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Tom Swift Jr. #7
Tom Swift and His Diving Seacopter
Very RARE edition!! UNIQUE offer!! Don’t wait to be OWNER of this special piece of HISTORY!!!
214 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1956
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About the author
Victor Appleton II
128 books23 followerssee also Victor Appleton
The character of Tom Swift was conceived in 1910 by Edward Stratemeyer, founder of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, a book-packaging company. Stratemeyer invented the series to capitalize on the market for children's science adventure. The Syndicate's authors created the Tom Swift books by first preparing an outline with all the plot elements, followed by drafting and editing the detailed manuscript. The books were published under the house name of Victor Appleton. Edward Stratemeyer and Howard Garis wrote most of the volumes in the original series; Stratemeyer's daughter, Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, wrote the last three volumes. The first Tom Swift series ended in 1941.
In 1954, Harriet Adams created the Tom Swift, Jr., series, which was published under the name "Victor Appleton II". Most titles were outlined and plotted by Adams. The texts were written by various writers, among them William Dougherty, John Almquist, Richard Sklar, James Duncan Lawrence, Tom Mulvey and Richard McKenna. The Tom Swift, Jr., series ended in 1971.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Swift
The character of Tom Swift was conceived in 1910 by Edward Stratemeyer, founder of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, a book-packaging company. Stratemeyer invented the series to capitalize on the market for children's science adventure. The Syndicate's authors created the Tom Swift books by first preparing an outline with all the plot elements, followed by drafting and editing the detailed manuscript. The books were published under the house name of Victor Appleton. Edward Stratemeyer and Howard Garis wrote most of the volumes in the original series; Stratemeyer's daughter, Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, wrote the last three volumes. The first Tom Swift series ended in 1941.
In 1954, Harriet Adams created the Tom Swift, Jr., series, which was published under the name "Victor Appleton II". Most titles were outlined and plotted by Adams. The texts were written by various writers, among them William Dougherty, John Almquist, Richard Sklar, James Duncan Lawrence, Tom Mulvey and Richard McKenna. The Tom Swift, Jr., series ended in 1971.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Swift
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 23, 2023
Fun read. A trip back to my teenage years.
May 30, 2017
This is a Tom Swift Jr. story at its best with classic science fiction adventures spanning from the reaches of outer space to the ocean floor. It's a great story for young readers and fans of classic science fiction alike.
July 27, 2020
For the nostalgia of it. M
August 19, 2018
It seems appropriate to start this off with a Tom Swifty, though not my creation and not from the book:
---
I'm usually a completist when it comes to reading books, but in this case, my goal is to read a few random books that have accumulated on our shelves...and then add them back into the little free library book-o-sphere. I would read another Tom Swift (Jr. or Sr.) if it came along, but have too many other books to get through to shift over to that type of project.
The good: atom-age high adventure focused on science, broad cast of characters, more of a role for the female characters than I would have anticipated from a book from 1956 (though not a huge role--"We thought you might need a couple mascots, so we talked Tom into taking us along."), the folksy sayings and "whang-blazer" dishes* from the crazy chuckwagon cook nicknamed Chow.
*ham and peanut butter sandwich?!?
The terrible: The crazy chuckwagon cook nicknamed Chow has the most problematic scene. Tom Swift Jr. is a bit paternalistic when he interacts with locals in other countries...but he tries to meet them part-way, like finding a language that is closer to their language to try to communicate. But then there is Chow. Tom's friend Bud sees a carving in a market and he wants to buy it as a trinket for Tom's sister (aka Bud's girl). Bud doesn't succeed in buying it because it is really old (a priceless artifact) and the woman doesn't want to sell it. But Chow comes in to trade for it with sweet nothings and junk jewelry. ("Now here's somethin' a pretty gal like you kin use a lot more'n money!"//Holding the necklace up in place under her billowing double chin, he went on, "Jest look there! Ain't that gorgeous? 'Course they ain't near as beautiful as your eyes an' they don't sparkle half so bright, but they sure do look first-rate on you!"//The fat Indian woman blushed and smirked. "For you, Senhor, I cannot refuse. Here--take the piedra verde. In old days, the beautiful Amazon give this to the man she love best--just as I now give this to you.") Chow and Bud scuttle off with the artifact...and Bud asks Chow why he was carrying the junk jewelry with him. Chow replies: "You ought to know by now I never travel in Injun country without a few knickknacks fer trade goods." So basically, they swindle a priceless object from a native woman and then the object does not even play into the rest of the story....maybe in a future volume, but it's an ugly set-up for a story point that doesn't pay out in this volume.
A couple random bits:
--"You look happy," said Bud. "Is it that good?" // "Good enough to lick that rotor-blade problem or I'm an oyster!" Tom chuckled.
--"Well, I'll be a scootin' sky ghost!" exclaimed Bud admiringly.
