Heinlein juveniles
The Heinlein juveniles are the
The intended market was teenaged boys, but the books have been enjoyed by a wide range of readers. Heinlein wanted to present challenging material to children, such as the firearms for teenagers in Red Planet. This led to "annual quarrels over what was suitable for juvenile reading"[2] with Scribner's editors.
In addition to the juveniles, Heinlein wrote two
Beginning of the Scribner's association
When Heinlein returned to writing after World War II, he sought to diversify beyond "the pulps". In 1946, Heinlein told his agent that his "own propaganda purposes will be best served by writing a series of boys' books."[3] This would simultaneously broaden the audience for science fiction and also put Heinlein into a steady, lucrative market.[4] Heinlein had already had success as a writer of short fiction for the sci-fi pulp magazines; the juveniles established him as a novelist for major publishers. [4]
To prepare for the task, he analyzed samples of several popular series for boys,
Novels written for Scribner's
- Rocket Ship Galileo (1947)
- Space Cadet (1948)
- Red Planet (1949)
- Farmer in the Sky (1950)
- Between Planets (1951)
- The Rolling Stones (1952) (Space Family Stone in the UK)
- 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)
- Starship Troopers (1959) (rejected by Scribner's, published by Putnam's)
Reviewers are divided on whether Starship Troopers should be listed with the others. Sci-fi writer Jo Walton argues that it "is best understood" as one of the juveniles.[7][8] Other reviewers limit the juveniles to only the books actually published by Scribner's.[9]
Organization of the series
The novels are "stand-alone"; they do not share any characters and do not form a strict chronological series. The later novels are not sequels to the earlier ones. They nonetheless tell a story of space exploration.[10] James Gifford wrote "It is not often recognized that [the juveniles] are a reasonably consistent 'Future History' of their own".[11]
Another reviewer explains:
There’s a distinct story arc that follows the books; in Rocket Ship Galileo, a friendly scientist puts together a spaceship in his backyard and takes the neighbor’s kids to the moon ... As the stories move on, often in the same "Future History" universe, and never clearly out of it, we see humanity spread out into the solar system (Space Cadet, Farmer in the Sky, Red Planet, Between Planets) and eventually the stars (Time for the Stars, Starman Jones, Tunnel in the Sky) and space-faring humanity goes through its own voyage to adulthood, from explorer to colony to free nation, and finally to come into contact/conflict with galactic civilization (Have Spacesuit Will Travel) to have our maturity as a species challenged.[9]
Have Space Suit—Will Travel recapitulates the earlier books, as the protagonist first struggles to get to the Moon, then travels to the limit of the Solar System, and eventually gets to another galaxy, where he integrates Earth into an intergalactic society.
Reception
Groff Conklin wrote in 1955, "Nobody but nobody can beat Heinlein in the writing of teen-age science fiction."[12] Jack Williamson wrote: "[An] inspiring theme of space conquest unifies the dozen Scribner's titles."[10]
A literature review in 1985 called the juvenile books "classics in their field" that "have stood the test of time," continuing "even more than a quarter of a century after they were written, these novels are still 'contemporary,' and are still among the best science fiction in the YA range."[13]
A Wall Street Journal reviewer said in 2014 that Heinlein "lavished so much skill and imagination on these books that today they are regarded as defining elements of old-school sci-fi."[14]
End of the Scribner's association
Starship Troopers was submitted as a juvenile for Scribner's. Heinlein told his agent that he wrote it "omitting all cleavage and bed games, such that Miss Dalgliesh can offer it in the same list in which she has my other books."[15] But he also said "I anticipate that [Dalgliesh] is not going to like parts of this book." The publisher did reject it.[16] Heinlein told his agent he was "irked" by the rejection:
But my irk is not alone at her [Dalgliesh]; it includes Mr. Scribner himself. I feel that I was treated in a very shabby fashion, and I regard him as in part responsible and do not wish to place any more stories with his firm. Scribner's had published 12 of my books and every single one of them made a profit for them and each one is still making money for them. At one time, Miss Dalgliesh told me that my books had kept her department out of the red. So I offer a thirteenth book...and it is turned down with a brisk little note which might as well have been a printed rejection slip, for it was just as cold and just as informative.[17]
Heinlein ended his association with Scribner's.[18] Putnam published the novel in 1959.[19]
Scouting stories for boys
- "Nothing Ever Happens on the Moon", 1949
- "Tenderfoot in Space", 1958
The Scouting stories, originally printed in the
Puddin' stories for girls
- "Poor Daddy", 1949
- "Cliff and the Calories", 1950
- "The Bulletin Board", 1951
Upon delivery of one of his early juveniles, his editor at Scribner's wished someone would write stories for girls.[22] Heinlein took this as a challenge and wrote a short story for girls. The story, a first-person tale featuring Maureen "Puddin'", appeared 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, but he never wrote any more and the Puddin' stories have never been collected in one volume.
