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Heinlein juveniles

March 11, 2023

The Heinlein juveniles are the science fiction novels written by Robert A. Heinlein for Scribner's young-adult line. Each features "a young male protagonist entering the adult world of conflict, decisions, and responsibilities."[1] Together they tell a loosely-connected story of space exploration. Scribner's published the first twelve between 1947 and 1958, but rejected the thirteenth, Starship Troopers. That one was instead published by Putnam. A fourteenth novel, Podkayne of Mars, is sometimes listed as a "Heinlein juvenile", although Heinlein himself did not consider it to be one.

The intended market was teenage boys, but the books have been enjoyed by a wide range of readers. Heinlein wanted to present challenging material to children, such as the firearms for teenagers in Red Planet. This led to "annual quarrels over what was suitable for juvenile reading"[2] with Scribner's editors.

In addition to the juveniles, Heinlein wrote two short stories about Scouting for boys and three short stories featuring Puddin', a teenage female protagonist, for girls.

Beginning of the Scribner's association

When Heinlein returned to writing after World War II, he sought to diversify beyond "the pulps". In 1946, Heinlein told his agent that his "own propaganda purposes will be best served by writing a series of boys' books."[3] This would simultaneously broaden the audience for science fiction and also put Heinlein into a steady, lucrative market.[4] Heinlein had already had success as a writer of short fiction for the sf pulp magazines; the juveniles established him as a novelist for major publishers. [4]

To prepare for the task, he analyzed samples of several popular series for boys,[3] probably including Tom Swift, "Roy Rockwood", and Carl H. Claudy's stories for The American Boy magazine.[4] By September, Heinlein's agent was able to report that the YA editor at Scribner's, Alice Dalgliesh, had liked Heinlein's draft of the first book.[5] He had also shown her a list of contemplated sequels. In early 1947 Heinlein signed the contract with Scribner's for the first book and was having the revised draft typed;[6] by midsummer he had planned the second book. Heinlein went on to submit a book per year to Scribner's for a dozen years.

Novels written for Scribner's

Reviewers are divided on whether Starship Troopers should be listed with the others. SF writer Jo Walton argues that it "is best understood" as one of the juveniles.[7][8] Other reviewers limit the juveniles to only the books actually published by Scribner's.[9]

Organization of the series

The novels are "stand-alone": they do not share any characters and do not form a strict chronological series. The later novels are not sequels to the earlier ones. They nonetheless tell a story of space exploration.[10] James Gifford wrote "It is not often recognized that [the juveniles] are a reasonably consistent 'Future History' of their own".[11]

Jack Williamson wrote: "The books, taken together, tell an epic story of the expansion of mankind across the planets of our own Sun and the stars beyond. ... a generally consistent story of the future conquest of space. The first, Rocket Ship Galileo, begins in a backyard shortly after World War II, with three boys testing a primitive rocket motor. The last, Have Space Suit—Will Travel, ends with the triumphant return of its young hero from the Lesser Magellanic Cloud... Nobody has written a more convincing and inspiring future human epic."[10]

Another reviewer explains:

There’s a distinct story arc that follows the books; In Rocket Ship Galileo, a friendly scientist puts together a spaceship in his backyard and takes the neighbor’s kids to the moon ... As the stores move on, often in the same “Future History” universe, and never clearly out of it, we see humanity spread out into the solar system (Space Cadet, Farmer in the Sky, Red Planet, Between Planets) and eventually the stars (Time for the Stars, Starman Jones, Tunnel in the Sky) and space-faring humanity goes through its own voyage to adulthood, from explorer to colony to free nation, and finally to come into contact/conflict with galactic civilization (Have Spacesuit Will Travel) to have our maturity as a species challenged.[9]

Have Space Suit—Will Travel recapitulates the earlier books, as the protagonist first struggles to get to the Moon, then travels to the limit of the Solar System, and eventually gets to another galaxy, where he integrates Earth into an intergalactic society.

