The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of Cabin Island (Hardy Boys Mystery Stories # 8 - Revised Text)

Okay, if the title to this book looks familiar, it should.  Just a couple of months ago, at the urging of some friends, I read the original version of this book, which was published nearly 100 years ago in 1929.  Approximately forty years after its initial publication, the Stratemeyer Syndicate, during the course of its revisions project, revised this particular book.  Andrew Svenson, best known for his own series, The Happy Hollisters, was given the task of writing the revised version of this title, reducing the story from 25 chapters down to 20 and the page count from 214 down to 178.   In some cases, the Syndicate merely cut out dialogue or certain scenes to reduce the length; however, in this instance, instead of simply shortening the story, Svenson gives readers what I would call a "re-imagining" of the story.

 

In both the original and the revised texts of The Mystery of Cabin Island,  Frank and Joe Hardy, along with their friends, Chet and Biff, investigate some mysterious goings-on at a cabin owned by Elroy Jefferson, a wealthy man whose automobile the boys had recovered when they solved a previous mystery involving car thieves. But, other than that basic premise, the remaining adventures are changed, sometimes in rather drastic ways.  The opening of the revised edition removes a rather large chunk of story from the original text, where the boys visit Cabin Island long before they get permission from Mr. Jefferson to stay there with their friends over the Christmas holidays.  In the revised, the first page reveals the boys have received permission to stay on the island as a "reward" for recovering the older man's car, and not only that, but Mr. Jefferson also has a mystery he wishes the boys to solve.  Thus, while the original had a somewhat slow build-up, the revised jumps right into the heart of the story, letting readers know from the very first page that Frank and Joe were going to be solving a mystery at Cabin Island!

 

Chapter after chapter, page after page, more and more of the story is changed in ways that seem to emphasize action more than anything else.  In the original, the boys did not face a run-in with another ice boat until the end of the second chapter; however, in this version, the ice boat handled by Tad Carson and Ike Nash runs them down in the first chapter (with a nice, two-page spread line illustration that seems to be a redux of the frontis piece from the original text).  And for those who remember the second ice boat incident in the original, where poor Chet could not gain control of his boat, it might surprise you to discover that in this revised version, it is the vile Mr. Hanleigh and Tad Carson who purposely attack the Hardys' boat, knocking them out onto the ice along with old Mr. Jefferson!  Poor Mr. Jefferson is injured, and the Hardys end up taking him back to the cabin, where he spends the night - a scene that never took place in the original.

 

There are quite a few other differences that deviate from the original tale.  One major difference is the fact that Mr. Jefferson has a grandson in this revised text, who disappeared and is the center of the mystery that Mr. Jefferson asks the boys to solve.  And in the original story, the boys learn about Mr. Jefferson's stolen stamps from the general store owner, Amos Grice, while in this version, Mr. Jefferson himself relates the story of the stolen medals to Frank and Joe - and yes, that's another revision. Perhaps by the late 1960s, stolen stamps would not seem as valuable to stolen medals, so the Syndicate changed the object of the theft - which creates another big change, as a "ghost" that is scene on the island (mostly by Chet) turns out to be the representative of the great Shah Ali, who has come to seek out Mr. Jefferson in the hopes of buying back one of the medals in his possession (or, rather, in his former possession, since the medals are missing).

 

One incident in the original text that I am actually glad they removed was the fox hunting chapter, where the boys hunt down and kill some foxes that Mr. Grice believes stole some of his chickens.  In the original, the Hardys use the rifles given them as Christmas presents by their parents; in the revised, the boys receive much needed snowshoes instead and there is no mention of stolen chickens or fox hunting.  And speaking of Christmas, that is yet one more revision in the text - in the original story, the boys spend Christmas day together in the cabin; in the revised tale, the boys spend Christmas morning with their families, and they do not head out to Cabin Island until after Christmas.  And the climactic scene where the tree comes crashing down on the cabin in the original?  Nope, it is removed from the revised, and the boys instead merely face a fierce snow storm that breaks through the windows, sending snow and cold into the cabin.