Podkayne of Mars
Heinlein wrote, "I grew so fond of Maureen [from the Puddin' stories] 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)."[22] Heinlein felt that a particular ending for Podkayne of Mars, published in 1963, was dramatically necessary to the story. Early readers hated it, however, and he reluctantly changed it. In 1995, the book was released again with both the published and original endings.
Podkayne's categorization as a "Heinlein juvenile" is unclear. Some reviewers list it with the juveniles,[23] and it is narrated by a teenager, but Heinlein himself did not regard it as a "juvenile".[24]
Ties to other works
Heinlein wrote a few
The
Other juveniles do not as a whole integrate easily into those series. For example, the timeline for interstellar travel in Time for the Stars does not fit into the Future History. Neither does the
See also
- Children and Young Adult Literature portal
References
- ^ McGiveron, Rafeeq. "Heinlein Cover Art: Scribner's YA/Juveniles". Retrieved May 12, 2021.
- ^ Virginia Heinlein, Grumbles from the Grave, p. 83.
- ^ a b Virginia Heinlein, Grumbles from the Grave, p. 41.
- ^ a b c Thomas D. Clareson and Joe Sanders, The Heritage of Heinlein: A Critical Reading of the Fiction, McFarland 2014, p. 63.
- ^ William H. Patterson Jr, Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century, Volume 1: Learning Curve, p. 402.
- ^ Virginia Heinlein, Grumbles from the Grave, p. 44.
- ^ Walton, Jo (March 5, 2009). "Over the hump: Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers". Encyclopedia of Things. Tor. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
- ^ Walton, Jo (June 9, 2011). "Child markers and adulthood in Robert A. Heinlein's juveniles". Encyclopedia of Things. Tor. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
- ^ a b "Heinlein's Juveniles – "You see. I had this spacesuit."". October 14, 2011. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
- ^ a b c d Jack Williamson, "Youth Against Space: Heinlein's Juveniles Revisited", in Robert A. Heinlein (1978), ed. by Joseph D. Olander and Martin H. Greenberg.
- ^ Gifford, Robert A. Heinlein: A Reader's Companion, 2000, p. 24
- ^ Conklin, Groff (March 1955). "Galaxy's 5 Star Shelf". Galaxy Science Fiction. pp. 95–99.
- Project MUSE 248378.
- ^ Sandlin, Lee (June 27, 2014). "Book Review: 'Robert A. Heinlein' by William H. Patterson Jr". Wall St Journal. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
- ^ Virginia Heinlein, Grumbles from the Grave
- ^ Gifford, James. "The Nature of Federal Service in Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers" (PDF). Retrieved March 4, 2006.
- ^ Virginia Heinlein, Grumbles from the Grave.
- ^ Causo, Roberto de Sousa. "Citizenship at War". Archived from the original on March 15, 2006. Retrieved March 4, 2006.
- ^ "Biographies of Robert and Virginia Heinlein". The Heinlein Society. Archived from the original on November 28, 2012. Retrieved March 4, 2006.
- Expanded Universe, p. 276.
- ^ December 28, 1963, Grumbles from the Grave, p. 192-193.
- ^ a b Expanded Universe, p. 354.
- ^ Alexei Panshin, Heinlein in Dimension
- ^ March 10, 1962, Grumbles from the Grave, p. 86.
External links
- Heinlein's Juveniles: Still Contemporary After All These Years Archived April 15, 2018, at the Wayback Machine
- Heinlein's Child