Watermelon Mystery at Sugar Creek

"Watermelon Mystery at Sugar Creek" by Paul Hutchens is a children's novel written in the mid-20th century. The story revolves around a young boy named Bill Collins, who is excited about the prize watermelon he has grown and is distraught when it is stolen from his family's truck patch. The plot promises adventure and mystery as Bill and his friends, including Poetry and Dragonfly, navigate the challenges presented by this theft. At the start of the book, Bill recounts his fondness for his watermelon, named Ida, and his concerns about it being taken. He experiences a mix of pride and frustration as he works hard to nurture Ida, only to have her stolen, triggering a series of escapades with his friends. As the stolen watermelon incident unfolds, intriguing elements are introduced, including a gang of girls, a mysterious thief, and a potential connection to a recent supermarket burglary. These elements set up a whimsical yet thrilling adventure as the characters confront both the mystery of the theft and the complexities of their youthful world. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Paul Hutchens was an American author. In addition to writing The Sugar Creek Gang, a series of 36 Christian-themed juvenile fiction books about the adventures of a group of young boys, he also wrote numerous adult fiction books, many with a romance theme. The author was a graduate of Moody Bible Institute. The Sugar Creek Gang books have been popular in evangelical Christian homes and have remained in print through multiple format and cover art changes. The books have also been dramatized on the radio, and in 2004, the stories were made into a series of movies, directed by Joy Chapman and Owen Smith. His books were originally published by Wm. B. Eerdmans, and later reprinted by other publishers such as Van Kampen Press and Moody Press.