Reception

Groff Conklin wrote in 1955 that "Nobody but nobody can beat Heinlein in the writing of teen-age science fiction".[12] Jack Williamson wrote: "[An] inspiring theme of space conquest unifies the dozen Scribner's titles."[10]

A literature review in 1985 called the juvenile books "classics in their field" that "have stood the test of time," continuing "even more than a quarter of a century after they were written, these novels are still 'contemporary,' and are still among the best science fiction in the YA range."[13] (Excerpted here: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/248378/pdf)

A Wall Street Journal reviewer said in 2014 that Heinlein "lavished so much skill and imagination on these books that today they are regarded as the defining masterpieces of old-school sci-fi."[14]

End of the Scribner's association

Main article: Starship Troopers § Writing and publication

Starship Troopers was submitted as a juvenile for Scribner's. Heinlein told his agent that he wrote it "omitting all cleavage and bed games, such that Miss Dalgliesh can offer it in the same list in which she has my other books."[15] But he also said "I anticipate that [Dalgliesh] is not going to like parts of this book." The publisher did reject it.[16] Heinlein told his agent he was "irked" by the rejection:

But my irk is not alone at her [Dalgliesh]; it includes Mr. Scribner himself. I feel that I was treated in a very shabby fashion, and I regard him as in part responsible and do not wish to place any more stories with his firm. Scribner's had published twelve of my books and every single one of them made a profit for them and each one is still making money for them. At one time Miss Dalgliesh told me that my books had kept her department out of the red. So I offer a thirteenth book...and it is turned down with a brisk little note which might as well have been a printed rejection slip, for it was just as cold and just as informative.[17]

Heinlein ended his association with Scribner's.[18] Putnam published the novel in 1959.[19]

Scouting stories for boys

The Scouting stories, originally printed in the Boy Scouts of America magazine Boys' Life, were part of Heinlein's effort to diversify beyond pulp science fiction.[20] Farmer in the Sky, which also had a strong connection to Scouting, was serialized in Boys' Life under the title "Satellite Scout". Heinlein considered writing another Boy Scout story called "Polar Scout" in conjunction with a planned trip to Antarctica in early 1964, with the goal of releasing a collection of Scouting-related stories as a juvenile book. The trip did not take place and the author never wrote "Polar Scout".[21]

Puddin' stories for girls

  • "Poor Daddy", 1949
  • "Cliff and the Calories", 1950
  • "The Bulletin Board", 1951

Upon delivery of one of his early juveniles, his editor at Scribner's wished someone would write stories for girls.[22] Heinlein took this as a challenge and wrote a short story for girls. The story, a first-person tale featuring Maureen "Puddin'", appeared under the byline "R. A. Heinlein" in Calling All Girls magazine. He wrote two more, and planned four additional stories with the goal of publishing a collection titled Men Are Exasperating, but he never wrote any more and the Puddin' stories have never been collected in one volume.

Podkayne of Mars

Main article: Podkayne of Mars

Heinlein wrote "I grew so fond of Maureen [from the Puddin' stories] that I helped her to get rid of that excess weight, changed her name to 'Podkayne,' and moved her to Mars (along with her unbearable kid brother)."[22] Heinlein felt that a particular ending for Podkayne of Mars, published in 1963, was dramatically necessary to the story. Early readers hated it, however, and he reluctantly changed it. In 1995 the book was rereleased with both the published and original endings.

Podkayne's categorization as a "Heinlein juvenile" is unclear. Some reviewers list it with the juveniles,[23] and it is narrated by a teenager, but Heinlein himself did not regard it as a "juvenile".[24]

Ties to other works

Heinlein wrote a few series of linked stories and novels. Three of the juveniles are connected to his Future History. Hazel Stone of The Rolling Stones also appears in The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, The Number of the Beast, and The Cat Who Walks Through Walls. Space Cadet is set after "The Long Watch", which appears on Heinlein's Future History chart. The protagonist of Farmer in the Sky, Bill Lermer, plays the song "The Green Hills of Earth" on his accordion; the song is featured in the story of the same name from Heinlein's Future History. Farmer also refers to the "Space Patrol," the interplanetary peace-keeping organization described in Space Cadet.

