The Rocket's Shadow

After reading Harold Goodwin's The Real Book About Space Travel, I tracked down some of his Rick Brandt Science-Adventure books. Written under the pseudonym John Blaine, I can imagine this would have thrilled a post-WWII 1947 boy - yes, they were gender-binary in their targeting back then; girls had Nancy Drew and boys had the Hardy brothers. Ten years before Sputnik, the rocket to the moon in this tends more toward Swift's or Verne's imagination. Still, there are the elements of science that do make this a "Science-Adventure". One serendipitous to only me cross-over, Blaine/Goodwin had the teen character Rick fiddling with a Model-T ignition coil and some batteries to deliver an electric shock and Thomas Willeford's Steampunk Gear, show more Gadgets, and Gizmos: A Maker's Guide to Creating Modern Artifacts used one in one of his steampunk creations. Not to shock, but for it's geek value, of course!

Fun stuff I never read as a kid. I'll keep the series in mind for a diversion or three this year. show less