★★★★☆ Stories about boys who want to be scientists

The Mad Scientists' Club

Bertrand R. Brinley

I think I was 13 or 14 years old when I first read Bertrand R. Brinley's The Mad Scientists' Club. It quickly became one of my favorite books, and I reread it many times. (It helps that it's short.) It's in the tradition of books of stories about mischief-making boys, like Stalky & Co. These particular boys call themselves The Mad Scientists' Club, and the mischief they get up to usually involves high-tech (1960's incarnations) tricks like radio-controlled motors, etc. It's all very wholesome -- there aren't even any fart jokes (or if there are, I don't remember). The most risqué we get is loud burping.

And the stories are actually good. Each of the boys has a definite and distinct personality, and they do sometimes worthwhile and always fun things.

But, yeah, it's about boys. The only girl is one Daphne Muldoon, who is the sweetheart of one of the boys. (Gay relationships, you ask? In 1965? Don't you know that's illegal? Probably even more illegal to write about in a book intended for children than to do...) There was a market for boys' stories, and there was a market for girls' stories, and they were MILES apart. Girls could and did read the boys' stories, but at the cost of lack of representation. (The reverse, boys reading girls' books, was a much bigger taboo.)

I think the copy we had at home was the 1965 Scholastic paperback. A few days ago I was somehow reminded of it, so I thought I would get a copy and see if it was as good as I remembered. It is! This time I read it on kindle. This edition is based on a 40th Anniversary edition and has an Introduction by Sheridan Brinley, son of Bertrand Brinley. More interesting I discovered that there are three more Mad Scientists' Club books that I haven't read. I will certainly read some of these.

The Mad Scientists' Club on Amazon

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