The Mars of Red Planet seems to be the Mars of Stranger in a Strange Land; Jack Williamson writes that "The Martians in this story have a special interest, because they are the educators of Valentine Michael Smith [and] they display the same appalling powers that Smith brings back to Earth."[10] Have Space Suit—Will Travel mentions a recently established lunar base and an "infant Luna City", possible early references to what Heinlein developed into the lunar outpost of his Future History and the lunar colony of The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress.

Other juveniles do not as a whole integrate easily into those series. For example, the timeline for interstellar travel in Time for the Stars does not fit into the Future History. Neither does the Arachnid War from Starship Troopers, nor the appearance of the advanced civilization in the Lesser Magellanic Cloud from Have Space Suit—Will Travel. Some of the juveniles which do not integrate with each other, nevertheless share similar elements of setting. The Mars of several of the books (Red Planet, Between Planets, The Rolling Stones, and Time for the Stars) has indigenous, intelligent (even dangerous) life, but they are not necessarily the same Martians in each book.

See also

References

  1. ^ McGiveron, Rafeeq. "Heinlein Cover Art: Scribner's YA/Juveniles". Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  2. ^ Virginia Heinlein, Grumbles from the Grave, p. 83.
  3. ^ a b Virginia Heinlein, Grumbles from the Grave, p. 41.
  4. ^ a b c Thomas D. Clareson and Joe Sanders, The Heritage of Heinlein: A Critical Reading of the Fiction, McFarland 2014, p. 63.
  5. ^ William H. Patterson Jr, Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century, Volume 1: Learning Curve, p. 402.
  6. ^ Virginia Heinlein, Grumbles from the Grave, p. 44.
  7. ^ Walton, Jo (March 5, 2009). "Over the hump: Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers". Encyclopedia of Things. Tor. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  8. ^ Walton, Jo (June 9, 2011). "Child markers and adulthood in Robert A. Heinlein's juveniles". Encyclopedia of Things. Tor. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  9. ^ a b "Heinlein's Juveniles – "You see. I had this spacesuit."". October 14, 2011. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  10. ^ a b c d Jack Williamson, "Youth Against Space: Heinlein's Juveniles Revisited", in Robert A. Heinlein (1978), ed by Joseph D. Olander and Martin H. Greenberg
  11. ^ Gifford, Robert A. Heinlein: A Reader's Companion, 2000, p. 24
  12. ^ Conklin, Groff (March 1955). "Galaxy's 5 Star Shelf". Galaxy Science Fiction. pp. 95–99.
  13. ^ Sullivan, C. W., III. "Heinlein's Juveniles: Still Contemporary After All These Years." Children's Literature Association Quarterly 10, no. 2 (1985): 64-66.
  14. ^ Sandlin, Lee (June 27, 2014). "Book Review: 'Robert A. Heinlein' by William H. Patterson Jr". Wall St Journal. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  15. ^ Virginia Heinlein, Grumbles from the Grave
  16. ^ Gifford, James. "The Nature of Federal Service in Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers" (PDF). Retrieved March 4, 2006.
  17. ^ Virginia Heinlein, Grumbles from the Grave.
  18. ^ Causo, Roberto de Sousa. . Archived from the original on March 15, 2006. Retrieved March 4, 2006.
  19. ^ . The Heinlein Society. Archived from the original on November 28, 2012. Retrieved March 4, 2006.
  20. ^ Expanded Universe, p. 276.
  21. ^ December 28, 1963, Grumbles from the Grave, p. 192-193.
  22. ^ a b Expanded Universe, p. 354.
  23. ^ Alexei Panshin, Heinlein in Dimension
  24. ^ March 10, 1962, Grumbles from the Grave, p. 86.

