@RUTGERS.ARPA:levin@bbncct (04/26/85)
From: Joel B. Levin <levin@BBNCCT.ARPA> >The second one might have been called "Rusty's Spaceship". . . . >they go cruising around the solar system trying to figure out where >our friendly ET came from. Magic pills take care of little problems >like vacuum decompression, oxygen & food starvation, etc. I, too, have been trying to find more about some juveniles I read in elementary school. Gary Fritz's request goads me to make one of my own along the same lines, although what phase I may be going through to arouse this interest I do not care to guess. I have been trying to remember about a certain series of 'novels' (i.e. 4th grade equivalent) about a peculiar inhabited planet which orbits Earth or orbits the sun near Earth. A very special type of lens was required to see this planet, which was why real astronomers didn't know about it; but somehow a kid found such a lens or ran into a visitor from this planet (whom I remember as a nice little man) and got involved in various problems on this planet. Gary's mention of little magic pills reminds me of something in this vein, but it may have been another book I recall. Nothing else in his synopsis rings a bell, unfortunately, but I am interested in being reminded of any stories which featured such pills. Thanks / JBL Arpa: Levin@bbn Usenet: ...{ihnp4,[others?]}!bbncca!levin
ted@usceast.UUCP (Ted Nolan) (04/29/85)
In article <1783@topaz.ARPA> @RUTGERS.ARPA:levin@bbncct writes: >From: Joel B. Levin <levin@BBNCCT.ARPA> > >I have been trying to remember about a certain series of 'novels' (i.e. >4th grade equivalent) about a peculiar inhabited planet which orbits >Earth or orbits the sun near Earth. A very special type of lens was >required to see this planet, which was why real astronomers didn't know >about it; but somehow a kid found such a lens or ran into a visitor from >this planet (whom I remember as a nice little man) and got involved in >various problems on this planet. > > Thanks / JBL > >Arpa: Levin@bbn >Usenet: ...{ihnp4,[others?]}!bbncca!levin I'm glad to know somebody else read those, I used to love them (and still like them) : You are talking about the Mushroom Planet books. I will go out on a limb and say that I think they are by Cameron. The little man you remember is Tycho Bass, a Mycetian (sp?) - that is to say, one of the Mushroom people who now live beside humanity but originally came from somewhere else. That somewhere else is the Mushroom Planet which Bass's new lens (with some great sounding name ) has let him see (the Mushroom people have forgotten their origin). He recruits the young boys (by newspaper add) to build a space ship shell which he can fill. Together they will visit the Mushroom Planet and save the Mycetians living there (it turns out that they all have a dietary deficiency of sulfur). There were several Mushroom Planet books, all involving the boys, but some involving Tycho's cousin (Theo?) after Tycho's mysterious disappearance. The idea of the Mushroom People on Earth was further explored (some of them were not even aware that they were not human. Tycho later comes back (with his absence explained) and the last book (that I know of) was a truly scary one as the boys help the Mushroom people combat an entity (known only as Narrow Brain) that has haunted the Mycetians since the time of King Arthur. I'm afraid the titles have mostly escaped me but the first one was pretty nearly : _The Wonderful Journey to the Mushroom Planet_ and the last one was (exactly) : _Time and Mr. Bass_ (I suggest you look this one up in the card catalog to get the Author's name correct and search for the rest). I'm posting followup on this rather than replying since I hope a good few people with kids will read this : You could do a lot worse than introduce your kids to the Mushroom Planet books. Ted Nolan ..usceast!ted BTW The spaceship went 'pheep,pheep' -- all good spaceships should. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ted Nolan ...decvax!mcnc!ncsu!ncrcae!usceast!ted (UUCP) 6536 Brookside Circle ...akgua!usceast!ted Columbia, SC 29206 allegra!usceast!ted@seismo (ARPA, maybe) ("Deep space is my dwelling place, the stars my destination") -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@RUTGERS.ARPA:keesan@bbncci (04/30/85)
From: Morris M. Keesan <keesan@BBNCCI.ARPA> It's not much to go on, but I suspect that the series of novels being asked about in SFL V10 #140 about a ". . . peculiar inhabited planet . . . near Earth," with a "special type of lens . . . required to see this planet" is the Mushroom Planet series by Eleanor Cameron. The inhabitants are all vaguely fungoid, and the kids get involved when they meet a native of the planet, the astronoer Tycho Bass. Some, if not all, of these books are still in print. --Morris