I was sad to read about Donald J. Sobol's death this week. I used to read all the Encyclopedia Brown books as a kid, though I don't remember much of the plots now. I mostly read them from my school library, so I don't own any books that I could thumb through for nostalgia now. I recently looked for them in used bookstores, but nobody had the complete set. I remember that the Encyclopedia Brown books used to have a logo and tag line saying "America's Sherlock Holmes in Sneakers" but the books apparently dropped that later on. Threatened by a lawyer, perhaps? So sad.
Alyssa discusses Encyclopedia's intelligence and Sally Kimball's refreshing role as both the prettiest girl, and the toughest girl. She defends Encyclopedia against Bugs Meany the bully. That is such a great choice by Sobol, way back in the 1960s. I heard that there was a short-lived HBO TV series which I never saw. I wish I could find it somewhere.
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