Exploring Series Books in Florida, Part 1 - the Space Coast

After our fun-filled exploration of Cooperstown, New York (The Secret of Mirror Bay), my friend, Pam, and I decided it would be fun to take a look at some books set in my home state of Florida and, if we found any real locations referenced in the books, to take some time out and explore those places!  Well, we quickly discovered that there are quite a number of books set in Florida - from Betty Gordon to the Bobbsey Twins; from Connie Blair to the Happy Hollisters; from the Moving Picture Girls to Nan Sherwood; from the Outdoor Girls to Vicki Barr; from the Hardy Boys to Nancy Drew; and quite a few others.  We were astounded by how many young sleuths made their way to the Sunshine State for adventure and mystery, and we could not wait to delve into these books and see just what actual places we would find in our reading!

 

Once we started reading the various books, we quickly realized the best way to do this was to group the books by location, so that we could explore one location at a time.  Pam made plans to come down last autumn for our first excursion, planned for Tampa; but our plans got rather sidetracked by that pesky Hurricane Milton! However, we were not waylaid; rather, we simply altered our objective(which, as we learned later, turned out for the best!) and started with a different location - in this instance, we headed over to the East Coast instead of the West Coast and visited some locations that the Hardy Boys, the Happy Hollisters, and Nancy Drew visited in some of their mysteries.

 

The Happy Hollisters and the Missile Town Mystery, first published in 1961, was the first of our books to feature the Space Coast, as it is referred to here in Florida.  In this book, the Hollister family visits their friends, the Davis family, who reside in the town of Cocoa (p. 28), and they make visits to Merritt Island and Cocoa Beach, where Cape Kennedy a/k/a Cape Canaveral is located on one end of the beach (p. 34).  The book even discusses Banana River, which runs between the Cape and the town of Merritt Island (p. 94).  We drove through these towns and along the river as we made out way down the coast.  We visited Cape Canaveral, just like the Hollisters, who learned that "Canaveral" meant "canebrake" in Spanish, referring to the sugar cane that was raised in the area (p. 53).  It is likely the Cape looked considerably different back in the early 1960s compared to today, but the location of the Space Center remains the same.

 

The Hollisters also visited Patrick Air Force Base, located at the other end of the beach (p. 35).  Pam and I drove down the causeway, hoping to have an opportunity to visit the base, and we had a bit of difficulty getting in, as the entrance is some bit before the actual base itself.  Also, something that threw us off a bit is the fact that the air force based has since been rename - it is now called U.S. Space Force: Patrick Space Force Base!  Which just goes to show just how far we have come since the 1960s!  Unfortunately, due to security concerns these days, casual visitors are not allowed onto the base, so we were not able to get beyond the welcome center (although I think the servicemen at the desk were taken aback by the idea that the base actually appeared in children's mystery books!).

 

Following the trail of the Hollisters, our next stop was Cocoa Beach itself.  In the book, the Hollister children comb the beach, hoping to find some part of the missile that exploded just after take-off (pp. 35-37, etc).  Pam and I did not necessarily search for parts of a missile, but we did search for shells and enjoyed the cool breeze coming in off the Atlantic Ocean!

 

 

It is easy to see why the Hollisters had so much fun while in Florida - they got to enjoy the sunny beach, they got to experience the excitement of a missile launch at Cape Kennedy a/k/a Cape Canaveral, and they were able to experience what life is like for those who live here.  While Jerry West (Andrew Svenson) did embellish the story, including some fictional locations and events, he did include enough real locations that we were able to follow in the family's footsteps.  Sadly, time did not permit us the opportunity to go to the port and see about fishing for shrimp (p. 113) or snapper (p. 147) - perhaps another time!

 

Moving right along, we look at the next book on our list, which is Nancy Drew's eighteenth mystery,

Mystery of the Moss-Covered Mansion (revised text), which was published in 1971, just ten years after the Happy Hollisters book. In the revised text of this book, the story for which was completely different from the original, Kennedy Space Center plays a central part of the mystery.  Therefore, since Pam and I were already there, we decided to make the most of it!

 

 

 

Nancy and her friends start off at the Visitor's Information Center Op. 30), and so Pam and I began our adventure there, taking note of the mock-ups of missile and rockets (p. 30). Inside the Information Center, there were plenty of toy rockets, mock space candy, and books about the Center and the history of man's reaching for the stars.

