For the first time, I thought the children - though it's hard to call Henry a child since he is now in college - came across as spoiled! The family drives by a lighthouse for sale, and the kids ask Grandfather to buy it as if it's no big deal! It's weird, too, because later on, when the kids want to go swimming but don't have any bathing suits, Jessie is hesitant to ask for new ones because "four new suits would cost too much." Their money sense just seems to be out of whack.
While many of the books include some thing or other that dates the writing - e.g., a reference to "long distance phone calls", or illustrations of the kids boating without life jackets - this one included something that seemed a bit much even for "the old days". The family wants to have a place to eat outdoors, so they move around the rocks to form chairs and a table, and then they cement the rocks in place! This activity just doesn't sit well with me in today's heightened environmental consciousness, and there really isn't even any sense of nostalgia to redeem it. It seemed like an arrogant and entitled thing to do.
I was also kind of bummed that the author seems to have made up the names of the towns in this book. We know the Boxcar Children live some place in New England, but are they in MA? Or CT? This book mentions two towns: Conley and Ashland. There is an Ashland in MA, but it's not a seaside community, and I can't find any Conley anywhere in New England. Oh, well.
Finally, I don't know if I'm just getting tired of the Boxcar Children's we'll-fix-the-world adventures, but for the first time, their interest in other people's activities seemed to border on meddling. Sure, this "Cook boy" was gruff and seemingly unhappy, but was it really any of the Aldens' business? I can understand their interest in any goings-on at the house next to the lighthouse, but beyond that, why are they so interested in other people's affairs?
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