Trying to remember the name of a children's book
November 11, 2018 11:05 AM Subscribe
Trying to remember the name of a children's book I read in elementary school. It's in the category of Danny Dunn and Encyclopedia Brown. It's about a group of boys, one of whom, Oliver, is an inventor. He's come up with an energy source he calls DAVY power, which is used to power numerous devices and inventions, large and small. More details below.
Inventions of note include a sidewalk with heat pipes embedded which will tilt up so the melted snow can slide off, and an older (60s, at a guess) model car that has a rear axle assembly rigged to launch itself out of the car if the ignition key is turned in the usual direction, to the right. Starting the car requires the key to be turned to the left.
This modified car figures in the plot when the group attempts to use the car to chase after someone; they forget about the modified axle and turn the ignition key in the usual direction, launching the rear axle, wheels and all, out of the car.
Other details:
One of the kids is named Ken after his father, a Federal agent; this figures later in the plot when the name is recognized by the villians.
The villians plan to use a drug on the populace that will cause them to relive the previous 24 hours, regardless of what they are currently doing. The boys discover this and attempt to stop the villians.
A significant character is a Mr. Vorhees, or something similar, who turns out to be a sleeper agent. He is an antique car enthusiast and he has a car with an 8 cylinder engine that occasionally has trouble with one of the coils so only 4 cylinders are firing. The car makes a particular chuffing noise when it's running on only 4 cylinders.
This figures into the plot as well; it gives Vorhees(?) an excuse to leave to get some sandpaper to fix corrosion on the coil contacts. Meanwhile, it's actually his opportunity to put the aforementioned drug into the water supply.
Some partially remembered details:
The drug is tested on a lion at the local zoo. The boys scale the wall at the zoo using one of Oliver's inventions, a retractable grappling hook that uses DAVY power so it can lift them easily to the top of the wall.
The original evil plan is thought to be drugging of the local milk supply through some misdirection of the boys by the villians.
Apologies for the wall of text and potentially mis-remembered details. It's been a long time since I was in elementary school. If you've read this far, I thank you.
Any help with the identification of this book would be greatly appreciated
Phil
Inventions of note include a sidewalk with heat pipes embedded which will tilt up so the melted snow can slide off, and an older (60s, at a guess) model car that has a rear axle assembly rigged to launch itself out of the car if the ignition key is turned in the usual direction, to the right. Starting the car requires the key to be turned to the left.
This modified car figures in the plot when the group attempts to use the car to chase after someone; they forget about the modified axle and turn the ignition key in the usual direction, launching the rear axle, wheels and all, out of the car.
Other details:
One of the kids is named Ken after his father, a Federal agent; this figures later in the plot when the name is recognized by the villians.
The villians plan to use a drug on the populace that will cause them to relive the previous 24 hours, regardless of what they are currently doing. The boys discover this and attempt to stop the villians.
A significant character is a Mr. Vorhees, or something similar, who turns out to be a sleeper agent. He is an antique car enthusiast and he has a car with an 8 cylinder engine that occasionally has trouble with one of the coils so only 4 cylinders are firing. The car makes a particular chuffing noise when it's running on only 4 cylinders.
This figures into the plot as well; it gives Vorhees(?) an excuse to leave to get some sandpaper to fix corrosion on the coil contacts. Meanwhile, it's actually his opportunity to put the aforementioned drug into the water supply.
Some partially remembered details:
The drug is tested on a lion at the local zoo. The boys scale the wall at the zoo using one of Oliver's inventions, a retractable grappling hook that uses DAVY power so it can lift them easily to the top of the wall.
The original evil plan is thought to be drugging of the local milk supply through some misdirection of the boys by the villians.
Apologies for the wall of text and potentially mis-remembered details. It's been a long time since I was in elementary school. If you've read this far, I thank you.
Any help with the identification of this book would be greatly appreciated
Phil
It's Secret Agents Four, by Donald Sobol, who actually wrote the Encyclopedia Brown books too.
posted by howfar at 12:09 PM on November 11, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by howfar at 12:09 PM on November 11, 2018 [4 favorites]
I think it's Secret Agents Four.
Four secret agents trip over each other's feet and consistently, carefully come up with the wrong conclusions in a hilarious battle for Miami between the U.S. government organization Mongoose and the gangster enemy Cobra. Orv is a mad genius inventor; seven-foot Bo, Horseshoes, and narator Ken (son of a Mongoose man) are his willing assistants; the neighbors nicknamed them the Volcanoes after the results of most of Orv's inventions, but they Call their spy-catching group V.A.C.U.U.M., the closest they could come to an initial-word a la TV. The 'plot--to immobilize Miami with a memory, drug that puts everybody back twenty-four hours and out of contact with everybody else. Fantastic? Yes, and wildly funny, and full of teenage ironic understatement from the first fiasco to the final triumph
posted by the webmistress at 12:10 PM on November 11, 2018 [2 favorites]
Four secret agents trip over each other's feet and consistently, carefully come up with the wrong conclusions in a hilarious battle for Miami between the U.S. government organization Mongoose and the gangster enemy Cobra. Orv is a mad genius inventor; seven-foot Bo, Horseshoes, and narator Ken (son of a Mongoose man) are his willing assistants; the neighbors nicknamed them the Volcanoes after the results of most of Orv's inventions, but they Call their spy-catching group V.A.C.U.U.M., the closest they could come to an initial-word a la TV. The 'plot--to immobilize Miami with a memory, drug that puts everybody back twenty-four hours and out of contact with everybody else. Fantastic? Yes, and wildly funny, and full of teenage ironic understatement from the first fiasco to the final triumph
posted by the webmistress at 12:10 PM on November 11, 2018 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Thank you thank you thank you!!!
Thanks very much howfar and the webmistress! I've been racking my brains for weeks trying to remember that book. All my searching didn't turn up anything with the details I was searching with.
Ask MetaFilter to the rescue.
Thanks again.
Phil
posted by Techmudslinger_ at 12:23 PM on November 11, 2018 [3 favorites]
Thanks very much howfar and the webmistress! I've been racking my brains for weeks trying to remember that book. All my searching didn't turn up anything with the details I was searching with.
Ask MetaFilter to the rescue.
Thanks again.
Phil
posted by Techmudslinger_ at 12:23 PM on November 11, 2018 [3 favorites]
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posted by Miko at 11:08 AM on November 11, 2018