Fitzgerald doesn’t sugar coat these at all - but he has optimism that decent people can and will make a difference. There is prejudice, hate, death, sadness, and angst too, and problems to be solved that stem from the darker side of human nature. And life in Adenville, just as in Mayberry, isn’t the idyllic version we sometimes remember. And we know more who are like Sammy, and Basil, and John, and Uncle Mark, and the other denizens of Adenville. While we may not know someone quite like the Great Brain, we know people who are at least a bit like him. While these books have a particular setting - long ago in a small town - they have universal appeal because the human characters are universal. Because whippings are not an option, they talk to the kids as if they were rational human beings, able to understand ethics and empathy - and they do. They are also pretty progressive for their time, earning their kids’ respect without resort to the violence which is endemic in other families of the time. (Although they aren’t exactly helicopter parents - times were different, and few parents would, for example, let the 12 and 10 year olds teach the 7 year old how to swim in the river, without adult supervision.) Both Papa and Mama are admirable, well drawn characters, who love their kids, and do right by them. Furthermore, both parents are involved, intelligent, and helpful. Not only is a parent present, both parents are, and are in an intact nuclear family. Kind of hard to have certain adventures if the parents are right there, after all.

It is a well known truism that many children’s books rely on the “dead parents” to exist. Just a few more observations about these books. (This is why my favorite book of the series is The Great Brain at the Academy, where Tom snookers the Jesuit priests at his boarding school - they are a mark truly worthy of his talents.) If anything, Tom is most interested in pulling the wool over the eyes of the adults, who (with the notable exception of Mama) are at least a step or two behind the workings of the Great Brain. Likewise, it is Tom who steps in to prevent Andy’s suicide attempt (which the unwitting John is naively willing to assist with) and restore his sense of self worth. Admittedly, he has his eyes on getting compensated for his trouble, but he is also genuinely concerned for Basil, and refuses to swindle a helpless mark. For example, it is Tom that takes the Greek immigrant boy, Basil, under his wing, and teaches him English and how to fight and get along in American society. However, he has his standards, and he is hardly a bad person in most situations.

He has some sociopathic qualities - he’s always out to make a buck, and takes advantage of J.

Tom D., aka The Great Brain, is an interesting character.

The Great Brain by John D. Fitzgerald