Since 1960, boys and girls alike have enjoyed reading about
the adventures of Alvin Fernald and his Magnificent Brain. Whenever his brain clicks into action, a
glassy stare comes into Alvin’s eyes and not even his troublesome sister,
lovingly known as “The Pest”, can distract him from his work. Whether it’s creating the Foolproof Burglar
Alarm for his bedroom door or developing the Sure Shot Paper Slinger for
delivering newspapers from his bike, Alvin is always in search of another
marvelous invention. In this book, the
first in the series, a set of mysterious circumstances surrounding the Old
Huntley Place is all the inspiration that Alvin needs for his sleuthing.
The Alvin Fernald books were already modern classics when I
discovered them as a child, and although they might be slightly hard to find they
are actually still in print today! The
author, Clifford B. Hicks, also served as an editor for Popular Mechanics
magazine, so one neat feature of these books is that all of Alvin’s creations
are actually realistic! Based on the
descriptions in the stories, a tinkering reader can easily re-create some of
the inventions within. Mr. Hicks seemed
to know both the inner workings of machines, as well as young boys’ brains,
which makes these books such enduring stories today.
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