# Children's books about boy genius **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 4, 2006, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-books-about-boy-genius/363146 "2006-07-04T06:59:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2006, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-books-about-boy-genius/363146/21 "2006-07-04T21:36:17Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] And, of course, you could maintain continuity by making the protagonist the grandson of the original Danny Dunn. [/QUOTE] Great-nephew. With stories about his “weird Uncle Daniel” who dissapeared under mysterious circumstances but left his lab or notes or something to his namesake nephew. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2006, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-books-about-boy-genius/363146/22 "2006-07-04T21:55:05Z")
Oh, man, now I have to get working on _The New Adventures of Danny Dunn’s Great-Nephew Danny Dunn_. Of course, since the original Danny had no siblings, this is going to be tricky. I wonder if I’ll need permission from the original authors. Or if they’re still alive. I think one of them was extremely disabled, and died … or something … Also, it’s too bad you didn’t read _Danny Dunn and the Anti-Gravity Paint_, **Chronos**. That was the very first book in the series! Pre-Irene, even. Oh, and I love _The Great Brain_ too. I was a Mormon when I was reading those, so I was irritated at the way Tom kept putting one over on the Mormon kids of Adenville, but they always had nice things to say about the Mormons, so it was all good. ---
**Author:** ![Threadkiller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@Threadkiller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Threadkiller)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2006, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-books-about-boy-genius/363146/23 "2006-07-04T23:08:03Z")
[QUOTE=Shai’tan] I’m trying to track down a series I read as a kid (in the eighties). It’s main character was a boy genius, who made occasional inventions (like a contraption to launch newspapers from his bicycle to speed up his delivery route) or ideas for inventions (like extending the “chimney” on a train locomotive horizontally down the length of the train, so that cinders would not hit passengers leaning out a window. [idea shot down by engineer in book, as I recall]). I believe he may have used his intellect to solve minor mysteries within the books. The books were sparcely illustrated, like the Judy Bloom novels: Fudge and Super Fudge, and the illustrations were similiar in quality and style. I believe the illustrations may have shown him as being freckled, as well. I have no recollection as to the author’s name, character’s name, or any of the titles. Any ideas on what series it could have been? [/QUOTE] Having read all of the books mentioned above I **will** state that you are mixing two boy geniuses. The paper launcher is Alvin Fernald in the book [_The Marvelous Inventions of Alvin Fernald_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FJD5HQ/qid=1152054180/sr=1-29/ref=sr_1_29/102-5668138-8892941?s=books&v=glance&n=283155). The bent chimney on the train is Tom Fitzgerald from [url=]_The Great Brain at the Acadmeny_. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2006, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-books-about-boy-genius/363146/24 "2006-07-04T23:31:37Z")
[QUOTE=chorpler] Oh, and I love _The Great Brain_ too. I was a Mormon when I was reading those, so I was irritated at the way Tom kept putting one over on the Mormon kids of Adenville, but they always had nice things to say about the Mormons, so it was all good. [/QUOTE] Until I read those books I never knew Mormons in Utah called non-Mormons “gentiles.” ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2006, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-books-about-boy-genius/363146/25 "2006-07-04T23:33:44Z")
[QUOTE=Threadkiller] The bent chimney on the train is Tom Fitzgerald from [url=]_The Great Brain at the Acadmeny_. [/QUOTE] At that, the engineer (or conductor?) to home Tom suggested the idea gave several reasons why it wouldn’t work; mainly, the soot would build up in the pipe too quickly. (The point was to make it possible to open a moving train’s windows without letting in cinders. Moot since the introduction of diesel and electric engines. And air conditioning.) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2006, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-books-about-boy-genius/363146/26 "2006-07-04T23:34:46Z")
“. . . to **whom** Tom . . .” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-books-about-boy-genius/363146/27 "2006-07-05T00:46:35Z")
Quoth me: > [@](#): > > but I don’t think I ever read him doing anything like that . . . Correction: I remember him doing plenty of things _like_ that; like I said, it was in his general style. What I meant to say was that I don’t remember him doing that specifically. ---
**Author:** ![RachelChristine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ab992/32.png) [@RachelChristine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RachelChristine)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-books-about-boy-genius/363146/28 "2006-07-05T00:57:17Z")
I had a funny little coincidence to this thread today. I read it this afternoon, and remembered the book about the boy named Alvin, but couldn’t remember the title. I only remembered his name was Alvin because he says at some point that he liked to think Thomas Alva Edison’s name was really Thomas Alvin Edison. Anyway, I was at a cookout at my parents for the Fourth, who are getting ready to have a rummage sale. They had my brother going through a box of his stuff to see what they could get rid of and he pulled out “The Great Inventions of Alvin Fernald”! Or at least the first part of it. The back is ripped off and it’s missing some pages. I thought it was funny to find it the same day I read this thread. I remember liking that book when I was little. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-books-about-boy-genius/363146/29 "2006-07-05T01:16:08Z")
Of course, neither Tom Fitzgerald nor Danny Dunn can hold a candle to [\*Tom Swift!](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Swift) But [Frank Reade](http://www.bigredhair.com/frankreade/index.html) did it first! [\*“‘Stand back,’ Tom ejaculated!”](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=348142) ---
