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Stephen W. Meader

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Stephen W. Meader

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1892-05-02
Died
1977-07-18 age 85
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Religion
Quaker
Residence History
Moorestown, New Jersey (moved 1922)

Career

Occupations
writer of books for young readers, novelist, editor, publishing/circulation staff, child welfare officer
Active Years
1920-1969
Affiliations
Essex County Children's Aid Society (Newark, NJ), Big Brother Movement / Big Brothers, Curtis Publishing Company (Philadelphia), Harcourt, Brace and Howe

Education

Haverford College
Year of Graduation: 1913
Country: United States
Graduated in 1913

Awards

Newbery Honor
1939
Work: Boy with a Pack
Organization: American Library Association
Result: Newbery Honor

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Black Buccaneer

1920 Juvenile adventure fiction

A pirate adventure along the Atlantic coast in the 18th century. Meader's first novel and the first juvenile publication of the newly founded Harcourt.

adventurepiracycourage

Boy with a Pack

1939 Historical adventure (juvenile)

Adventures of a boy who goes to the Ohio country in 1837. Received a Newbery Honor in 1939.

frontiercoming-of-agehistory

Bulldozer

1951 Juvenile contemporary adventure

A Maine boy starts a contracting business with a reconditioned bulldozer. Mentioned in Stephen King's novel It as a book borrowed by a character in youth.

machineryentrepreneurshipgrowth

Blueberry Mountain

1941 Juvenile fiction

Two boys start a blueberry farm in the Pocono mountains and develop it into a thriving business.

farmingfriendshipeffort and success

Bibliography

  • The Black Buccaneer (1920)
  • Down the Big River (1924)
  • Longshanks (1928)
  • Red Horse Hill (1930)
  • Away to Sea (1931)
  • King of the Hills (1933)
  • Lumberjack (1934)
  • The Will to Win and Other Stories (1936)
  • Trap Lines North (1936)
  • Who Rides in the Dark? (1937)
  • T-Model Tommy (1938)
  • Boy with a Pack (1939)
  • Bat, the Story of a Bull Terrier (1939)
  • Clear for Action! (1940)
  • Blueberry Mountain (1941)
  • Shadow in the Pines (1942)
  • The Sea Snake (1943)
  • The Long Trains Roll (1944)
  • Skippy's Family (1945)
  • Jonathan Goes West (1946)
  • Behind the Ranges (1947)
  • River of the Wolves (1948)
  • Cedar's Boy (1949)
  • Whaler 'Round the Horn (1950)
  • Bulldozer (1951)
  • The Fish Hawk's Nest (1952)
  • Sparkplug of the Hornets (1953)
  • The Buckboard Stranger (1954)
  • Guns for the Saratoga (1955)
  • Sabre Pilot (1956)
  • Everglades Adventure (1957)
  • The Commodore's Cup (1958)
  • Wild Pony Island (1959)
  • Buffalo And Beaver (1960)
  • Snow on Blueberry Mountain (1961)
  • Phantom of the Blockade (1962)
  • The Muddy Road to Glory (1963)
  • Stranger on Big Hickory (1964)
  • A Blow for Liberty (1965)
  • Topsail Island Treasure (1966)
  • Keep 'Em Rolling (1967)
  • Lonesome End (1968)
  • The Cape May Packet (1969)

Adaptations

  • Audiobooks (public domain recordings at LibriVox, etc.)
  • Reprints by Southern Skies

Style & Themes

Literary Style
straightforward, optimistic narrationaccessible prose for young readershistorically grounded descriptions
Recurring Motifs
young men gaining independence/starting businessesAmerican historical settingsadventure and nature (mountains, sea, rivers)growth through work and machinery

Legacy

Stephen W. Meader was a prolific writer of juvenile adventure and historical novels in mid-20th-century America. His works affirm youth independence and frontier spirit and remain in circulation through reprints and public-domain audiobooks. His Boy with a Pack received a Newbery Honor, and his books are referenced in later popular culture (e.g., Stephen King's It).

Archives

  • Library of Congress catalog records
  • Project Gutenberg (digital copies of works)
  • Internet Archive (archived works and related materials)
  • LibriVox (public-domain audiobook recordings)

In Popular Culture

  • In Stephen King's novel It, Bulldozer is mentioned as a book borrowed by the character Ben Hanscom in his youth.

Quotes

  • (From Stephen King's It) "It's the book that Ben Hanscom had borrowed while he was young and found when he went back to Derry."
    Source: Stephen King, It (1986)

Trivia

  • Born to Quaker parents.
  • His first novel The Black Buccaneer (1920) was one of Harcourt's early juvenile publications.
  • Boy with a Pack received a Newbery Honor in 1939.
  • Many works have been reprinted by Southern Skies.
  • Some works have public-domain audiobooks available on LibriVox.