The Motor Boys Across the Plains

The Motor Boys Across the Plains

The Motor Boys Across the Plains is the fourth volume in the boys’ series that Edward Stratemeyer began in 1907, several years before he launched his companion series for girls. Starring three “wide-awake American lads,” the books trace the adventures of Ned, Bob, and Jerry as they explore the United States and Mexico. Interestingly, they are often accompanied by the elderly Professor Snodgrass, whose absent-minded presence provides a mild form of adult supervision and knowledge. The author’s preface to this volume assures readers that the story is based on “facts” that he learned during “an automobilizing trip in the West.” As is the case with all the Stratemeyer books, this author is in fact an invented figure: “Clarence Young” is a house pseudonym, as was “Margaret Penrose.” The books were outlined by Stratemeyer and completed by anonymous contract writers (ghost writers). The cover of this copy can be compared to the Motor Girls cover to see how strong the parallels between the two series are.  Each features three chums arranged in a red car that appears to be driving off the cover of the book, directly at the viewer. Care is taken in both cases to advertise within the scene the extradiegetic information that this is a “series” – there will always be another book to buy! -AJP