In reading something about the author of the Hardy Boys series (Lesley something or other, a Canadian), I got interested in Edward Stratemeyer, who masterminded a number of popular youth series, including the Hardy Boys, Tom Swift, Nancy Drew, the Bobbsey Twins, and the Rover Boys. Well, I'd never read any Rover Boys, which seemed to be Stratemeyer's first series and one he largely penned himself. Many of the others he outlined and then farmed out the actual writing to others, for a fixed price and no royalties. The poor bastard who wrote the Hardy Boys only made about $100 for a volume, which then went on to sell to several generations of boys over several decades.

Anyway, the Rover Boys is short and active. There's always something going on. Lots of youthful hijinx, scary adventures, e.g. being attacked by a rampaging snake, robbed by a hobo, choked on a moving train, etc. There are also lots of moral teachings, so as to instruct boys as to how to grow up to be proper men, lots of foreshadowing, and of course a summary of the story which pitches the next one in the series. Since the book leaves a number of questions up in the air, e.g. will the rich widow be bamboozled into marriage by the malevolent, former schoolmaster, one must, naturally, immediately go out to buy the next adventure in the series. So, perhaps I shall. ( )

1. The Rover Boys at School by Arthur Winfield (read in 1939) I did not think this as good as The Rover Boys on the Great Lakes, but know I read it avidly. ( )

Read this one by way of research. In many ways a typical school story - sporting events, a bully to deal with, a mean teacher and a damsel in distress. Very much of its time though, in the moralising tone of the author, who isn't afraid of putting his own opinions into the story. He also had a rather annoying habit of blatantly promoting the next books in the series. ( )