 

There is one difference that I found made the story a bit more challenging for the boys, and that involves the cryptogram.  In the original, the code to solve the cryptic message was simply reversing the alphabet:  to wit, A = Z, B = Y, C = X, and so on.  In this revised version, however, Svenson gives Frank and Joe (and the reader) and much more challenging solution, as the code actually makes use of the thief's name - John Paul Sparewell, Houseman (i.e., A = J, B = O, C = H, D = N, and so on).  I found that to be a much more creative solution, which would explain why the boys had such difficulty in solving the puzzle.  In the original, the solution proved way too easy and basically made the Hardys look inept, in that they could not have deciphered such a simple code.

 

Something I found both books to have in common is the illustrations of the ice boats.  In the original text, the plain frontis piece (by artist Ausott) shows Frank, Joe, and Chet in their iceboat, which has very little room for anything other than the three of them.  In the revised text, the frontis piece, as well as the two-page spread on pages 8 and 9 show ice boats with barely room for the riders - the frontis has only Frank and Joe with room for no one or nothing else; and the two page spread shows all four boys in the boat (and it is supposed to be the same boat, so how did they manage that?) with no extra room.  So this begs the question - how did these four boys fit into the ice boat, along with all of their gear, clothes, and the boxes of food that Chet brought, when those illustrations make the boat appear to have very little free space, if any at all?!  Artistic license, I suppose...

 

While I cannot say that either of the Cabin Island texts were overly enjoyable (remember, I am not much of a Hardy Boys fan to begin with), I can say that the original text offers up a richer tale with stronger characterization.  The revised text seems to focus more on fast-paced action, with constant accidents, danger, scares, and such, relying on the action to move the story rather than the mystery itself.  I think I prefer Svenson's Happy Hollisters' series far more than I did this Hardy Boys tale.

 

RATING:  5 handsome, gleaming medals out of 10 for the attempt at re-imagining a 1920s mystery for the 1960s (leaving one to wonder what a re-imagining of this tale for the 2000s would look like?)

The Happy Hollisters and the Missile Town Mystery (HH19)

It's time to return to Florida with the Happy Hollisters!  While the Hollister family visited some fictional sites in their previous Florida adventure, (The Happy Hollisters at Circus Island), this time around, the Hollisters visit actual locations on the east coast of the Sunshine State!  Author Andrew Svenson (a/k/a "Jerry West") reveals in a letter written to a fan back in 1961 that he made a special trip down to Cape Canaveral (back before the name was changed to Cape Kennedy for a period of time) to do research for the book.  And interestingly enough, when the name changed from Cape Canaveral to Cape Kennedy, Svenson revised the text for the story to reflect the name change (meaning, for the die-hard collectors out there, there are two versions of this particular book to be found!).  Living not far from the Kennedy Space Center, I was eager to see what this mystery had in store.

The Happy Hollisters and the Missile Town Mystery takes the Hollister children and their mother down to Florida to visit Mrs. Hollister's sister, Carol Davis, and her family at Cape Kennedy (for the sake of consistency, I'll simply refer to Cape Kennedy, since the latter versions of the book used this name).  Mr. Hollister has work that prevents him from making the trip, but there's no need to worry - Aunt Carol's husband, Uncle Walt Davis, provides a steady male father-figure throughout the story, and he even works at Cape Kennedy, to boot!  The Hollisters are excited at the prospect of watching a rocket launch, but their first one turns into a disaster when the missile explodes shortly after take off - which leads the four older siblings on an adventure with their cousins, Randy and Sharon, to see if they can find any parts from the exploding missile which may have crashed along the coast, in the hopes that the scientists and engineers at Cape Kennedy can determine the cause of the explosion.  Plus, there's the three million dollar payload in the missile's cone that could potentially be out there somewhere in the ocean or along the coast, and the government is definitely anxious to recover that before someone else does!

