Back in hardcover format after a 50-year absence -- now with bonus special pages!
The Happy Hollisters on a River Trip (Volume #2 in the Happy Hollisters series)
A big fish contest at the Trading Post, the Hollisters' sporting goods store, has everybody in Shoreham competing. After Pete catches a Clown fish with a mysterious tag on its tail, another adventure begins for the eager young detectives. When the children's playmate, Bobby Reed, disappears in a leaky old boat, the whole family helps in the search.
Uncle Russ lends them his speedy cabin-cruiser, and they set off on a trip far down the winding river. After helping some hikers on shore,
Pete, Pam and Mr. Hollister get lost in the fog on their way back to their boat, the Sweetie Pie. Pam's borrowed compass and Pete's guiding voice help them find their way.
A series of surprise discoveries lead the Hollisters on a hunt for Bobby on shore. Other adventures provide good times along the way. But there are false clues and disappointments before the Hollisters find Bobby, solve the mystery of the tagged fish, and bring happiness to an old man, Bobby and his mother.
The Hollister family come alive in seventy action-packed illustrations so that readers have a feeling of really sharing in the lively adventures and good times of this lovable and interesting family.
First published in 1953, this charming mystery-adventure story, faithfully reproduced, is available in hardcover format again after a 50-year absence! Written for boys and girls between the ages of six and twelve, The Happy Hollisters are wholesome books, with an accent on humor and good, clean fun. Integrity always pays off and right wins over wrong. This is a perfect gift for the young reader in your life. Parents, grandparents, and teachers love these books for their healthy celebration of life in simpler times. Kids are thrilled with the fast-paced action and will not want to put them down. Over seventy action-packed illustrations make the story - and the Hollister family - so vivid that the reader has a feeling of really sharing in on the adventures of this lovable and interesting family.
Hardcover (8.75¿ x 5.75¿); 195 pages with over 70 illustrations and 8 bonus pages.

The Happy Hollisters by Jerry West was actually written by Andrew E. Svenson, a prolific yet somewhat anonymous, writer of books for children. Jerry West was the pen name Svenson used when he started writing The Happy Hollisters for the Stratemeyer Syndicate. The Stratemeyer Syndicate was a book packager, well-known for its development of children's book series including Tom Swift, The Bobbsey Twins, The Hardy Boys, and Nancy Drew. Many of these series were intended to have long publishing lives, and were written by multiple authors using the same pseudonym. The Happy Hollisters, however, were all written by Andrew Svenson, whose identity as Jerry West was kept secret until several years after his death in 1975. Andrew Svenson was born in Belleville, NJ, in 1910, and his interest in writing started early. He was editor of his high school newspaper and yearbook at Barringer High School in Newark, and then went on to study Creative Writing at the University of Pittsburgh. After his graduation in 1932, he worked as a reporter and editor for the Newark Star Eagle and the Newark Evening News. He also taught creative writing courses at Rutgers University and Upsala College. Andrew Svenson was encouraged by his friend Howard Garis (author of Uncle Wiggily) to try his hand at juvenile fiction. He joined the Stratemeyer Syndicate as a writer in 1948, where he contributed to established series as Franklin W. Dixon (The Hardy Boys) and as Laura Lee Hope (The Bobbsey Twins). The first volume in his own original series, The Happy Hollisters, was published in 1953 by Doubleday & Company, and he was made a partner in the Stratemeyer Syndicate in 1961. As he wrote and developed 33 titles in The Happy Hollisters, he was also creating additional series for children under other pen names: Bret King by Dan Scott and The Tollivers by Alan Stone, one of the first series written about and for African-American children. Under various pseudonyms, Andrew Svenson wrote more than 80 adventure and mystery novels for children, which were published in 17 languages and sold millions of copies. The Hollister family was modeled on his own family and he often used actual Svenson family events and travels as the foundation for The Happy Hollisters books. He also kept copious newspaper clippings for story ideas, and interviewed hundreds of school children and teachers for additional suggestions. These ideas were then worked into his storylines, adding an educational element that was appreciated by parents and educators alike. The children loved the stories for their elements of danger and excitement geared to their comprehension level. After his death in 1975, the Stratemeyer Syndicate assigned all rights to The Happy Hollisters to his widow, Marian Svenson; they subsequently became the property of The Hollister Family Properties Trust. The current publication was initiated by Andrew E. Svenson III, grandson of the author, on behalf of The Hollister Family Properties Trust.