The Marvelous Inventions of Alvin Fernald

Despite the help of the Pest, some amazing inventions, and his best friend, Shoie, Alvin still wonders whether even he can solve the Huntley mystery.

The entertaining Alvin Fernald series, about a middle-schooler with a 'Magnificent Brain,' were written by an editor of the magazine Popular Mechanics who really knew his stuff. Kudos to Purple House Press for reissuing them for today's young inventors. -- --Joshua Glenn, coauthor of the UNBORED books

Starred review. Twelve-year-old Alvin is something of an oddity to his neighbors in the small mid-western town in which he lives. A dedicated inventor, Alvin has a way of making things work, sometimes to the menace of people and property. His eight-year-old sister, 'the Pest', adores him, and together they set out to employ some of Alvin's inventions while trying to uncover a crime and the criminals. The victim, a kindly old woman, is immensely grateful to Alvin's mechanical ability when she is saved from a plot instigated by a ne'er do-well nephew, by one of Alvin's most intricate devices. There is no doubt that he has cut the corners of well-defined child deportment, but with his characteristic good will and intelligence, he emerges a town hero. A funny book which contains the elements of a mystery, picaresque adventure, and science fiction. --Kirkus, March 1960