This mystery is much more entailed and certainly provides considerable more danger to the children (although they are not necessarily aware of the danger).  A rundown shack on Cocoa Beach is home to a rough old man who makes it clear the kids are to stay away from there - but they begin to suspect something is wrong when a retired space monkey goes missing, and they ultimately find him coming out of that very shack!  There is also the trouble maker, Marshall Holt - who is very reminiscent of Joey Brill back in Shoreham! - who seems ready to cause trouble than for no other reason that he wants to show off.  When the children find clues that could lead to the discovery of the missing payload, they are put in grave danger - one of the villains sabotages Uncle Walt's car so that it runs off the road and crashes onto its side with Pete and Pam inside!  And the criminals have no issue with animal cruelty when they take the Davis family's small dog and just toss him overboard into the Atlantic, leaving the kids to scramble like crazy to get to the dog before he drowns!  Sure, the kids do seem to have a bit more freedom than children their age would normally have, and they definitely have some lucky coincidences in finding things the U.S. Government, with all of their technology and equipment could not find - but, c'mon, this is a children's mystery, after all, so there has to be a certain suspension of disbelief.

And although the first missile the Hollisters see take off explodes, they do have the chance to watch a launch from the beach, and Pete, Randy and Ricky even manage to get to see an underground launch from a restricted area after their boat runs out of gas near Cape Kennedy!  Speaking of which, Svenson uses a good amount of real locales for this book.  The Davis family resides in Cocoa (p. 28), which is situated on the Indian River (p. 28).  Later, the Hollisters are driven along the causeway, through Merritt Island, to read Cocoa Beach (p. 34), where they learn Cape Kennedy is on one end of the beach (p. 34), and Patrick Air Force Base is on the other end (p. 35).  The Hollisters also get glimpses of the Banana River (p. 94), which flows between Cape Kennedy and Merritt Island (p. 94).  And their visit to Port Canaveral, where they see the shrimp and snapper boats (p. 112) would probably make one think of the tropic port from which the castaways sailed in that old television show from the '60s (you know which one!).

Also, as with any good children's mystery, Svenson throws in some educational tidbits - such as how the city of Cocoa got its name (p. 52), as well as the meaning of Canaveral (p. 53) and why the name was changed from Cape Canaveral to Cape Kennedy (p. 53).  There's also explanations as to the firing of an underground rocket (p. 105), as well as how the fishing for shrimp (p. 113) and snapper (p. 147).  Thus, those who read the story will get an education as well as an enjoyable mystery.

In the recent hardcover reprints of the series, Svenson's grandson added some "extras" to the book, including family photographs, fan letters, newspaper articles, original outline and character pages, as well as some details as to where Svenson got his inspiration and information for the story.  It's fun to think that the author actually made a visit to Cape Canaveral and its surrounding area so that he could accurately portray the locales when writing the story - giving the mystery some realism to keep the story grounded.  It shows the care he took in crafting the series and how much he wanted to ensure his young readers were not only entertained, but also took away some knowledge after finishing the book.  You don't often find that kind of dedication in writers of children's series.

The Happy Hollisters are always great books to read, and this one especially so, since it is set so close to home!

RATING:  10 hidden message written in onion juice out of 10 for good, clean fun in the Florida sun with some missiles and mysteries, and even a monkey, too!

The Happy Hollisters at Circus Island (HH8)

I remember reading The Happy Hollisters series when I was in elementary school.  The school library was small, and the books they had from this series did not have dust jackets on them, so at the time, I never realized they did have the colorful jackets.  As an adult, I rediscovered the series, but quickly learned that finding the books with dust jackets in really good conditions was not only a difficult task, but it was also an expensive one!  Fortunately, the Svenson family (author Jerry West was in actuality Andrew Svenson, a one-time partner of the Stratemeyer Syndicate who wrote all 33 volumes of The Happy Hollisters series) began republishing the books, first in paperback format, then again in hardback format with extra features at the back of each book!  Information about the series, the author, and how to purchase the books can be found at their website, The Happy Hollisters.  I count myself super-fortunate to have not only met, but made friends with Svenson's grandson and namesake, Andrew Svenson III, and his wife Callie, and they only re-invigorated my love of this series!

