Alvin's Swap Shop

Alvin Fernald #6

by Clifford B. Hicks

The Magnificent Brain's neighborhood trade and collection center attracts a runaway who leads Alvin and his friends into a new mystery

Genres: Childrens

143 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1976

About the author

Hicks was born in Marshalltown, Iowa in 1920. He graduated cum laude from Northwestern University, then served as a U.S. Marine during World War II, earning the Silver Star. In 1945, he joined the staff of Popular Mechanics magazine, and became a special projects editor in 1963. He wrote the magazine's Do-It-Yourself Materials Guide and edited the Do-It-Yourself Encyclopedia.

In 1959, Hicks penned his first children's book, First Boy on the Moon, which was dubbed Best Juvenile Book of the Year by the Friends of American Writers. The next year, he wrote The Marvelous Inventions of Alvin Fernald, the first of a series of books about a boy who relies on his "Magnificent Brain" to solve problems. The books inspired a pair of two-part Disney television movies: The Whiz Kid and the Mystery at Riverton (1974), and The Whiz Kid and the Carnival Caper (1976).

Hicks wrote one non-fiction children's book, The World Above (1965), which discusses the Earth's atmosphere and the universe beyond. In 1971, he began the Peter Potts series, which follows the misadventures of a small town boy who often gets into trouble "by accident". Hicks also wrote a two-act play, Alvin Fernald, Mayor for a Day (1992), which was based on one of his Alvin Fernald books.

On September 29, 2010, Hicks died at his home in Brevard, North Carolina at the age of 90.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliffor...

Reviews

[Mark Vertin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This concludes my adventure reading the Alvin Fernald series which I started in 1967. Clifford B. Hicks is a wonderful writer introducing principles of science, business, and criminology as he tells of the mystery solving activities of Alvin Fernald. This book tells of the summertime efforts of Alvin, his sister Daphne (The Pest), and his athletic best friend Shoie to trade and barter their way to stocking their swap shop where they encounter a book-loving runaway, a murderer, and a mysterious treasure. As always, it is bittersweet to get to the end of a book in this series and even more so to get to the end of the series (which wasn't read in order.) FYI - Disney made two TV specials around Alvin Fernald.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remembered this book from when I was a child and found it on thriftbooks. It was everything I remembered! Written in 1976 but the story held up pretty well. A little fantastical but come on, it’s for kids. The simple illustrations gave me a good laugh too!

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alvin Fernald starts a swap shop (beginning with a 'trained' ant) and ends up solving a mystery related to a sunken ship.

I don't remember if I read this volume of Alvin's stories as a kid. This was the weakest one in the series so far. These books are great when the focus remains on Alvin, Shoie, and his sister, The Pest. This one includes too much of Pym, a kid fleeing from a bad guy, and it's too over the top. If you want to read one of these sweet, heartening kid's books, go with "The Marvelous Inventions of Alvin Fernald" instead.

[Cyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alvin and his Magnificent Brain, plus Shoie and the Pest, save the day again.

[Luan On · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fun nostalgic read about a trio of 80's kids lead by the entrepreneurial Alvin who build a swap shop starting from an ant. Some of the swaps are just a little too convenient but it's fun nonetheless. How the kids come to befriend and help the hunted Pim, an islander stowaway who's being pursued by the evil Scarface, forms the crux of the latter half of the book.

[Tressa · Rating 5 out of 5]

While thrifting tonight, I found a book I haven't thought about since I was a child—Mishmash and the Venus Fly Trap, which made me think of Alvin's Swap Shop. This is a great little book about a laid back teen boy who gets involved in a mystery and solves it.

[Dan McSweeney]

Great childhood book from about 5th grade.

[Andréa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun vintage kids' mystery in the vein of Encyclopedia Brown or the Three Investigators