External links

  • Heinlein's Juveniles: Still Contemporary After All These Years April 15, 2018, at the Wayback Machine
  • Heinlein's Child

March 11, 2023
heinlein, juveniles, science, fiction, novels, written, robert, heinlein, scribner, young, adult, line, each, features, young, male, protagonist, entering, adult, world, conflict, decisions, responsibilities, together, they, tell, loosely, connected, story, sp. The Heinlein juveniles are the science fiction novels written by Robert A Heinlein for Scribner s young adult line Each features a young male protagonist entering the adult world of conflict decisions and responsibilities 1 Together they tell a loosely connected story of space exploration Scribner s published the first twelve between 1947 and 1958 but rejected the thirteenth Starship Troopers That one was instead published by Putnam A fourteenth novel Podkayne of Mars is sometimes listed as a Heinlein juvenile although Heinlein himself did not consider it to be one The intended market was teenage boys but the books have been enjoyed by a wide range of readers Heinlein wanted to present challenging material to children such as the firearms for teenagers in Red Planet This led to annual quarrels over what was suitable for juvenile reading 2 with Scribner s editors In addition to the juveniles Heinlein wrote two short stories about Scouting for boys and three short stories featuring Puddin a teenage female protagonist for girls Contents 1 Beginning of the Scribner s association 2 Novels written for Scribner s 3 Organization of the series 4 Reception 5 End of the Scribner s association 6 Scouting stories for boys 7 Puddin stories for girls 8 Podkayne of Mars 9 Ties to other works 10 See also 11 References 12 External linksBeginning of the Scribner s association EditWhen Heinlein returned to writing after World War II he sought to diversify beyond the pulps In 1946 Heinlein told his agent that his own propaganda purposes will be best served by writing a series of boys books 3 This would simultaneously broaden the audience for science fiction and also put Heinlein into a steady lucrative market 4 Heinlein had already had success as a writer of short fiction for the sf pulp magazines the juveniles established him as a novelist for major publishers 4 To prepare for the task he analyzed samples of several popular series for boys 3 probably including Tom Swift Roy Rockwood and Carl H Claudy s stories for The American Boy magazine 4 By September Heinlein s agent was able to report that the YA editor at Scribner s Alice Dalgliesh had liked Heinlein s draft of the first book 5 He had also shown her a list of contemplated sequels In early 1947 Heinlein signed the contract with Scribner s for the first book and was having the revised draft typed 6 by midsummer he had planned the second book Heinlein went on to submit a book per year to Scribner s for a dozen years Novels written for Scribner s EditRocket Ship Galileo 1947 Space Cadet 1948 Red Planet 1949 Farmer in the Sky 1950 Between Planets 1951 The Rolling Stones also known as Space Family Stone 1952 Starman Jones 1953 The Star Beast 1954 Tunnel in the Sky 1955 Time for the Stars 1956 Citizen of the Galaxy 1957 Have Space Suit Will Travel 1958 Starship Troopers 1959 rejected by Scribner s published by Putnam s Reviewers are divided on whether Starship Troopers should be listed with the others SF writer Jo Walton argues that it is best understood as one of the juveniles 7 8 Other reviewers limit the juveniles to only the books actually published by Scribner s 9 Organization of the series EditThe novels are stand alone they do not share any characters and do not form a strict chronological series The later novels are not sequels to the earlier ones They nonetheless tell a story of space exploration 10 James Gifford wrote It is not often recognized that the juveniles are a reasonably consistent Future History of their own 11 Jack Williamson wrote The books taken together tell an epic story of the expansion of mankind across the planets of our own Sun and the stars beyond a generally consistent story of the future conquest of space The first Rocket Ship Galileo begins in a backyard shortly after World War II with three boys testing a primitive rocket motor The last Have Space Suit Will Travel ends with the triumphant return of its young hero from the Lesser Magellanic Cloud Nobody has written a more convincing and inspiring future human epic 10 Another reviewer explains There s a distinct story arc that follows the books In Rocket Ship Galileo a