The Missing Chums

The Missing Chums
Original 1928 edition
AuthorFranklin W. Dixon
LanguageEnglish
SeriesThe Hardy Boys
GenreDetective, mystery
PublisherGrosset & Dunlap
Publication date
original edition 1928, revised edition 1962
Publication placeUnited States
Pages175
OCLC1866271
Preceded byThe Secret of the Old Mill 
Followed byHunting for Hidden Gold 
TextThe Missing Chums online

The Missing Chums is volume 4 in the original The Hardy Boys Mystery Stories published by Grosset & Dunlap. The book ranks 108th on Publishers Weekly's All-Time Bestselling Children's Book List for the United States, with 1,189,973 copies sold as of 2001.[1] This book is one of the "Original 10", generally considered[by whom?] to be the best examples of the Hardy Boys, and Stratemeyer Syndicate, writing.

The plot concerns the disappearance of the Boys' chums, Chet and Biff, when they take a motorboat trip down the coast. When Frank and Joe finally find them, they are all captured. In the end, they triumph over the bad guys on mysterious Blacksnake Island.

This book was written for the Stratemeyer Syndicate by Leslie McFarlane in 1928.[2] Between 1959 and 1973 the first 38 volumes of this series were systematically revised as part of a project directed by Harriet Adams, Edward Stratemeyer's daughter.[3] The original version of this book was rewritten in 1962 by James Buechler[2] resulting in two different stories with the same title.

The original version of this title is noted for being the first Hardy Boys book in which Aunt Gertrude makes an appearance. The original version entered the public domain in the United States in 2024.[4]

  1. ^ "Publishers Weekly's All-Time Bestselling Children's Book List". December 17, 2001.
  2. ^ a b Keeline, James D. "Who Wrote the Hardy Boys? Secrets from the Syndicate Files Revealed" (PDF).
  3. ^ "Hardy Boys Online".