 

The next stop was the Vehicle Assembly Building, which George called "a real skyscraper" (p. 32).  There can be no doubt she was correct in her description, as Pam and I had to look way up to see the top of that building, which is a whopping 52 stories high! We would have loved to have gone inside and explored a bit, but unfortunately, time simply did not permit that day (remember, we were doing all of this right before a hurricane was going to cross the state, so there was not a lot that was open!).

 

At the end of Moss-Covered Mansion, Nancy and her friend were fortunate enough to countdown to the launch of a rocket (pp. 175-76); while we did get to see a huge countdown clock, unfortunately it was not connected to any actual launch that day (I can't begin to imagine them trying to launch a rocket right before a hurricane!). 

For the next book on our journey, we had to jump ahead twelve years to 1983, with the publication of The Hardy Boys No. 79, Sky Sabotage.  In this book, Frank and Joe do quite a bit of traveling around Central Florida, from Orlando over to the Space Coast, then back inland, then down to south Orlando, and back to the Space Coast.  While the timing of all that travel is quite a bit off (trust me I've driven those distances, and there is no way those Hardy Boys could have made it in the times they did!).

 

This book only contained a few real references, the first being the boys' arrival into Florida at the Orlando International Airport.  This is the same airport into which Pam flew down from Canada, and I can promise you that the OIA (as it is referred to here in Central Florida) is quite a bit different and much, MUCH larger than it was back in 1983.  It is doubtful the boys would have had as much difficulty as travelers today have in navigating the terminals.

 

In their travels throughout the book, the brothers make a stop at the police headquarters in Melbourne (p. 76), a city that is south of Cape Canaveral and Patrick Space Force Base (but still located in the same county).  In our own travels, we learned that the City of Melbourne has built a new headquarters since then, so the police station there now would not have been the one the Hardy Boys visited during their trip.

 

Probably the biggest nod to a real location in the book is when the boys pay a visit to "Fantasieworld" theme park (pp. 104, 107, and 108), in which they see rides such as "Outer Space Planet," "Deep Sea Submarine Ride," "Bear Dance," Island Pirates," and "Haunted House" - all of which are obvious takes on Walt Disney World and its famous rides, Space Mountain, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Country Bear Jamboree, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Haunted Mansion.  We did not go inside of Disney (do you have any idea the cost of tickets these days?  egads!), but we did find it amusing how conspicuous the ghostwriter made the names of those rides.

 

Now, for the last book on this jaunt, we only had to jump ahead two years, to 1985, when the Hardy Boys once again visited Florida in The Skyfire Puzzle (which was originally going to be titled The Mystery of the Space Shuttle).  This book finds the brothers experiencing way more of Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral than we ever could, since they were not only able to explore a lot of secure areas, but they actually get to go up into space in a shuttle!  I do not think either Pam or I was ready for that!

 

 

 

Since the boys were invited to parts of Cape Canaveral that is only open to employees, Pam and I thought we would try and sneak a peak at one of those "crew member" only areas.  We got to take a peak through the fence before a very nice employee led us away and to the actual guest entrance.  

 

In the book, the Hardys were able to tour " detailed mock-up of the shuttle" (p. 84), as well as visit the Vehicle Assembly Building (p. 86).  As indicated above, we did not get to see the inside of the Vehicle Assembly Building, but we did get to see a number of missiles on display at the Space Center.

 

And last, but not least, we did pass by the same Mosquito Lagoon that Frank and Joe saw in the book (p. 26) as they were making their way to Kennedy Space Center.  We learned that this lagoon is one of the least developed regions along the East Coast of Florida and it actually has a population of bottlenose dolphins that take up residence there.  We were not lucky enough to see any of those dolphins as we passed by the lagoon.  Kennedy Space Center, along with the cities of New Smyrna Beach and Edgewater, adjoin the lagoon.

 

Pam and I had a grand time exploring the Space Coast region, searching out the locations that the Hollisters, Nancy, Frank, and Joe visited in their books.  We know that Andrew Svenson actually visited the area prior to his writing of the Happy Hollisters story, which is why that book has the most accurate depictions of the area (at the time). Harriet Stratemeyer Adams is credited for writing the revised Nancy Drew book, and Neal Barrett, Jr. is said to have written The Skyfire Puzzle for the Hardy Boys.  Both of those books have at least some semblance of real locations within the stories.  The other Hardy Boys mystery, however, has very few real locations referenced, and I was unable to find the identity of the ghostwriter - leading one to believe that the writer may not have had a much knowledge of Central Florida and the Space Coast as the others did.

