A regular thriller, honest in its use of Hawaiian sports and possible submarine hideaways, ["Larry and the Undersea Raider"] begins with surfboard riding so vividly reported that it makes the muscles ache as well as the nerves tingle…. [Larry decides] that surfboard riding is the king of sports and easy to do, and [learns] the fallaciousness of that second statement, all before the opening chapters are over. They introduce him to a handsome Hawaiian aristocrat of his own age….
[Something] deadly is going on under water. An undersea raider is sinking ships with supplies for Australia. The father of the Hawaiian youth knows something valuable in locating the submarine's hideout: the American lad, whose father has been ordered to sea on a similar mission, goes off on an adventure of his own that lands him on board the Japanese submarine as an involuntary passenger. One of the boys is thus doing his best to get the submarine sunk while the other is on board, and Larry has as narrow an escape as a hero in the strips.
May Lamberton Becker, "Books for Young People: 'Larry and the Undersea Raider'," in New York Herald Tribune Book Review (© I.H.T. Corporation; reprinted by permission), Vol. 18, No. 34, April 19, 1942, p. 8.
This is a free excerpt of 210 words. There are 215 words (approx.
1 page at 300 words per page) in the full critical essay.
Read the rest of this Criticism with our Farley, Walter 1915–: Critical Essay by May Lamberton Becker Access Pass.
