''The Bluebird Books'' is a series of novels popular with teenage girls in the 1910s and 1920s. The series was begun by

L. Frank Baum Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's books, particularly ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and its sequels. He wrote 14 novels in the ''Oz'' series, plus 41 other novels (not includ ...

using his Edith Van Dyne pseudonym, then continued by at least three others, all using the same pseudonym. Baum wrote the first four books in the series, possibly with help from his son, Harry Neal Baum, on the third. The fifth book is based on a fragment by Baum and written by an unknown author. The last five books were written by Emma Speed Sampson. The origin of the title is uncertain, but the books were all published in hardcover with blue cloth. The books are concerned with adolescent girl detectives — a concept Baum had experimented with earlier, in ''

The Daring Twins ''The Daring Twins: A Story for Young Folk'' is a mystery novel for juvenile readers, written by L. Frank Baum, author of the Oz books. It was first published in 1911, and was intended as the opening installment in a series of similar books. B ...

'' (1911) and ''

Phoebe Daring ''Phoebe Daring: A Story for Young Folk'' is a mystery novel for juvenile readers, written by L. Frank Baum, the author of the Oz books. Published in 1912, it was a sequel to the previous year's '' The Daring Twins'', and the second and final ins ...

'' (1912). The Bluebird series began with ''Mary Louise'', originally written as a tribute to Baum's favorite sister, Mary Louise Baum Brewster. Baum's publisher,

Reilly & Britton The Reilly and Britton Company, known after 1918 as Reilly & Lee, was an American publishing company of the early and middle 20th century, best known for children's and popular culture books from authors like L. Frank Baum and Edgar A. Guest. Found ...

, rejected that manuscript, as they felt the heroine was too independent for a female. Baum wrote a new version of the book; the original manuscript is lost. The title character is Mary Louise Burrows. In the first books of the series, she is a fifteen-year-old girl with unusual maturity (though the other girls in her boarding school find her somewhat priggish). She confronts the fact that her grandfather is suspected of treason against the United States. With her friends' help, she reveals her grandfather's innocence and uncovers the truth. The novel features federal agent John O'Gorman with assistance from his daughter Josie, whom he trained to be an investigator. (Josie O'Gorman, despite preceding

Nancy Drew Nancy Drew is a Fictional character, fictional character appearing in several Mystery fiction, mystery book series, movies, and a TV show as a teenage amateur sleuth. The books are ghostwriter, ghostwritten by a number of authors and published ...

by more than a decade, is much less traditionally feminine.) Subsequent novels in the series bring changes on this basic formula. The second book, ''Mary Louise in the Country'', involves the then-contemporary struggle for Irish independence from the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a sovereign state in the British Isles that existed between 1801 and 1922, when it included all of Ireland. It was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Great B ...

. Josie O'Gorman, tougher and less ladylike than Mary Louise, has a more prominent role, and eventually takes over the series. Sampson relented and named the last few books after this character. ''Marie Louise in the Country'' contains a passage bearing upon the question of racism in Baum's works. Baum draws a contrast between the crude racist attitude of a local shopkeeper with the more egalitarian attitudes of Marie Louise and her grandfather. ''Mary Louise and the Liberty Girls'' is concerned with the strong anti-German sentiments in the United States during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

.Rogers, pp. 221-2.

Books in the series

#''Mary Louise'' (1916) #''Mary Louise in the Country'' (1916) #''Mary Louise Solves a Mystery'' (1917) #''Mary Louise and the Liberty Girls'' (1918) #''Mary Louise Adopts a Soldier'' (1919) #''Mary Louise at Dorfield'' (1920) #''Mary Louise Stands the Test'' (1921) #''Mary Louise and Josie O'Gorman'' (1922) #''Josie O'Gorman'' (1923) #''Josie O'Gorman and the Meddlesome Major'' (1924)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bluebird Books, The Book series introduced in 1916 Novel sequences Books by L. Frank Baum Works published under a pseudonym Fictional amateur detectives American children's novels Children's mystery novels 1910s children's books 1920s children's books