The Great Brain is Back

Many of you, I suspect, read the Great Brain series of books as a kid. The adventures of the conniving, swindling smart kid T.D. Fitzgerald were fun, but the real value of the series was the view of small-town life in the late 1890s. The books are real gems, and if you have young boys you could do worse than to get them hooked on reading with this series.

For thirty years I have read and re-read all seven books in the series, not knowing that there was an eighth! Yes, after John D. Fitzgerald’s death, some additional Great Brain stories were found in his notes. All too few, but enough for a short book, and The Great Brain is Back is a delight like the rest of them, and a fitting conclusion to the series. Diane deGroat’s illustrations are modern but with enough of the Mercer Mayer feel to compensate for his absence as well (he illustrated all the previous books).
And now that you’re all grown up, you really should read J.D. Fitzgerald’s original stories of Adenville and the Fitzgerald family, written for adults: Papa Married a Mormon and Mamma’s Boarding House. They’re wonderful.