The Happy Hollisters - West, Jerry

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Résumé :
The Happy Hollisters: America's Favorite Classic Mystery Series for Young Readers Back in hardcover format after 50-year absence -- now with bonus special pages! The Happy Hollisters was the best-selling mystery/adventure series for children aged 7-12 in the 1960s with over 16 million copies sold. . . . the love between family members, the resourcefulness, the eagerness to find the answers to the problems . . . all make for a fun and positive read.~Julie, Goodreads If you like cliffhangers, adventures, history, mystery, and geography, these books are for you.~Charlie, 9-year-old fan A great throwback children's mystery with lively characters and old-fashioned charm. I really enjoyed this whimsical read.~Scott P., Goodreads This classic, family-oriented chapter book has been faithfully reissued in hardcover (featuring six extra pages of bonus material) by the author's family for a new generation of young readers, with a timeless accent on humor and good, clean fun. Integrity always pays off, and right wins over wrong. Parents, grandparents, and teachers love the Happy Hollisters books for their celebration of life in simpler times and family discussions that may ensue. Kids love the fast-paced action and will not want to put them down. This is a perfect gift for the young reader in your life! Volume 1: The adventures for the Hollisters begin as soon as they move into their new house on the shore on Pine Lake in Shoreham. First, the moving van carrying their toys and their father's important new invention disappears. Next, they learn that their house may be haunted, with a treasure hidden somewhere inside! Right away they all set out to solve these mysteries. Each one of the Hollister children - Pete (age 12), Pam (10), Ricky (7), Holly (6) and Sue (4) - plays an important role in finding clues, along with their parents, who are always ready to join in on the excitement. Even Zip, the collie, and White Nose, the cat, are part of the family and find thrilling adventures of their own. As the Hollisters explore their new town and make friends, they discover what happened to the moving van and learn more about the mystery surrounding their new home. Excitement abounds when a secret stairway is discovered. Then, on the trail of a mysterious intruder, their chase leads them to a deserted hut on nearby Blackberry Island. Bonus material in this hardcover reissue includes bios and photos of author Jerry West and illustrator Helen S. Hamilton, a previously unpublished map of Shoreham sketched by the author, vintage photos of the author and his family, and more! Hardcover; 195 pages with over 70 illustrations.

Biographie:
The Happy Hollisters by Jerry West was actually written by Andrew E. Svenson, a prolific yet somewhat anonymous, writer of books for children. Jerry West was the pen name Svenson used when he started writing The Happy Hollisters for the Stratemeyer Syndicate. The Stratemeyer Syndicate was a book packager, well-known for its development of children's book series including Tom Swift, The Bobbsey Twins, The Hardy Boys, and Nancy Drew. Many of these series were intended to have long publishing lives, and were written by multiple authors using the same pseudonym. The Happy Hollisters, however, were all written by Andrew Svenson, whose identity as Jerry West was kept secret until several years after his death in 1975. Andrew Svenson was born in Belleville, NJ, in 1910, and his interest in writing started early. He was editor of his high school newspaper and yearbook at Barringer High School in Newark, and then went on to study Creative Writing at the University of Pittsburgh. After his graduation in 1932, he worked as a reporter and editor for the Newark Star Eagle and the Newark Evening News. He also taught creative writing courses at Rutgers University and Upsala College. Andrew Svenson was encouraged by his friend Howard Garis (author of Uncle Wiggily) to try his hand at juvenile fiction. He joined the Stratemeyer Syndicate as a writer in 1948, where he contributed to established series as Franklin W. Dixon (The Hardy Boys) and as Laura Lee Hope (The Bobbsey Twins). The first volume in his own original series, The Happy Hollisters, was published in 1953 by Doubleday & Company, and he was made a partner in the Stratemeyer Syndicate in 1961. As he wrote and developed 33 titles in The Happy Hollisters, he was also creating additional series for children under other pen names: Bret King by Dan Scott and The Tollivers by Alan Stone, one of the first series written about and for African-American children. Under various pseudonyms, Andrew Svenson wrote more than 80 adventure and mystery novels for children, which were published in 17 languages and sold millions of copies. The Hollister family was modeled on his own family and he often used actual Svenson family events and travels as the foundation for The Happy Hollisters books. He also kept copious newspaper clippings for story ideas, and interviewed hundreds of school children and teachers for additional suggestions. These ideas were then worked into his storylines, adding an educational element that was appreciated by parents and educators alike. The children loved the stories for their elements of danger and excitement geared to their comprehension level. After his death in 1975, the Stratemeyer Syndicate assigned all rights to The Happy Hollisters to his widow, Marian Svenson...