For our third annual Encyclopedia Brown episode, we matched wits with each other and with Encyclopedia in trying to crack the cases in Encyclopedia Brown Finds the Clues, which was published in 1966. We included the relevant clues in our discussion, so you can solve along with us. We discussed the origins of Bugs Meany's hat and solved the mystery of what state Idaville is in. Also, Mary Grace mispronounced "divining rod" about 15 times.

Mentioned on this episode:

Other Encyclopedia Brown books:

Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective

Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Secret Pitch

Other Rereading Our Childhood episodes:

Rereading Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes

Rereading Henry Reed, Inc. by Keith Robertson

Also mentioned:

Goodreads review of Encyclopedia Brown Finds the Clues by Chance Hansen

Reddit thread on what state Encyclopedia lives in

"Donald Sobol and the Case of the Elusive Mystery Writer," interview with Donald Sobol by Elizabeth Weinstein, Oberlin Alumni Magazine, Fall 2011

Clip from a 2024 episode of Futurama featuring Wikipedia Brown

You can find Deborah at deborahkalb.com and Mary Grace’s adventures in the 1920s at My Life 100 Years Ago.

This episode was edited by Adam Linder of Bespoken Podcasting.

Podcast website at rereadingourchildhood.com

For this episode, we reread Louise Fitzhugh's 1965 novel The Long Secret, the sequel to Harriet the Spy. We discussed the mystery of who is leaving notes for residents of Water Mill and Fitzhugh's fascinating but tragic life.

Mentioned on this episode:

Other books by Fitzhugh:

Suzuki Bean by Sandra Scoppettone, illustrated by Fitzhugh (1961)

Harriet the Spy (1964)

Nobody's Family is Going to Change (1974)

Sport (1980)

Also mentioned:

Sometimes You Have to Lie: The Life and Times of Louise Fitzhugh, Renegade Author of Harriet the Spy, by Leslie Brody

Deborah's interview with Leslie Brody

The Tap Dance Kid, the musical based on Nobody's Family is Going to Change (highlights here)

Gloria Vanderbilt's New York Times review of Harriet the Spy

Goodreads reviews of The Long Secret

Recommended by Deborah: Freaky Friday and A Billion for Boris by Mary Rodgers; Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume

Recommended by Mary Grace: Magic by the Lake by Edward Eager, The Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byars, All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor

Previous episode:

Rereading Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh

You can find Deborah at deborahkalb.com and Mary Grace at My Life 100 Years Ago.

This episode was edited by Adam Linder of Bespoken Podcasting.

Podcast website at rereadingourchildhood.com

On this episode, syndicated columnist Jamie Stiehm joins us to reread Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel Little Women, which was published in two parts in 1868 and 1869.

Mentioned on this episode:

Other books by Alcott: Little Men (1871), Eight Cousins (1874), Rose in Bloom (1876), Jo’s Boys (1886)

Also mentioned:

Peyton Thomas’s tweet saying Alcott was trans

Peyton Thomas’s New York Times guest column saying that Alcott was trans

Peyton Thomas’s podcast Jo’s Boys (on Apple and Spotify)

Film adaptations: Little Women (1933), with Katharine Hepburn (trailer here); Little Women (1949), with June Allyson and Elizabeth Taylor (trailer here); Little Women (1994), with Wynona Ryder (trailer here); Little Women (2019), directed by Greta Gerwig (trailer here)

Recommended for fans of Little Women:

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (Jamie); My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante, Men in Trouble by Sarah Payne Stuart, and Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason (Mary Grace); Little House on the Prairie (Deborah)

Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy: The Story of Little Women and Why it Still Matters, by Anne Boyd Rioux (2018)

March by Geraldine Brooks (2006)

You can find Deborah at deborahkalb.com and Mary Grace’s adventures in the 1920s on her blog, My Life 100 Years Ago. You can find Jamie at jamiestiehm.com.

This episode was edited by Adam Linder of Bespoken Podcasting.

Podcast website at rereadingourchildhood.com