''Christopher Cool: TEEN Agent'' is a series of six young adult novels produced between 1967 and 1969 by the

Stratemeyer Syndicate The Stratemeyer Syndicate was a publishing company that produced a number of mystery book series for children, including Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, the various Tom Swift series, the Bobbsey Twins, the Rover Boys, and others. They published and ...

and published by

Grosset & Dunlap Grosset & Dunlap is a New York City-based publishing house founded in 1898. The company was purchased by G. P. Putnam's Sons in 1982 and today is part of Penguin Random House through its subsidiary Penguin Group. Today, through the Penguin Gro ...

.Curtis Burau, G And D Keep Heroes Going, ''The Sacramento Bee'', June 22, 1969, page 138 They were written by Jack Lancer, a pseudonym.Turner Will Retire Nov. 30; Crooks, Lawrence Take Strip, ''Times Record News'' (Wichita Falls, Texas), November 24, 1969, page 16
/ref> TEEN is an acronym for Top-secret Educational Espionage Network, which is a fictional branch of the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

. TEEN recruits the best students from leading colleges and universities.Michael G. Cornelius, ''The Boy Detectives'', pages 147-148, McFarland, 2014 The young agents travel the world on assignments. Christopher goes to the Middle East in ''Mission:Moonfire''; he is at the Riviera in ''X Marks the Spy''; and he works in London in ''Department of Danger''. The novels have hardcovers, and each title was advertised as being illustrated with twenty drawings. The series was sold in stores until at least 1972.

Authors

At least two individuals have been cited as having connections to the series. A 1969 newspaper article stated that Jim Lawrence was the author, and a 1977 article said that

Robert Calder Admiral Sir Robert Calder, 1st Baronet, (2 July 174531 August 1818) was a British naval officer who served in the Seven Years' War, the American Revolutionary War, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. For much of his career ...

created the series.Peter Gorner, A Plea for 'The Dogs', ''Detroit Free Press'', June 12, 1977, page 96
/ref>

Characters

Christopher Cool is a blonde blue-eyed student at Kingston University. He is fluent in dozens of languages, but his professors believe he "prefers discotheques to study hall, since his spy activities take him away from campus so frequently." Geronimo Johnson is Chris'

Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...

roommate, who helped him solve cases. Chris and Geronimo don’t carry guns, but instead use an anesthetic weapon called "sleep sliver" to incapacitate their enemies. They are both skilled in martial arts, and use their abilities to disarm foes. TEEN gave them training in electronics, photography, cryptography, flying and scuba diving. Other members of TEEN include Spice Carter, a student at

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...

; Yummi Toyama, a Japanese-American student who attends Berkeley, and Beauregard Tatum, an African-American student at

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Books in series

* X Marks the Spy (1967) * Mission: Moonfire (1967) * Department of Danger (1967) * Ace of Shadows (1968) * Heads You Lose (1968) * Trial by Fury (1969)

Foreign editions

All six novels were published in France by

Hachette Hachette may refer to: * Hachette (surname) * Hachette (publisher), a French publisher, the imprint of Lagardère Publishing ** Hachette Book Group, the American subsidiary ** Hachette Distribution Services, the distribution arm See also * Hachett ...

between 1969 and 1973 under the title ''Chris Cool''. They were also translated into

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

, where Christopher was renamed Ronnie Clark.

References

External links

Spy Guys & Gals - Christopher Cool

{{Baby Boomer Series Book series introduced in 1967 Stratemeyer Syndicate American children's novels Series of children's books Juvenile series Novel series Junior spy novels 1960s novels American novel series