friendly scientist puts together a spaceship in his backyard and takes the neighbor s kids to the moon As the stores move on often in the same Future History universe and never clearly out of it we see humanity spread out into the solar system Space Cadet Farmer in the Sky Red Planet Between Planets and eventually the stars Time for the Stars Starman Jones Tunnel in the Sky and space faring humanity goes through its own voyage to adulthood from explorer to colony to free nation and finally to come into contact conflict with galactic civilization Have Spacesuit Will Travel to have our maturity as a species challenged 9 Have Space Suit Will Travel recapitulates the earlier books as the protagonist first struggles to get to the Moon then travels to the limit of the Solar System and eventually gets to another galaxy where he integrates Earth into an intergalactic society Reception EditGroff Conklin wrote in 1955 that Nobody but nobody can beat Heinlein in the writing of teen age science fiction 12 Jack Williamson wrote An inspiring theme of space conquest unifies the dozen Scribner s titles 10 A literature review in 1985 called the juvenile books classics in their field that have stood the test of time continuing even more than a quarter of a century after they were written these novels are still contemporary and are still among the best science fiction in the YA range 13 Excerpted here https muse jhu edu article 248378 pdf A Wall Street Journal reviewer said in 2014 that Heinlein lavished so much skill and imagination on these books that today they are regarded as the defining masterpieces of old school sci fi 14 End of the Scribner s association EditMain article Starship Troopers Writing and publication Starship Troopers was submitted as a juvenile for Scribner s Heinlein told his agent that he wrote it omitting all cleavage and bed games such that Miss Dalgliesh can offer it in the same list in which she has my other books 15 But he also said I anticipate that Dalgliesh is not going to like parts of this book The publisher did reject it 16 Heinlein told his agent he was irked by the rejection But my irk is not alone at her Dalgliesh it includes Mr Scribner himself I feel that I was treated in a very shabby fashion and I regard him as in part responsible and do not wish to place any more stories with his firm Scribner s had published twelve of my books and every single one of them made a profit for them and each one is still making money for them At one time Miss Dalgliesh told me that my books had kept her department out of the red So I offer a thirteenth book and it is turned down with a brisk little note which might as well have been a printed rejection slip for it was just as cold and just as informative 17 Heinlein ended his association with Scribner s 18 Putnam published the novel in 1959 19 Scouting stories for boys Edit Nothing Ever Happens on the Moon 1949 Tenderfoot in Space 1958The Scouting stories originally printed in the Boy Scouts of America magazine Boys Life were part of Heinlein s effort to diversify beyond pulp science fiction 20 Farmer in the Sky which also had a strong connection to Scouting was serialized in Boys Life under the title Satellite Scout Heinlein considered writing another Boy Scout story called Polar Scout in conjunction with a planned trip to Antarctica in early 1964 with the goal of releasing a collection of Scouting related stories as a juvenile book The trip did not take place and the author never wrote Polar Scout 21 Puddin stories for girls Edit Poor Daddy 1949 Cliff and the Calories 1950 The Bulletin Board 1951Upon delivery of one of his early juveniles his editor at Scribner s wished someone would write stories for girls 22 Heinlein took this as a challenge and wrote a short story for girls The story a first person tale featuring Maureen Puddin appeared under the byline R A Heinlein in Calling All Girls magazine He wrote two more and planned four additional stories with the goal of publishing a collection titled Men Are Exasperating but he never wrote any more and the Puddin stories have never been collected in one volume Podkayne of Mars EditMain article Podkayne of Mars Heinlein wrote I grew so fond of Maureen from the Puddin stories that I helped her to get rid of that excess weight changed her name to Podkayne and moved her to Mars along with her unbearable kid brother 22 Heinlein felt that a particular ending for Podkayne of Mars published in 1963 was dramatically necessary to the story Early readers hated it however and he reluctantly changed it In 1995 