"I fear the sea spray will rust the rotor blades," Tom said mistrustfully.Actually from the book: "Besides being extremely light and resisting corrosion by sea water, the metal would have to be stronger and tougher than any metal yet developed!"
---
I'm usually a completist when it comes to reading books, but in this case, my goal is to read a few random books that have accumulated on our shelves...and then add them back into the little free library book-o-sphere. I would read another Tom Swift (Jr. or Sr.) if it came along, but have too many other books to get through to shift over to that type of project.
The good: atom-age high adventure focused on science, broad cast of characters, more of a role for the female characters than I would have anticipated from a book from 1956 (though not a huge role--"We thought you might need a couple mascots, so we talked Tom into taking us along."), the folksy sayings and "whang-blazer" dishes* from the crazy chuckwagon cook nicknamed Chow.
*ham and peanut butter sandwich?!?
The terrible: The crazy chuckwagon cook nicknamed Chow has the most problematic scene. Tom Swift Jr. is a bit paternalistic when he interacts with locals in other countries...but he tries to meet them part-way, like finding a language that is closer to their language to try to communicate. But then there is Chow. Tom's friend Bud sees a carving in a market and he wants to buy it as a trinket for Tom's sister (aka Bud's girl). Bud doesn't succeed in buying it because it is really old (a priceless artifact) and the woman doesn't want to sell it. But Chow comes in to trade for it with sweet nothings and junk jewelry. ("Now here's somethin' a pretty gal like you kin use a lot more'n money!"//Holding the necklace up in place under her billowing double chin, he went on, "Jest look there! Ain't that gorgeous? 'Course they ain't near as beautiful as your eyes an' they don't sparkle half so bright, but they sure do look first-rate on you!"//The fat Indian woman blushed and smirked. "For you, Senhor, I cannot refuse. Here--take the piedra verde. In old days, the beautiful Amazon give this to the man she love best--just as I now give this to you.") Chow and Bud scuttle off with the artifact...and Bud asks Chow why he was carrying the junk jewelry with him. Chow replies: "You ought to know by now I never travel in Injun country without a few knickknacks fer trade goods." So basically, they swindle a priceless object from a native woman and then the object does not even play into the rest of the story....maybe in a future volume, but it's an ugly set-up for a story point that doesn't pay out in this volume.
A couple random bits:
--"You look happy," said Bud. "Is it that good?" // "Good enough to lick that rotor-blade problem or I'm an oyster!" Tom chuckled.
--"Well, I'll be a scootin' sky ghost!" exclaimed Bud admiringly.
December 24, 2025
In the last few weeks, I've read the first seven Tom Swift Jr. books, though I decided to log only the most recent here. I'm committed to disbanding the collection, but I'm glad I'll be rehoming them "read" rather than "unread." It makes my late father feel nearer, for one thing; these were his preteen happy place. And the storytelling is generally excellent. The spurts of technical jargon are a downer for me, and at times the lack of variety can be as well (a lot of the cases are security threats to Swift Enterprises projects). More is possible with the Hardy Boys (and Frank and Joe were more formative in my own childhood.) The books at least acknowledge that other scientists have every right to pursue similar new advancements--it's just often convenient to make them unscrupulous.
My favorite thing about this title is that the technical ideation felt more accessible to me and was used to problem-solve in real time. Emergency! Dire nautical peril!
My favorite thing about this title is that the technical ideation felt more accessible to me and was used to problem-solve in real time. Emergency! Dire nautical peril!
December 21, 2023
The Tom Swift series is one that I sought to collect for years, based on my childhood memories and the fact that I could never find them all when I was young.
Reading through the series, it is quite dated. The language is old, some of the stereotypes are old, and science has advanced so far past what the stories cover that they are not as enjoyable as they would have been in the 1950s and early to mid1960s, before the Space Race.
Overall, the science doesn't hold up and the space alien part doesn't really resonate. I have a great imagination, but this ongoing thing doesn't really work.
I think that 10-14 year olds would have a hard time reading and enjoying this book by today's standards.
Reading through the series, it is quite dated. The language is old, some of the stereotypes are old, and science has advanced so far past what the stories cover that they are not as enjoyable as they would have been in the 1950s and early to mid1960s, before the Space Race.
Overall, the science doesn't hold up and the space alien part doesn't really resonate. I have a great imagination, but this ongoing thing doesn't really work.
I think that 10-14 year olds would have a hard time reading and enjoying this book by today's standards.
December 23, 2024
This book was just as fun and just as formulaic as the series has been so far. In this installment Tom actually struggles with his invention not quite working as well as he hoped it would. That added some nice tension to the story.
