I’m looking for either the author name or the name of one of the titles of these books, any help will be appreciated.
Two brothers have adventure trips in exotic locales. Mostly in the Pacific or sea adventures. This was a series with about 10 books in it. Authors name is Robinson, Williamson, Williams, a common-ish English sounding name. One scene I remember was someone had a foot caught in a giant clam and was left to die there but was saved by one of the brothers. The target age for the books must be for teens since there was some death involved in the books. I read these in the early 70’s and they were all paperbacks. I think the author was a man.
Must have been written in the 40s. Main character is William, lead of youthful gang of 4 kids in all, one of whom is named Ginger. Author is a woman. I think the first book in the series is named “William”. Targets same readership as Billy Bunter books.
Play named “Ghost Train”, where dectective masquerades as a silly young man but actually was there to solve a mystery where a train runs at night for smuggling or something like that. I remember the scenario was that the detective pulled the emergency brakes so that they were all marooned at a deserted train station.
A book called “King of the Undersea City”. I think was written by a foreign author (Italian, Hungarian, something like that) and translated into English. I don’t remember much about this book except that there was an underwater sequence where they all had to wear diving suits with the big head piece (this was before scuba gear was invented), and walk a long distance. I remember a scene where one of the members of the team catches a moray eel saying “Moray eels are not good to meet but are good to eat” or something like that.
(3) It was by Arnold Ridley of Dad’s Army fame. It’s still quite popular with amateur dramatics groups in England. There was at least one, and possibly two, film versions made in the 1930s or 40s, so you should be able to find it on IMDB.
I think No. 1 could possibly be Willard Price, and if, so, I suspect that the books in the series may have had rather descriptive but unimaginative titles. You know, if it’s an adventure in the Pacific, say, call the book “Pacific Adventure” and so on. One of the boys may have been named Roger. (I’m a bit more confident about the author’s name than about Roger, to be honest.) Good luck with your quest.
I’m fairly sure that (1) are Willard Price books too. I used to read them as a kid; I think the brothers’ names were Roger and Hal, but I may be wrong.
No 1 are the Willard Price adventure books. They all have the titles “something-Adventure” e.g Amazon Adventure, South Sea Adventure, etc. They’re about the adventures of Hal and Roger as they travel the world capturing wild animals for their father’s animal sanctuary. I was hooked on them as a kid - I probably still have the whole set up in the attic somewhere.
(The one with the guy whose foot got stuck in the clam is either “Underwater Adventure” or “Diving Adventure”, and the guy didn’t make it.)
Yes, Mattk!! I’m sure you’re right re. Roger and Hal, and I’m so glad 'cos I just knew I was going to end up wondering about that. Sorry for mini-hijack, Major Feelgud.
Thanks so much for all your help. The SD is really like the Oracle at Delphi, able to answer any question due to the collective brainpower of hundreds.
is indeed the Willard Price books. I’ve managed to find them after getting the name here.
is indeed the Richmal Crompton books. Ditto. These were not the Famous Five books because the FF didn’t have Ginger, and they had a dog named Timmy.
The Ghost Train is indeed by Arnold Ridley. Before posting the question I did manage to find a small town theatre production under that name but it didn’t say what the story was about. The SD has confirmed it.
I still don’t know this one, the old publisher is gone, but I’ve managed to track down the new one. Hope they can help.
The link given below was very useful. Thanks. Another question here. What did American kids (boys) read? I also read the Hardy Boys and the Alfred Hitchcock books (with the 2 German brothers Hans and ?) but they pale in comparison with the British offerings. And when I browse bookstores, I find the old classics macabre, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Edgar Allan Poe, Tale of 2 Cities for children?