 

Having now toured the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, and its surrounding areas for these four books, we wondered where our next adventure (after the hurricane passed through!) would take us...

 

COMING SOON:  Exploring Series Books in Florida - Part 2 (St. Augustine)!

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 Hardy Boys: The Skyfire Puzzle (Hardy Boys Mystery Stories # 85)

I figured it was about time to change things up a bit with the vintage children's series books that I read, and I thought I might take a look at some books set in Florida - starting with one of the Hardy Boys Mystery Stories.  Now, anyone who knows me knows that I have never really been a fan of the Hardy Boys.  Growing up, I preferred Nancy Drew because I felt her books were more mystery and the Hardy Boys' books were more adventure - and I loved the mystery.  Yes, I have read and fairly enjoyed the most recent iteration of the Hardy Boys (Hardy Boys Adventures); but they are a far cry from the original books.  However, if I was going to choose a Hardy Boys to read, I guess one set in my own home state would be a good one to choose - at least, so I thought.

The Skyfire Puzzle was published in 1985 by Simon & Schuster, and was the last Hardy Boys book published before the series was put on hiatus for two-and-a-half years so that S&S could start up the new Hardy Boys Case Files aimed at an older audience.  Written by Neal Barrett, Jr. (who apparently also wrote book 83, The Swamp Monster), the book is definitely a precursor to that Case Files series, as it features some much more adult themes and violence.  The Hardys are bit more intense in this story, they have a lot more high-tech equipment, and there is a level of romance, similar to what I saw in the wo Nancy Drew books that were published at the same time.  

The story actually opens similar to the first reboot series, The Hardy Boys: Undercover Brothers - the boys are smack-dab in the middle of an adventure, and the reader is thrown into the middle of it.  In this instance, Frank and Joe are with their father and Chet in the Georgia swamps, trying to capture some corporate criminals; but these criminals mean business, and they turn the tables on the young detectives, going after them with machine guns and trying to run them down with their cruiser.  It is not until they get back to their hotel that the boys (and the readers!) are introduced to the real mystery.  Harry Stone, head of NASA security at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida (p. 21) has tracked them down, as he needs the Hardys' help.  The upcoming launch of the shuttle, Skyfire, is being plagued with trouble, and Stone's capabilities as head of security is being questioned.  The shuttle is set to launch the very expensive Longeye telescope satellite into space, and if the launch doesn't go off, or worse, if something truly disastrous happens, it could result in a huge financial loss to the company financing it all. Enter: Nat Cramer and Pete McConnel - Cramer is the project specialist for the company that developed the telescope, and McConnel is his own personal security agent.  They are supposed to be working hand-in-hand with Stone, but at every turn, it seems all evidence is pointing to Stone's inability to prevent the sabotage, and McConnel is only too happy to point that out.

The mystery itself is not really that difficult to figure out, even though the author does try to mislead the reader by having Stone, as well as Stone's assistant Lew Gorman, framed for a lot of the problems that are plaguing the shuttle launch.  There is even the red herring of an international agent who is spotted on the scene.  Ultimately, Frank and Joe are invited to go up in the shuttle when a few of the civilians intended to go back out at the last minute (how fortunate for the Hardys, eh?).  It is rather unrealistic how quickly they are "trained" in how to adapt to a space mission like this, although there is a somewhat suspenseful scene when Joe is trapped in a centrifugal force module that is accelerating beyond what a normal body can take (p. 58).  In the big finale, Frank actually has to take a spacewalk in order to confront the villain and get him to confess to what is really going on here.  The last chapter is basically nine pages of dialogue as Frank and Joe give an overly detailed explanation of the villains' plans, how they pulled off what they did, and their ultimate goals in their criminal activity.  

