Real Swell Gents

One day while walking by the shelves at the Brodie Resource Library, I noticed a series of books that instantly brought me back to my early reading days…………my very early reading days.  While I grew up reading Encyclopedia Brown and choose Your Own Adventure books and watching Scooby Doo (the good Scooby Doo shows, not the ones with Scrappy Doo), there was nothing quite like the Hardy Boys.  These dudes brought mystery solving to brand new level for me at the time.  Sure, Encyclopedia Brown would solve the mystery of the “missing change” or the “flat bike tire”, but the Hardy Brothers really solved the tough mysteries and put themselves in danger doing it (I’m talking finding the buried treasure tough!). In early childhood, I really thought that the Hardys were the coolest guys out there and still today they are right up there in my book.

So, back to my story. Out of pure spontaneity, I decided to grab the first book in the series “The Tower Treasure” just to read for a laugh. Turns out, I still love these books. They took me back and made me realize why I love mystery books, so much. The stories are great in a way that take the reader to a time of small town generosity and community camaraderie. The foulest language you read is “golly” and intentions are nothing but the best (that is, except for some select few and the criminals). For those of you who do not know who the Hardy boys are; they are teenage brothers, Frank and Joe Hardy who live in the town Bayport and spend their time attempting to solve mysteries. It is assumed that thrill of being amateur detectives is a byproduct of the exploits of their famous private detective father Fenton Hardy. In each book, the boys find themselves in the middle of an intriguing mystery that captivates the reader. I really loved the early Hardy Boys Mysteries at the time and while I have only recently reread one in a series of many, I feel I can safely recommend these books to basically anyone, especially if you a have a child entering the stages of reading paperbacks.  Next time I feel nostalgic, maybe I’ll grab some older Archie Comics to take me back or watch some late 70’s Scooby Doo, but not ones with Scrappy Doo in them (Man, that dude is the most annoying character ever).

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Derek Gradner

Library Technician