'' Stowaway to the Mushroom Planet ''is the second in the series of ''Mushroom Planet'' books by

Eleanor Cameron Eleanor Frances (Butler) Cameron (March 23, 1912 – October 11, 1996) was a children's author and critic. She published 20 books in her lifetime, including ''The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet'' (1954) and its sequels, a collection of c ...

, and was published in 1956, two years after ''

The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet ''The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet'' is a children's science fiction novel written by Eleanor Cameron, illustrated by Robert Henneberger, and published by Little, Brown in 1954. It is set in Pacific Grove, California, and on Basidium ...

''. This

children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

is set in a beach community in California, as well as on a tiny,

habitable moon The habitability of natural satellites is a measure of their potential to sustain life in favorable circumstances. Habitable environments do not necessarily harbor life. Natural satellite habitability is a new area that is significant to astrob ...

, "Basidium", in an invisible orbit 50,000 miles from Earth. The "Mushroom Planet," visited by the protagonists David and Chuck, is covered in various types of mushrooms and is populated by little green people.

Plot summary

The story opens with Theo Bass, the cousin of Tyco Bass, coming to

Pacific Grove, California Pacific Grove is a coastal city in Monterey County, California, in the United States. The population at the 2020 census was 15,090. Pacific Grove is located between Point Pinos and Monterey. Pacific Grove has numerous Victorian-era houses, so ...

, and visiting the two boys (Chuck and David) from the first book. He has been a traveler around the world for many years, and when he finds out about the mushroom planet, he decides to rebuild the boys' lost spaceship and return to what he knows is his ancestral home. Earlier, the boys had written a letter to a nearby university professor inviting him to come and give a lecture to their young astronomers' society. The letter arrives while the professor is away and is received by his ambitious young assistant, who comes to Pacific Grove to give the lecture in the professor's stead. The young assistant, Horatio Peabody, ends up going to the Mushroom Planet as a stowaway, and causing quite a bit of trouble there. This book is much more topical than the last one was, as Peabody insists that the Mushroom Planet must be explored and exploited "for the good of science" — as well as for his own personal glory. Mr. Peabody ends up committing an act of sacrilege on the Mushroom Planet that almost gets everyone involved killed, and in general annoys and scares all. However, by the end of the book, Horatio Peabody learns his lesson about the arrogance of his scientific beliefs, and the situation, overall, returns to equilibrium until the next book.

Plot summary

See also