Rick Brant Science Adventure

In 1947, YA author Hal Goodwin (aka John Blaine) started writing a series of books about an adventurous teen by the name of Rick Brant, his best friend Scotty, and their east Indian companion, Chada. These books were published as the Rick Brant Electronics Adventure Stories by Grosset and Dunlap until 1968. In the series, teenaged Rick Brant and his ex-Marine pal, Don Scott, live on Spindrift Island off the coast of New Jersey, where Rick's father, Dr. Hartson Brant, heads the scientists of the Spindrift Foundation. In The Rocket's Shadow, Rick Brandt first meets his new friend Don Scott, and investigates the apparent sabotage of the Spindrift Foundation's new experimental rocket, which if successful, will net them a two million dollar grant. The deadline is only a few days away, and confused fingers of guilt point to more than one suspect. But, who can it be? This novel is not only a ripping tale of young adventure, but it is very much a slice of life from the beginning of the cold war and serious experimentation in the U.S. with rockets.

With the success of the lunar rocket in the previous novel, The Rocket's Shadow, Rick Brant and Scotty learn that they have been chosen as part of the Tibet expedition to place communications equipment there to bounce radar signals off the moon. From the beginning of the expedition, however, they discover that someone does not want the experiment to succeed. As the date for the lunar relay looms closer, they are still miles away from their destination and in the hands of a dangerous criminal. Their only friend is a clever Indian boy, Chahda, who has disappeared. Can they make it in time? Find out in this scond volume of the Rick Brant Electronic Adventure Series. It's an exciting adventure and travelogue of post-World War II India and Asia, as well as an interesting history and science lesson all balled up into one!

Sea Gold is the third book in the Rick Brant Science Adventure series, where young adult Rick Brant and his ex-Marine pal, Don Scott, live on Spindrift Island off the coast of New Jersey, where Rick's father, Hartson Brant, heads the scientists of the Spindrift Foundation. In Sea Gold, Rick and Scotty are off for the summer because college is out of session and all the scientists have temporarily left Spindrift for other research challenges, so nothing is happening there. Rick and Scotty get summer jobs at a sea mine on the coast of Connecticut and quickly discover that they have bitten off more than they can chew for a bit of summer spending money. Someone is out to sabotage the mining operation by hook or by crook, and it's not exactly evident who that unseen enemy may be or what their motivation is....

Rick Brant and his friend Scotty are bound for the islands of the South Pacific. But beaches and the tropical climate are not what they have in mind. Deeper than divers have ever been lies the ancient temple of Alta-Yuan. Is the Spindrift's new experiment, the Submobile, capable of withstanding the pressures of the deep? If so, there may be others interested in using it for purposes other than scientific studies. Why is Captain Turk Mallane so anxious to make friends, and why does the man with the broken nose keep turning up? Things are just going too smoothly for this adventure on the high seas. Join Rick, Scotty, Hartson Brant, and Professors Gordon and Zircon as they are forced to defend themselves from a tribe of angry natives and mutineers.

Uvula Publishing presents the fifth volume in the Rick Brant Electronic Adventure stories-- The Whispering Box Mystery. As The Whispering Box Mystery gets underway, we find Rick and Scotty in an unfamiliar position: on the outside looking in, as Rick's father and scientist friends work on a secret government project. The Spindrift Island leader, Hartson Brant, had always implicitly trusted Rick and Scotty before, but ever since a government spook named Steve Ames came to him with details of a national threat, Hartson has refused to tell Rick and Scotty anything. It's a bitter pill to swallow, considering their record of saving Spindrift's projects from sabotage. It turns out that there is a new, dangerous weapon is in the hands of the wrong people. As usual, things get very dangerous, very fast for the boys as they discover the thieves/spies really want no interference in their plans!

Barby Brant finally gets to leave Spindrift Island and accompany Rick and Scotty on an adventure. The three Spindrifters and Chahda meet their friends, the Warners, on the trawler Tarpon and head off to map fishing grounds in the exotic South Pacific. They soon run head long into a mystery concerning a mysterious individual called the Phantom Shark, who sells the best pearls to be found anywhere and has a reputation for being a dangerous person to cross.

Uvula Publishing presents the seventh volume in the Rick Brant Science Adventure stories-- Smugglers' Reef. Rick Brant and Don Scott are back from their vacation in the South Pacific and are finding adventure near Spindrift Island. They're on their own this time, with no support from any of the Spindrift scientists, though they do get help from a likable old sea salt named Cap'n Mike and some familiar members of the press. The young men are trying to solve the mystery of why a fishing trawler owned by an experienced captain ran aground onto the well-known Smugglers' Reef and the odd happenings at nearby Creek House. The action is close to home this time, taking place in Seaford, a town just down the Jersey coast from Spindrift. Here's another ripping tale about these young adventurous men!

In this Rick Brant Adventure #9: Rick and Scotty stay close to home near Spindrift Island, set mostly in an old abandoned amusement park on the New Jersey coast next to a scientific research facility. They're investigating a mysterious hit-and-run case that injured Rick's sister Barby and this time are up against hardened domestic criminals. This book introduces young listeners to the sciences of cybernetics, solid-state electronics, and artificial intelligence, which were cutting-edge when this thrilling novel was debuted. Even after 70 years, this YA story remains exciting, real, and engaging.

