a little dull, but the last half is pretty good and it isn't until this point that the indian mystery comes into the story. If you don't mind the very first part of the book you should enjoy the last part.
Rated by buyers -
I think this book was nice, especially for the action parts like getting klidnapped, the train incidient, and the cliff part. Those are mostly the only things I like about this book. But it's still a classic, no matter how many stars it has. That's a fact.
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