the book was rereleased with both the published and original endings Podkayne s categorization as a Heinlein juvenile is unclear Some reviewers list it with the juveniles 23 and it is narrated by a teenager but Heinlein himself did not regard it as a juvenile 24 Ties to other works EditHeinlein wrote a few series of linked stories and novels Three of the juveniles are connected to his Future History Hazel Stone of The Rolling Stones also appears in The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress The Number of the Beast and The Cat Who Walks Through Walls Space Cadet is set after The Long Watch which appears on Heinlein s Future History chart The protagonist of Farmer in the Sky Bill Lermer plays the song The Green Hills of Earth on his accordion the song is featured in the story of the same name from Heinlein s Future History Farmer also refers to the Space Patrol the interplanetary peace keeping organization described in Space Cadet The Mars of Red Planet seems to be the Mars of Stranger in a Strange Land Jack Williamson writes that The Martians in this story have a special interest because they are the educators of Valentine Michael Smith and they display the same appalling powers that Smith brings back to Earth 10 Have Space Suit Will Travel mentions a recently established lunar base and an infant Luna City possible early references to what Heinlein developed into the lunar outpost of his Future History and the lunar colony of The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress Other juveniles do not as a whole integrate easily into those series For example the timeline for interstellar travel in Time for the Stars does not fit into the Future History Neither does the Arachnid War from Starship Troopers nor the appearance of the advanced civilization in the Lesser Magellanic Cloud from Have Space Suit Will Travel Some of the juveniles which do not integrate with each other nevertheless share similar elements of setting The Mars of several of the books Red Planet Between Planets The Rolling Stones and Time for the Stars has indigenous intelligent even dangerous life but they are not necessarily the same Martians in each book See also Edit Children and Young Adult Literature portalReferences Edit McGiveron Rafeeq Heinlein Cover Art Scribner s YA Juveniles Retrieved May 12 2021 Virginia Heinlein Grumbles from the Grave p 83 a b Virginia Heinlein Grumbles from the Grave p 41 a b c Thomas D Clareson and Joe Sanders The Heritage of Heinlein A Critical Reading of the Fiction McFarland 2014 p 63 William H Patterson Jr Robert A Heinlein In Dialogue with His Century Volume 1 Learning Curve p 402 Virginia Heinlein Grumbles from the Grave p 44 Walton Jo March 5 2009 Over the hump Robert A Heinlein s Starship Troopers Encyclopedia of Things Tor Retrieved May 12 2021 Walton Jo June 9 2011 Child markers and adulthood in Robert A Heinlein s juveniles Encyclopedia of Things Tor Retrieved May 12 2021 a b Heinlein s Juveniles You see I had this spacesuit October 14 2011 Retrieved May 12 2021 a b c d Jack Williamson Youth Against Space Heinlein s Juveniles Revisited in Robert A Heinlein 1978 ed by Joseph D Olander and Martin H Greenberg Gifford Robert A Heinlein A Reader s Companion 2000 p 24 Conklin Groff March 1955 Galaxy s 5 Star Shelf Galaxy Science Fiction pp 95 99 Sullivan C W III Heinlein s Juveniles Still Contemporary After All These Years Children s Literature Association Quarterly 10 no 2 1985 64 66 Sandlin Lee June 27 2014 Book Review Robert A Heinlein by William H Patterson Jr Wall St Journal Wall Street Journal Retrieved May 13 2021 Virginia Heinlein Grumbles from the Grave Gifford James The Nature of Federal Service in Robert A Heinlein s Starship Troopers PDF Retrieved March 4 2006 Virginia Heinlein Grumbles from the Grave Causo Roberto de Sousa Citizenship at War Archived from the original on March 15 2006 Retrieved March 4 2006 Biographies of Robert and Virginia Heinlein The Heinlein Society Archived from the original on November 28 2012 Retrieved March 4 2006 Expanded Universe p 276 December 28 1963 Grumbles from the Grave p 192 193 a b Expanded Universe p 354 Alexei Panshin Heinlein in Dimension March 10 1962 Grumbles from the Grave p 86 External links EditHeinlein s Juveniles Still Contemporary After All These Years Archived April 15 2018 at the Wayback Machine Heinlein s Child Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Heinlein juveniles amp oldid 1143998194, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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