This study examines the contents, themes, and publishing histories of juvenile literature. Subjects range from Louisa May Alcott to Nancy Drew's home town, including Tom Swift (and his girlfriend), Dave Fearless, the Bobbsey Twins, Howard R. Garis, the Louisa May Alcott/Oliver Optic feud, Leo Edwards, Harry Collingwood, Edward Stratemeyer, the Rover Boys, Franklin Mathiews and Boy Scout Censorship, and Percy Keese Fitzhugh. This factual but humorous approach leans on the best scholarship in the field. It includes many illustrations to detail the publishing histories of these individual books and series, which often read like sophisticated pieces of detective work. With color illustrations.