Heinlein juveniles

infobox Book |
name = Have Space Suit — Will Travel
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = First Edition cover of "Have Space Suit—Will Travel"
author = Robert A. Heinlein
illustrator =
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country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = Science fiction novel
publisher = Scribner's
release_date = 1958
media_type = Print (Hardcover & Paperback)
pages =
isbn = NA
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"Heinlein juveniles" is a phrase that refers to the twelve novels written by Robert A. Heinlein and published by Scribner's between 1947 and 1958. The intended readership was teenage boys, but the books have been enjoyed by a wide range of boys, girls and adults. Heinlein had great respect for the children who read the books and was eager to present challenging material to them, such as the firearms for teenagers in "Red Planet". This led to "annual quarrels over what was suitable for juvenile reading". [Virginia Heinlein, "Grumbles from the Grave", p. 83.]

The series came to an end when Heinlein submitted "Starship Troopers" and it was rejected summarily by the editor, ending his relationship with the company. Heinlein wrote at the time: "I am tired of being known as a "leading writer of children's books", and nothing else." [October 10 1960, "Grumbles from the Grave", p. 226.] It was snapped up and published by Putnams.

In addition to those twelve novels, Heinlein wrote two short stories about scouting for boys and three short stories with a teenage female protagonist (Puddin') for girls.

One final novel, "Podkayne of Mars", is often classified as a juvenile, although Heinlein himself didn't consider it to be one. [March 10 1962, "Grumbles from the Grave", p. 86.]

The Scribner's juveniles

# "Rocket Ship Galileo", 1947
# "Space Cadet", 1948
# "Red Planet", 1949
# "Farmer in the Sky", 1950
# "Between Planets", 1951
# "The Rolling Stones" aka "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

Scouting stories for boys

When he returned to writing after World War II, Heinlein made a concerted effort to diversify beyond pulp science fiction. The "Boy Scout" stories, originally printed in the Boy Scouts of America magazine Boys' Life, were part of that effort. ["Expanded Universe", p. 276.] "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 didn't take place, and "Polar Scout" was never written. [December 28 1963, "Grumbles from the Grave", p. 192-193.]
* "Nothing Ever Happens on the Moon", 1949
* "Tenderfoot in Space", 1958

Puddin' stories for girls

Upon delivery of one of his early juveniles, his editor at Scribner's commented that she wished somebody would write some stories for girls. ["Expanded Universe", p. 354.] Heinlein took this as a challenge and wrote a short story for girls. The story, a first-person slice-of-life featuring Maureen (Puddin'), was published 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". The planned stories were never written, and the Puddin' stories have never been collected in one place.
* "Poor Daddy", 1949
* "Cliff and the Calories", 1950
* "The Bulletin Board", 1951

Podkayne

In Expanded Universe, Heinlein wrote "I grew so fond of Maureen [Puddin'] 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)." ["Expanded Universe", p. 354.]

Heinlein felt that a particular ending was dramatically necessary to the story, but early readers hated it, and he reluctantly changed it. The book has since been released with both the original published ending and Heinlein's original ending.
* "Podkayne of Mars", 1963, re-released 1995 with both endings

Notes

External links

* [http://www.heinleinsociety.org/rah/works/novels/heinleinjuveniles.html Heinlein's Juveniles: Still Contemporary After All These Years]
* [http://www.enter.net/~torve/critics/child.html Heinlein's Child]