The Happy Hollisters and the Old Clipper Ship (#12 in the Happy Hollisters series)A rain storm and an unexpected guest bring this new mystery into the Hollisters' lives when a lightning-struck tree branch falls on a car in front of their home in Shoreham.The car is occupied by a young Hawaiian, Tom King, who, although not seriously hurt, needs help from the Hollisters to get out of his car. While resting in their home, he tells them he has come all the way across the country in search of a log book from an unidentified clipper ship. The only clue he has are a few sketches of the ship which he hopes will be identified by one of the old clipper ship captains he has been told to see. This log book is important to Tom for it will prove his grandfather and grandmother were married on this ship giving him evidence that he is legally entitled to the inheritance left by his uncle.How is this mystery connected with Gregory Grant and Lisa Sarno, the famous movie stars, and a motion picture in which the Hollister children have an active part? And who is the sinister stranger in the checkered shirt? Why should he first try to buy Tom's sketches of the clipper ship and then, failing that, try to steal them?From the beginning to end this new story will keep you guessing as the Hollisters once again prove their ability as master sleuths.First published in 1956, this charming mystery-adventure story, faithfully reproduced, is now available in paperback and eBook for the first time! Written for boys and girls between the ages of six and twelve, The Happy Hollisters are wholesome books, with an accent on humor and good, clean fun. Integrity always pays off and right wins over wrong. Parents, grandparents, and teachers love these books for their healthy celebration of life in simpler times. Kids are thrilled with the fast-paced action and will not want to put them down. The action-packed illustrations make the story - and the Hollister family - so vivid that the reader has a feeling of really sharing in on the adventures of this lovable and interesting family.
About the Author: 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 assigned to Svenson when he started writing The Happy Hollisters for the Stratemeyer Syndicate, 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 for and about African-American children. Under various pseudonyms, Andrew Svenson wrote more than 70 adventure and mystery novels for children, which were published in 17 languages and sold millions of copies.