June 28, 2015
The Tom Swift, Jr., books were a fun, upbeat, and interesting adventure series published for kids from 1954 to 1971 that promoted science, fair-play, patriotism, and team-work; they were good, positive books. The series served as a sequel to the original Tom Swift series that appeared from 1910 to the beginnings of World War II; Tom and his sister, Sandy, are the children of the first Tom and his wife, Mary Nestor; Tom's girlfriend Phyllis Newton is the daughter of Tom Sr.'s sidekick Ned Newton (now Uncle Ned to Tom and Sandy); the family home is still located in Shopton along Lake Carlopa, etc. It's nice that the continuity is preserved rather than just being over-written as happened to The Hardy Boys; in the first Tom Jr., book beings make contact that were first hinted at in the final real Tom Sr., book, Planet Stone, and throughout the series references to the history are made such as naming a device the Damonscope in honor of a character from the first series, Mr. Wakefield Damon. In addition to the Swifts and Newtons, Tom Jr. has his own sidekick, Bud Barclay, and there are several interesting supporting characters such as Phil Radnor, Harlan Ames (I wonder if Harlan Ellison was the inspiration for the name?), Hank Sterling, Miss Trent (who I don't believe ever had a first name), and especially Chow Winkler, Tom's cook, a former "Texas chuck-wagon" cook who was given to a variety of wild and unlikely expressions such as, "Well, brand my space biscuits!" The earlier books had nice covers, end-papers, and illustrations: Graham Kaye and Charles Brey provided the art for the first twenty-five volumes, followed by Edward Moretz, after which the artistic (as well as the literary) quality starting going downhill. Tom invented and built many fantastic inventions (but remember it was the '50s and '60s), and had many exciting adventures along with his friends and family. They faced off against saboteurs and spies and the evil Brungarians but their good spirits and hard work and can-do attitude always paid off in the end. The continuity didn't always hold logically from book to book, and looking back it's easy to pick apart one thing or another, but they were fun and fine books in their time. This seventh volume has another cool and colorful cover, quite fitting for an adventure that might have aliens and might find Atlantis and ranges from outer to inner space.
January 6, 2024
I’m making my way through several series, one here, one there while working in professional reading and other readings to satisfy my curiosity. I’ve been collecting the two Tom Swift series and as of this writing I have 25 of the 33 Jr books (1-24 & 29). This copy is one of the first printings, blue cloth cover, without a jacket.
Standard formula, invent something, enemy in the mix, multiple extreme dire circumstances that only Tom can think of a way out of. Another completely new alloy from concept to production and manufacturer to milling (propellers this time) in less than 24 hours. Throw in a completely new model in only a week or so of the titular invention that broke in one of those dire straits (atomic powered, of course). Now, accepting the science fiction is easy...it’s juvenile adventure from the pulp 1950s, but I’d expect a little better diligence on known zoology - piranha are “cannibal fish”? Freshwater sharks are “man eaters”? Still, James Duncan Lawrence who wrote this one and most of the rest was savvier than the other Appleton authors with respect to science. And it shows for the most part. He called a submarine’s propulsion by the correct term “screws”. And he inserted the appropriate Portuguese language when the boys and crew were off of Brazil. And... there is the requisite sexism and while the racism is reduced from the original series, still present. Example...a character trades with a native a “fake pearl necklace and several sparkling trinkets” for a valuable ancient figurine:
Aaaanyway... still fun stuff and I will continue my punctuated quest to read them all.
Standard formula, invent something, enemy in the mix, multiple extreme dire circumstances that only Tom can think of a way out of. Another completely new alloy from concept to production and manufacturer to milling (propellers this time) in less than 24 hours. Throw in a completely new model in only a week or so of the titular invention that broke in one of those dire straits (atomic powered, of course). Now, accepting the science fiction is easy...it’s juvenile adventure from the pulp 1950s, but I’d expect a little better diligence on known zoology - piranha are “cannibal fish”? Freshwater sharks are “man eaters”? Still, James Duncan Lawrence who wrote this one and most of the rest was savvier than the other Appleton authors with respect to science. And it shows for the most part. He called a submarine’s propulsion by the correct term “screws”. And he inserted the appropriate Portuguese language when the boys and crew were off of Brazil. And... there is the requisite sexism and while the racism is reduced from the original series, still present. Example...a character trades with a native a “fake pearl necklace and several sparkling trinkets” for a valuable ancient figurine:
Later, as the two North Americans hurried down the street, Bud asked with a grin, “How did you happen to have that junk in your pocket, Chow?”
The Texan replied smugly, “You ought to know by now I never travel in Injun country without a few knickknacks fer trade goods.”
Aaaanyway... still fun stuff and I will continue my punctuated quest to read them all.
May 22, 2015
A Tom Swift, Jr. I give five stars because I love the diving seacopter. It is so well realized that you just are sure it would really work. Undersea exploration has not really advanced much from the 60's so we can still dream. Of course, its atomic!
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October 22, 2016probably read some time in fall 1966
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