Free The Homerun Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner Page A

its former glory?” Mr. White asked the group.
    One by one, the members answered, “Yes.”
    â€œYay!” cried Benny
    Mr. White grinned. “Very good. I’ll meet with the newspaper this afternoon to tell them the truth about Herman Soper. Mrs. Pettibone’s letter will be printed, too.”
    â€œPeople will be fascinated to learn an old wrong will finally be righted,” said Grandfather. “You will have lots of publicity for the factory renovation.”
    â€œYou should name it after Herman,” Violet suggested.
    â€œThat’s an excellent idea!” Mr. White agreed. “We’ll call the new mini-mall Herman Soper Place. We’ll put up a statue of Home Run Herman in the ballpark.”
    â€œAre we going to keep the ballpark for sure?” Emily asked eagerly.
    â€œOf course! It’ll be a great place to have fairs and other events when you young people aren’t playing ball,” said Mr. White, “and it’s right in town, close to everything.”
    The Percys were edging toward the door.
    â€œWhere are you going?” Henry called loudly.
    â€œOh. I don’t think we’re needed here anymore,” said Mrs. Percy. “Mike and I have an appointment … in another town.”
    They left in a hurry.
    â€œGood riddance,” Carl Soper remarked. Then he turned to his granddaughter with a happy smile. “The Soper name has been cleared at last! We’ll never know what happened to Herman, but at least his good name has been restored.”
    â€œI wonder where they’ll put the statue of Herman,” said Benny.
    â€œMaybe by the bleachers,” said Violet. “So he can ‘watch’ all the home runs Emily will hit.”
    Emily blushed. “You know, Benny,” she said, “you hit a home run yourself.”
    Benny was surprised. “I did? When?”
    â€œWhen you found the letter and ran to the town hall. You hit a winning run! The ballpark is saved. Gramps and I can’t thank you all enough.”
    â€œWe were glad to help,” Violet said, speaking for her brothers and sister.
    They had solved the doubleheader case. They’d caught the cheating baseball team and prevented a ballpark from being torn down. And a local hero would finally be recognized.

    While the council members gathered around the children to get the details of the last several days, Benny seemed lost in thought. Grandfather noticed and asked him what was on his mind, and Mr. White turned to listen.
    â€œWell,” Benny began slowly, “I like the idea of a statue of Herman in the ballpark, but there is something the ballpark needs much more.”
    â€œAnd what might that be?” asked Mr. White.
    â€œIt needs a refreshment stand. The Herman W . Soper Refreshment Stand!”
    Mr. White clapped Benny on the back.
    â€œA fine idea, Benny!” Mr. White exclaimed. “But maybe we should call it the Benny Alden Refreshment Stand.”

G ERTRUDE C HANDLER W ARNER discovered when she was teaching that many readers who like an exciting story could find no books that were both easy and fun to read. She decided to try to meet this need, and her first book, The Boxcar Children , quickly proved she had succeeded.
    Miss Warner drew on her own experiences to write the mystery. As a child she spent hours watching trains go by on the tracks opposite her family home. She often dreamed about what it would be like to set up housekeeping in a caboose or freight car — the situation the Alden children find themselves in.
    When Miss Warner received requests for more adventures involving Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny Alden, she began additional stories. In each, she chose a special setting and introduced unusual or eccentric characters who liked the unpredictable.
    While the mystery element is central to each of Miss Warner’s books, she never thought of them as strictly juvenile mysteries. She liked to stress