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.

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.Īndrew Svenson was born in Belleville, NJ, in 1910, and his interest in writing started early. Many of these series were intended to have long publishing lives, and were written by multiple authors using the same pseudonym. 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. Jerry West was the pen name assigned to Svenson when he started writing The Happy Hollisters for the Stratemeyer Syndicate. Svenson, a prolific yet somewhat anonymous, writer of books for children.

The Happy Hollisters by Jerry West was actually written by Andrew E. The Hollisters do their special sleuthing in a new setting and enjoy another fascinating mystery-adventure. It involved them in a wild chase and a thrilling boat ride down the Rhine. Then it became a race against a band of desperate thieves to find a valuable golden cuckoo clock which had been stolen from a German museum. Just as the family prepared to board the jet for Europe, someone snatched the damaged clock from Ricky! When the children visited the famous old wood carver in the Black Forest town of Triberg, they began to untangle the riddle in the message. Now the children could find the wood carver who had made the cuckoo clock and ask him what the puzzling message meant. Hollister announced that the whole family - Pete, Pam, Holly, Ricky and little Sue - were going to Germany to buy toys for their shop, The Trading Post. The message was a riddle that made little sense to them - but it was the first clue in a brand new mystery. When the note was translated, the Hollister children were jubilant.

Pete Hollister found it hidden in the door of a broken cuckoo clock. As the Hollisters explore their new town and make friends, they discover what happened to the moving. Even Zip, the collie, and White Nose, the cat, are part of the family, and find thrilling adventures of their own. Each one of the Hollister children - Pete (age 12), Pam (10), Ricky (7), Holly (6) and Sue (4) - plays an important role in finding clues, along with their parents who are always ready to join in on the excitement. Next, they learn that their house may be haunted, with a treasure hidden somewhere inside! Right away they all set out to solve these mysteries. First, the moving van carrying their toys and their father's important new invention disappears.

The adventures for the Hollisters begin as soon as they move into their new house on the shore on Pine Lake in Shoreham. Front has children in circle in black ink.

The happy hollisters by jerry west