Empowering Bright & Gifted Children

 

Author: Victor Appleton

Interest Level: Lower Middle Grades (4-6)
ATOS Reading Levels: 4.8-5.7
AR Points: 4.0-5.0 each
Publisher Recommended Age: 8-12
Publisher: Simon Schuster/Aladdin
Book Type: Paperback
Pages: 169

 

 

Tom, Bud, and Yo are on the S.S. Nestor, a Swift Enterprises research vessel, to witness Mr. Swift testing his submersible, the Verne-1. Mr. Swift plans to use the Verne-1 to place a network of seismometers on the sea floor to detect underwater earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and other phenomena that might generate tidal waves on the ocean's surface.

 

But when an unexpected storm hits and the S.S. Nestor looses contact with the Verne-1, it's up to Tom to save his father.

 

 

Tom Swift is the young main character in five series of children's adventure novels which began in the early twentieth century and continues to the present. Each such series stars a hero named Tom Swift who is a genius inventor and whose breakthroughs in technology (especially transport technology) drive the plots of the novels, placing them in a genre sometimes called "invention fiction" or "Edisonade".

 

Computer developer Steve Wozniak has written that he grew up reading Tom Swift Jr. (second series of Tom Swift books), whom he regarded as the epitome of creative freedom, scientific knowledge, and the ability to find solutions to problems. For him Tom Swift also represented the potential rewards that invention might bring.

 

This fifth series of books is entitled "Tom Swift Young Inventor" written in 2006-2007. Many long-term fans of Tom Swift refer to this series as Tom Swift V (Tom Swift 5). The books in this series are written in first person narrative style, and children quickly identify with Tom as he proceeds with his adventures. There are currently 6 books published, 1 book written but not yet published ("Extraterrestrial Highway"), and 5 more books with ISBN numbers reserved for possible future publication, for a total of 11 (possible) books in the series.

 

 

Victor Appleton is a pseudonym used by the Stratemeyer Syndicate. The Stratemeyer Syndicate was the producer of a number of series for children and adults including the Nancy Drew mysteries, the Hardy Boys, the various Tom Swift series, the Bobbsey Twins and others. Edward Stratemeyer was the primary force behind the Stratemeyer Syndicate. After inventing, starting, and writing these famous series in the early twentieth century, the demands for more books in each of these series was so huge that his role became one of inventing the plot lines and editing the books, and other ghost writers actually wrote the books. Over 800 books were written in this manner.

 

Although the pseudonym "Victor Appleton" wrote many series of books, the most famous is the Tom Swift series of books. These are the Tom Swift series of books written by "Victor Appleton":

Ghostwriters of these books included Howard Roger Garis, John W. Duffield, W. Bert Foster, Debra Doyle with James D. Macdonald, F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre, Robert E. Vardeman, and Thomas M. Mitchell.

 

Edward Stratemeyer died in 1930, and the Stratemeyer Syndicate was continued by his heirs. The Syndicate had always gone to great lengths to hide its existence from the public. Ghostwriters were contractually obliged never to reveal their authorship.

 

However, in the late 1970s the Syndicate decided it was time for Nancy and the Hardys to go into paperback. The publishers of the hardcover versions sued, and the ensuing case let the world know, for the first time, that the Syndicate existed. Grosset & Dunlap lost the suit, and new titles were subsequently published from 1979 by Simon & Schuster. Many of the titles from the Syndicate series continue now to be published by Simon & Schuster.