**Author:** ![Shai\_tan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Shai\_tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shai_tan)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-books-about-boy-genius/363146/30 "2006-07-05T02:06:07Z")
I was indeed combining two similiar characters in my mind. But with the mention of the money making schemes, and the basketball game, I’m positive that the Great Brain books are the ones I was trying to remember. And after looking at the links, I see that the other character/book was Alvin Fernald as a couple of posters suggested. Whoo, that was really bothering me, and I roamed the children’s section of Barnes and Noble for some time one day, looking for inspiration. This message board is an Og-send. What WOULD I do with out Dopers? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-books-about-boy-genius/363146/31 "2006-07-05T03:36:52Z")
Danny Dunn–yep! Fantastic memories from my elementary school. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-books-about-boy-genius/363146/32 "2006-07-05T20:32:29Z")
Looks like this thread is just about finished, but since I loved all those books as well, I’ll throw in another recommendation along the same lines: The Mad Scientist’s Club, by Bertrand Brinley. There were some sequels too, which I haven’t read. Maybe I should go track those down… ---
**Author:** ![twopiecesofeight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5e9695/32.png) [@twopiecesofeight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twopiecesofeight)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-books-about-boy-genius/363146/33 "2006-07-05T22:23:02Z")
Yay, Dopers read my favorite children’s books, too! 😃 Ah, the nostalgia. My favorite parts: **The Great Brain** - He was a bit of a Tom Sawyer, in that he conned kids out of their money and stuff. However, it tugged my heart when he taught the boy with the broken leg how to do all his chores more efficiently than a regular person would. **Danny Dunn** - Absolutely loved how his foster father, the Professor, would never yell or hit the kid and actually encouraged Danny’s love of science and adventure (despite Danny’s rashness). Also the first series I read whose main characters were two boys and a smart, hesistant-to-break-the-rules-kind-of girl; parallels to Harry Potter, anyone? **Alvin Fernald** - Before _Da Vinci Code_, there was _Alvin Fernald and the Secret Code_. My first primer in code breaking. Discussed the frequency table (most frequently used letters in the English alphabet: E T A I N), common three and two-letter words (the, of), and how simply breaking phrases into five letter chunks can confuse the uninitiated (apenn ysave disap ennye arned = a penny saved is a penny earned). Now look what you guys did. I have the urge to visit the library and enter the Children’s Room without looking like some scary grown-up. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-books-about-boy-genius/363146/34 "2006-07-06T11:52:32Z")
[QUOTE=twopiecesofeight] Now look what you guys did. I have the urge to visit the library and enter the Children’s Room without looking like some scary grown-up. [/QUOTE] Hey, just because I’m old doesn’t mean I don’t get to read the \*good \* stuff anymore! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-books-about-boy-genius/363146/35 "2006-07-06T12:28:42Z")
I didn’t think this was worth a separate thread, but these series made me remember the “All-of-a Kind-Family”, a similar series about a family of Jewish girls living in New York around the Teens. Has anyone else read or at least remember these? I loved them as a child; they made me understand what my ancestors went through at that time in history. Robin ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-books-about-boy-genius/363146/36 "2006-07-06T12:49:49Z")
[QUOTE=twopiecesofeight] Yay, Dopers read my favorite children’s books, too! 😃 Ah, the nostalgia. My favorite parts: **The Great Brain** - He was a bit of a Tom Sawyer, in that he conned kids out of their money and stuff. However, it tugged my heart when he taught the boy with the broken leg how to do all his chores more efficiently than a regular person would. [/QUOTE] Was that the kid with the peg leg? Or was there some other broken-leg-chores part that I’ve forgotten? ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-books-about-boy-genius/363146/37 "2006-07-06T12:51:16Z")
[QUOTE=chorpler] Was that the kid with the peg leg? Or was there some other broken-leg-chores part that I’ve forgotten? [/QUOTE] Yeah, that was Andy. He’d lost his leg to gangrene after stepping on a nail and was going through a bout of depression when Tom taught him how to function with his wooden leg. Robin ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-books-about-boy-genius/363146/38 "2006-07-06T13:02:50Z")
[QUOTE=MsRobyn] I didn’t think this was worth a separate thread, but these series made me remember the “All-of-a Kind-Family”, a similar series about a family of Jewish girls living in New York around the Teens. Has anyone else read or at least remember these? I loved them as a child; they made me understand what my ancestors went through at that time in history. Robin [/QUOTE] The author was Sydney Taylor, if you’re looking. I haven’t read them myself. ---
**Author:** ![SkeptiJess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SkeptiJess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkeptiJess)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-books-about-boy-genius/363146/39 "2006-07-06T17:16:06Z")
The All-of-a-Kind Family books are \*wonderful. I own them all and have read them many times. They are still in print in both hard- and paperback editions, and are also readily available used. I’m the whitest of white-bread WASP, but I loved these books (and many others) for the glimpse into a different. The books always made me hungry – wonderful descriptions of food. BTW, they were based on Sidney Taylor’s childhood memories od growing up with her stair-step sisters. She had told the stories to her own daughter and eventually wrote them down. She was the oldest sister (Ella, in the books). ---
**Author:** ![SkeptiJess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SkeptiJess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkeptiJess)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-books-about-boy-genius/363146/40 "2006-07-06T17:17:43Z")
See, those books are so good, thinking about them made me mess up my coding! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-books-about-boy-genius/363146.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-books-about-boy-genius/363146.md?page=3)