Uvula Publishing presents the tenth volume in the Rick Brant Science-Adventure stories-- The Golden Skull. Here Rick Brant and Don Scott leave New Jersey to join Dr. Tony Briotti on an Indiana Jones-style archeological expedition in the Philippines. All the Spindrifters want to do is to locate, quietly dig up and study some ancient native artifacts, including a full-sized, solid-gold skull that is sacred to the Filipino natives. Unfortunately, corrupt government officials want to steal it to sell on the black market, and head-hunting natives want to stop them because unearthing it will desecrate their lands. Join Rick and Scotty on this timeless, exciting YA adventure that packs danger, excitement, humor, and travel all into one package!

Rick Brant, Don Scott, Dr. Tony Briotti, and Dr. Hobart Zircon travel down to the Virgin Islands on what is planned to be a pleasure trip. The boys' only goal is to unearth a possible sunken shipwreck and find a golden, Spanish statue lost centuries before to pirates. Archaeologist Tony plans to look for submerged Native American artifacts, while physicist Zircon expects to spend time just fishing. Soon after they reach Charlotte Amalie, the boys run across JANIG security agent Steve Ames in a chance encounter on the street. That accidental meeting sends them into the midst of danger and intrigue, and for once, they have no idea why. All they can do is search for their shipwreck off the coast of Clipper Cay, keep watch on the people harassing them, and try to puzzle out exactly what is actually going on.

The Electronic Mind Reader, the 12th Rick Brant novel, was published in 1957 and is another JANIG-based adventure with government spook Steve Ames as one of the main characters. The story involves foreign espionage against a secret government missile project based in Washington. Steve Ames comes for help from the Spindrift Foundation after several project scientists are struck down by a mysterious neural malady that seems to cause severe aphasia and inability to communicate. Steve suspects foul play and decides that isolating the remaining members of the research group on Spindrift Island for security purposes might save them from further attacks, but as the whole Brant family discovers the enemy does not give up that easily. One great thing about the book, for female readers, is that Barby once again plays a major role in the adventure, along with Jan Miller, a new character who is Barby's age. Both of the girls are strong female characters, although the focus remains on the adventures of the boys. Another great thing about this book is that you again meet a number of the old gang from the previous novels: Cap'n Mike, Jerry Webster, Duke Barrows, State Trooper Captain Douglas, and others. We hope that you enjoy this thrilling YA spy novel.

The Mystery of Scarlet Lake, the 13th Rick Brant novel, was published in 1958. In this thrilling story Rick and Scotty go to work on a project at a secret experimental rocket installation in Nevada with Spindrift Island scientist Dr. John Gordon in order to help stop the sabotage that has been plaguing the project. Only two men at the base know their real mission: to track down the saboteur who calls himself Homo Terrestrialis : "The Earthman". Excitement and peril follow the young men as they travel to pre-Rat Pack Las Vegas and begin their search, from an isolated radar-tracking station to an abandoned desert mining town, trying to find the clues to solve the Scarlet Lake mystery. The story accurately portrays the first giant rockets that probed the borders of space and provides accurate, authentic scientific background for this breath-taking adventure. We hope that you will enjoy this YA adventure mystery novel.

The Pirates of Shan is the fourteenth Rick Brant adventure, and is one of the more adventure-oriented volumes in the series. Rick and Scotty fly off to the Philippines, along with Dr. Zircon, to search for missing Doctors Briotti and Shannon. It's a similar setting to the tenth book, The Golden Skull , but takes place mainly on the Sulu Sea and the island of Shan. Some of the characters from The Golden Skull reappear in this one, as does the ever helpful and cunning Chahda. This YA novel has lots of action and adventure involving modern-day Moro pirates who still terrorize the Sulu Sea, and it culminates in a thrilling rescue attempt that will get you turning pages.

In Chicago, a man whispers into a telephone: "The cat is ready." With those four words, a chain of perilous events begins- pulling Rick Brant and his friend Don Scott into ten days of danger, intrigue, and suspense. Their official mission takes them to Egypt, where they join radio astronomers struggling to decipher strange, otherworldly signals. The anomalies defy explanation- neither terrestrial interference nor natural phenomena can account for them. The signals appear to come from light-years away, pulsing with a rhythm unlike any known star, and moving at an impossible speed. But the mystery of the skies is soon overshadowed by a far stranger puzzle on the ground. Before leaving the United States, Rick and Scotty are asked to deliver a small plastic cat figurine to a man in Cairo- a request that seems harmless, until they find themselves pursued, harassed, and even kidnapped by ruthless adversaries determined to claim the object at any cost. Why would anyone threaten lives for a cheap plastic cat? The answer lies hidden in Egypt, where ancient secrets and modern science collide.

In this seventeenth Science Adventure, Rick and Scotty and the Spindrift Science Foundation staff (including Hartson Brant, Hobart Zircon, and Julius Weiss) join forces with South American geoscientists on the resort island of San Luz, off the coast of South America. There, they are faced with the ancient volcano of El Viejo, which shows every sign of getting ready to erupt and consume the entire island in a devastating disaster, like the one that obliterated the island of Krakatoa back in 1883. Of course, saving the island is thwarted at every turn because the governor is kidnapped and the lieutenant governor has his own nefarious plans for the fate of the small nation. But, the rumbling mountain waits for no one, so Rick and Scotty work against time to find the governor, the only one with the power to order the distracted military to help save the inhabitants of the island. The final plan to rescue San Luz will have you sitting up in disbelief. Besides all the other usual fun of the Rick Brant science adventure books, The Flaming Mountain is jammed pack full of fun geology facts and even includes Spanish for you to learn.