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The Happy Hollisters #22
The Happy Hollisters and the Secret of the Lucky Coins
Once Sue Hollister receives a "lucky penny" as a reward, the entire family takes up the fascinating hobby of coin collecting. Their interest in coins quickly mounts when, on a visit to their cousins, Teddy and Jean, the family car is buffeted by a small tornado. In the roots of a tree blown down by the twister, Pete finds an old metal box. In it is a rare Oak Tree shilling and on the coin -- the figure of a bird and the letters, t-r-e-a-s-u-r-e! Is there a real treasure, and if so, where is it hidden? As the Hollisters eagerly try to answer these puzzling questions, a famous coin collection is stolen from the Crestwood museum. The thief has left just one small clue that is overlooked by the police, but not by Pam. With two exciting mysteries to solve, the children turn to their new friend, the forester, whose extensive knowledge of trees helps them to decipher the message and locate both the stolen coins and the hidden treasure. Join the Happy Hollisters and share in the adventure and fun they have discovering the secret of the lucky coins.
184 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1963
109 people are currently reading
152 people want to read
About the author
Jerry West
92 books51 followersThe 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 assigned to Svenson 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 70 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.
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 70 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.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
March 15, 2020
A cute addition in the series.
April 13, 2021
The Happy Hollisters and The Secret of the Lucky Coins by Jerry West
Love this story because it is about the family encasing a new hobby: coin collecting. I used to collect stamps so understand the enthusiasm.
They are able to travel back to their home town and stay at the relatives, but a tornado gets in the way and so does Joey who's visiting with relatives for a week.
He causes so much mayhem! Love that they also are treated to the knowledge of the local tree forester expert and so much about that is new to me.
Love clues as they help lead to the things going wrong in that town while they are there. A theft occurs while they are at the bank and they also find clues about that case as well.
Love the sketches.
Love this story because it is about the family encasing a new hobby: coin collecting. I used to collect stamps so understand the enthusiasm.
They are able to travel back to their home town and stay at the relatives, but a tornado gets in the way and so does Joey who's visiting with relatives for a week.
He causes so much mayhem! Love that they also are treated to the knowledge of the local tree forester expert and so much about that is new to me.
Love clues as they help lead to the things going wrong in that town while they are there. A theft occurs while they are at the bank and they also find clues about that case as well.
Love the sketches.
June 30, 2020
Cute younger kids' mystery book! The main characters are between 8-11 years old. I picked this up only because I am currently reading through all of my free ebooks that I obtained over the last year, seeing if any of them are worth keeping.
It's a harmless book and probably good for kids between the ages of the main characters, and there is no blood or anything scary.
Content:
Language--gee
Sexy Stuff/Romance--N/A
Violence--Joey is a bully who tries being mean to the main characters several times
It's a harmless book and probably good for kids between the ages of the main characters, and there is no blood or anything scary.
Content:
Language--gee
Sexy Stuff/Romance--N/A
Violence--Joey is a bully who tries being mean to the main characters several times
January 14, 2021
Crickets! This series is so popular with my 9 year old! We finish one and I have to time her to see how long it takes her to put that one back and get the new one out. She did notice that the word burst was used a lot in this book (or maybe she has just seen it in a ton of contexts since it was a vocabulary word) and it did prompt the discussion of older books containing a wider range of vocabulary. The characters are of the age that interest her but the reading level is a little higher than she can handle independently for any length of time yet.
November 22, 2018
The Holisters, win again
This is a fantastic series. I read it with my Grandkids and enjoy every minute of it, and they do too.
Here the Holisters recover some very valuable coins and make friends with Fishy Lucas, adding him to their long list of friends.
This is a fantastic series. I read it with my Grandkids and enjoy every minute of it, and they do too.
Here the Holisters recover some very valuable coins and make friends with Fishy Lucas, adding him to their long list of friends.
November 26, 2018
Fun and Entertaining
My girls, who are 9 and 8 years old, enjoyed this story. They are ready to be detectives themselves and solve a mystery.
My girls, who are 9 and 8 years old, enjoyed this story. They are ready to be detectives themselves and solve a mystery.
March 24, 2016
Los Hollister es la serie de libros que me inició definitivamente en la lectura. Recuerdo haber leído el primero y, con todo el dinero que había ahorrado por mi primera comunión y en todos los años anteriores, ir a por los 32 restantes, que costaban 600 pelas cada uno. Los compré todos en la feria del libro de Ceuta, lo recuerdo perfectamente, y volví a mi casa con dos bolsas y una mochila llenas de libros, que me duraron tres meses exactamente, para sorpresa/preocupación de mi madre.
Cada libro es el mismo, con aventuras algo diferentes, y con los mismo personajes, que no evolucionan nada en toda la serie. Pete, Pam, Holly, Ricky, Sue, puedo recitar sus nombres treinta años después sin consultarlo. Yo siempre fui de los Hollister, despreciando a quieres eran de los siete secretos, los Cinco o (puaj) Puck.
Junto a Mortadelo, los tres investigadores de Alfred Hitchcock y (a petición de mi padre) las aventuras de Guillermo, comenzaron a formar mi universo lector. Y por ello, aunque sean libros de lo más intrascendente, los considero fundamentales.
Cada libro es el mismo, con aventuras algo diferentes, y con los mismo personajes, que no evolucionan nada en toda la serie. Pete, Pam, Holly, Ricky, Sue, puedo recitar sus nombres treinta años después sin consultarlo. Yo siempre fui de los Hollister, despreciando a quieres eran de los siete secretos, los Cinco o (puaj) Puck.
Junto a Mortadelo, los tres investigadores de Alfred Hitchcock y (a petición de mi padre) las aventuras de Guillermo, comenzaron a formar mi universo lector. Y por ello, aunque sean libros de lo más intrascendente, los considero fundamentales.
November 29, 2018
My second Happy Hollisters book I have read today. I think I read it as a child, but I don't really remember it. Some spots seemed familiar, But a lot of these books have similar situations. I did enjoy this one too. Reading these books again is like reconnecting with an old friend.
December 4, 2015
A fun story from the past. It's neat to see what direction writing has taken since the time of this children's series.
Jessi Lohman
Author
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B011Q3Q...
Jessi Lohman
Author
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B011Q3Q...
May 14, 2017
Can't wait to read it to my third grade class. I predict coin collecting and detective activities will ensue. Fun and easy read.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews