Amanda in Holland: Missing in Action (Amanda Travels Book #7) by Darlene Foster

This is the third Amanda Travels I've read, and in it, Amanda, 12, is heading to the Netherlands to join her British friend Leah Anderson and her father, who is there on business. Of course, the girls are there to see the sights, learn about Holland's history and culture, but Amanda has another purpose to be there. She would like to solve the mystery of what happened to her great uncle Harold, who went to the Netherlands with the Canadian army during World War II and never return home.

No sooner do the girls meet up in Amsterdam, then Amanda spots a cardboard box sitting beside some smelly garbage after hearing a cry come from it. Inside is a little brown and white puppy. When they ask a girl named Lisa working in a nearby cheese shop if she knows anything, she tells them no but it has been happening to dogs a lot lately.

Amanda and Leah decide to try and find a home for the puppy, now named Joey, which leads to meeting Jan. In fact, they seem to run into Jan everywhere they go, even giving him a ride to his grandparents home in the country when Mr. Anderson heads that way for a business meeting. Once in the country, the plot thickens and soon Amanda is involved in solving the mystery of a missing gardener, the theft of some rare tulip bulbs, and the mysterious woman bike-riding woman who keeps turning up. And is Jan involved in the tulip bulb mystery, despite his wonderful, welcoming family?

I didn't find the mysteries in this book as interesting as in previous books. They felt a little forced and therefore convoluted. I think solving the mystery of what happened to Uncle Harold would have been sufficient, given what Amanda discovers about him. And just finding a home for Joey would a nice subplot that exposed the cruelty of puppy farms. Added to these, sightseeing and accompanying information about the Anne Frank House, the tour of the wooden shoe factory, the visit to a windmill, the magic of the tulip fields, and rides through Hollands famous canals in a long boat really make the story interesting and gives readers a nice armchair journey to the Netherlands.

And that is what I like about the Amanda Travels series. It take young readers to places of interest, and provides usual and unusual sightseeing as Amanda meets different people and learns about their culture, and enjoys traditional foods in each place. In Holland, she ties such things as Hotchpotch Stamppot, a "Dutch dish of mashed potatoes mixed with carrots and onions, a meatball, sausages, and bacon," a meal I wouldn't mind trying.

So even though the mystery in Amanda in Holland is just ok, I would still recommend it, but especially to any readers interested in travel and mysteries, family, and friendship.

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was provided by the publisher, Central Avenue Publishing, through NetGalley