I was hoping there would be more details of Florida and Kennedy Space Center in the book than what there was.  There is a quick mention of Mosquito Lagoon as they drive past it (p. 26) - the lagoon is a part of the Canaveral National Seashore.  As far as the Space Center itself, the boys visit the NASA centrifuge lab (p. 50), tour a detailed mock-up of the shuttle (p. 84), and see the Vehicle Assembly Building (p. 86); but otherwise, there are no accurate descriptions or details about the facility itself, raising questions as to whether the author had actually ever been there or was simply writing the story based on general information gleaned about the Center from research.  The boys do visit a restaurant called "Champs Elysees," named after a famous boulevard in Paris, but there is no real restaurant by that name in Florida; the only French restaurant in the area is Cafe Margaux, which does not match the description of the restaurant in the book.

There are a few interesting tidbits I picked up on while reading the book.  Early in the story, Joe is using a remote controlled airplane to try and spy, and the plane is called Blackhawk.  I smiled at this reference, as the Blackhawks are a team of World War II pilots from Quality Comics, and later DC Comics.  I also thought it odd they indicate Joe's weight as 155 pounds (p. 54).  I'm not sure if I've ever read a Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys book where any of the characters' weight is specifically given.  Finally, one of the astronauts on the plane is named Brett Hilton (p. 133).  The second I saw that name, my mind immediately went to Bret King and Chip Hilton, two series books characters, and I wondered if the author was merely giving a quick nod to the two mostly forgotten names.

 

The book was originally published by Simon & Schuster under the Wanderer imprint, with cover art by Richard Williams.  This book, and the previous one, were the first two to feature the "checkerboard" cover format that lasted for a number of volumes.  This particular cover shows Frank and Joe in the shuttle, apparently when they were using the shuttle's computer to try and gain information about the criminals.  When Simon & Schuster moved away from the Wanderer imprint, the book was re-published with later printings under the Minstrel imprint with new cover art by Paul Bachem.  This second cover art features Joe working the controls, while Frank is outside in space, taken somewhat from the climactic scenes when Frank goes out to confront the villain.  I was fortunate enough a few years back to purchase the original cover art by Bachem, and it's interesting to note the original art has the artist's signature, but when Simon & Schuster used the art, they removed the signature on the actual cover of the book.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the character of Harry Stone.  When he first appears in the story, the author is quick to point out that the Hardys had already met Mr. Stone previously when they assisted him in a previous mystery, Sky Sabotage.  That was only six books previous to this one, being published just two years prior in 1983.  I did not even realize there was another Hardy Boys book set at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and particularly one so close to this one.  I will admit I took a quick run through of that book, and the Florida references are not only more vague than this book, but they are also erroneous in their distance from one place to the other.  In that book, the boys follow a suspect from Kennedy Space Center to Gainesville and then on to "Fantasieworld" (an obvious pseudonym for Disney World) with a chase that only takes them a few hours round trip.  This is wholly unrealistic, as it would take more than two hours from KSC to Gainesville, and then another hour and a half from Gainesville to Disney - and that same amount of time to get back!  I did chuckle, though, at there references to a number of things within the amusement park:  the Outer Space Planet (a/k/a Space Mountain); the Deep Sea Submarine Ride (a/k/a 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea); the Bear Dance (a/k/a the Country Bear Jamboree); the Island Pirates boat ride (a/k/a the Pirates of the Caribbean); and the Haunted House (a/k/a the Haunted Mansion) (p. 107-08).  There is even discussion of the "network of underground tunnels" that the staff use (p. 108), although Disney employees I have known have confirmed it is not really under ground; rather, it is the first story, with the actual park built above it on the second story.  In any event, the book has the boys travel to Lake Okeechobee (p 158), with a brief reference to Stuart, Florida (p. 159), which is on the East Coast of Florida, just east of Lake Okeechobee.  As I only skimmed this book, I can't really say with any certainty whether I would have enjoyed it.

I suppose the fact that I am not a big Hardy Boys fan, my opinion of the book was probably tainted from the beginning.  Did I hate the story?  No, not at all.  Did I enjoy it?  There were moments that I thought were enjoyable.  But did I find it to be a good mystery with a lot of suspense?  I would have to say no.  As I said above, the villains are easy to spot from the moment they first appear, and all of the intense scenes of gunfire and sabotage are sort of dulled by the fact you know the Hardys and their friends are not going to be seriously hurt.  And, of course, I was really hoping for more details about Florida and Kennedy Space Center than what I got.  I guess this just reminds me why I'm not a big fan of the Hardy Boys.

RATING:  5 shiny disks filled with hallucinogenic crystals out of 10 for at least putting Florida and Kennedy Space Center somewhat in the spotlight for the world to read!