The Happy Hollisters at Circus Island is the eighth book in the series, and I pulled it out recently to re-read after all these years.  It was like reading an all-new story for the first time (we won't talk about how many decades have passed since I originally read this book!).  It was so much fun getting re-acquainted with Pete,Pam, Ricky, Holly, and little Sue, as well as Mr. and Mrs. Hollister and their pet collie, Zip.  And of course, we can't forget that troublesome bully, Joey Brill.  Reading the story definitely brought back those wonderful childhood memories of reading wholesome stories of family, adventure, and mystery full of fun characters, not-so-nice villains, and a variety of locales.  In this particular book, the family heads down to Florida, as Mr. Hollister must look into purchasing a houseboat for one of his customers and he decides to take his family along for a vacation trip.  As it turns out, the houseboat is owned by a clown who owns the Sunshine Circus on "Circus Island."

Now, before you ask, no, there is no such place as Circus Island in Florida; there is, however, a Circus Museum located in Sarasota, Florida, which provides visitors with a look back at the history of how Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey grew into some of the most well-recognized and world-famous circuses (Circus Museum).  Svenson never clearly defined where the fictional Circus Island is in Florida, but he provides only the smallest of hints when Pete asks where the island is - "In a small lagoon near the ocean, about thirty miles from the airport" his father tells him (p. 49).  Now, that removes the Sarasota museum from the picture, since that is on the Gulf side of the state, not the ocean side.  It also could not refer to Circus World theme park (owned, coincidentally, by Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus), which did not open until 1974, nearly 20 years after this book was published, and was located in Haines City, Florida, not near the ocean (Circus World).  While I could not find a place comparable to what is described in the book, interestingly enough, I did find a now-defunct corporation called "Circus Island LLC" that was formed in 2021, but dissolved just a year later.  Not really sure what its purpose was, but I find it amusing that the owner chose that particular name.

The mystery, while centered around the circus in Florida, involves some missing dogs and a ring of thieves who are specifically stealing dogs who can perform tricks.  Needless to say, the mystery ties into all of the performers who are leaving Peppo's circus to join a mysterious new circus, also in Florida.  Pete, Pam, Ricky, and Holly are determined to not only find the missing dogs, but also figure out why all of the performers are leaving Peppo's circus, when they find him to be jovial and his circus a lot of fun.  While the mystery is not overly complicated (this series is aimed at younger readers, remember), it does have its share of mishaps and somewhat dangerous adventures (Ricky and Holly get lost in the woods overnight; Pete and Ricky get kidnapped by the thieves; etc.).  And in the midst of it all, the kids do get the opportunity to find out what it is like to be a circus performer, as depicted on the cover art for the book, rendered beautifully by the series artist, Helen S. Hamilton (taken straight from page 114).

I did happen to notice some very unique references throughout the story that made me wonder if perhaps Mr. Svenson was not having a bit of fun while writing the mystery.  The name of Peppo the Clown's missing dog is Nappy (p. 84) ... and isn't it a funny coincidence that the name of the cover artist for quite a few of the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books, starting in 1953 (just two years prior to this book's publication).  And while the children are exploring the circus, they are taken into the tent of one of the performers, where "off in one corner stood an open brass-bound trunk" (p. 142).  Odd, since Nancy Drew solved a mystery surrounding a brass-bound trunk... And then, just a few pages later, Ricky and Holly see one of the dogs head "toward a grove of moss-covered trees" (p. 149).  How interesting, since Nancy Drew also solved a mystery involving a "moss-covered" mansion.  Definitely makes one wonder, doesn't it?

RATING:  9 stuffed toy terriers out of 10 for good, clean family fun and mystery that is truly a great all-ages read!