The Hardy Boys

The Hardy Boys is a popular series of detective/adventure books for boys chronicling the fictional adventures of teenage brothers Frank and Joe Hardy. The original Hardy Boys series was produced between 1927 and 1979 under the pen name Franklin W. Dixon.

Related Topics:
1927 - 1979 - Pen name - Franklin W. Dixon

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The Hardy Boys was a creation of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, the creators of dozens of successful book series such as the Rover Boys, the Bobbsey Twins and Tom Swift, and later, Nancy Drew. Edward Stratemeyer conceived of the Hardy Boys in 1926, with the creation of plot outlines that would become the first volumes of the series. Various ghostwriters were employed, under contract of secrecy, to pen the actual stories. The first author was Leslie McFarlane, whose writing defined the literary style of the series, as well as the personalities and nuances of its characters. McFarlane authored volumes 1-16 and 22-24, which are generally regarded as the best works of the series.

Related Topics:
Stratemeyer Syndicate - Rover Boys - Bobbsey Twins - Tom Swift - Nancy Drew - Edward Stratemeyer - Ghostwriter - Leslie McFarlane

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Substantial revisions to the first 38 titles began in 1959. Over the course of 15 years the series was revised to modernize outdated vernacular, reduce story length, and remove the racial stereotypes prolific in many of the early books. The result of this process varied from one book to another. In some cases only minor changes resulted, while in others the entire plot and storyline were thrown out, resulting in an entirely new book bearing no resemblance to the original.

Related Topics:
1959 - Vernacular - Racial stereotypes

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In 1979, after 52 years and 59 titles (which includes Detective Handbook), Grosset & Dunlap lost the rights to publish any new Hardy Boys tales in a protracted court battle with the Syndicate. They did retain the right to continue publishing these 59 titles (referred to by some Hardy Boys enthusiasts as the canon or "blue spines") and continue to do so to this day, despite several changes in ownership. In the meantime, Simon & Schuster continued the series in the Hardy Boys Digest series of paperback books. In 2005 the venerable Digest series was ended with volume 190 and a new series, The Hardy Boys: Undercover Brothers, was started. The Undercover Brother series is supplemented by a series of graphic novels and, initially, a now-discontinued series of comic books. Also in 2005 Grosset & Dunlap got permission to continue publishing more titles in hardcover, starting with Digest volumes 59 to 66.

Related Topics:
Grosset & Dunlap - Hardy Boys Digest - Undercover Brothers - Graphic novels - Comic books

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The Hardy Boys also appeared in several spin-off series: The Casefiles (127 volumes), the Clues Brothers (17 volumes), with Tom Swift in the 2 volume Ultra-Thriller series and with Nancy Drew in the 36 volume Supermystery series.

Related Topics:
Casefiles - Clues Brothers - Tom Swift - Ultra-Thriller - Nancy Drew - Supermystery

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Hardy Boys books have been issued in over 25 languages, including Spanish, Dutch, French, German, Sinhala, Japanese, Russian, Malay, and Afrikaans. For more information on the international translations, see Hardy-Boys.Com's Foreign Section.

Related Topics:
Spanish - Dutch - French - German - Sinhala - Japanese - Russian - Afrikaans

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