The Daring Twins

Book excerpt: The Daring Twins: A Story for Young Folk is a mystery novel for juvenile readers, written by L. Frank Baum, author of the Oz books. It was first published in 1911, and was intended as the opening installment in a series of similar books. Baum's plan for a series of juvenile novels featuring the Daring family was never fully realized; a sequel to the first book, titled Phoebe Daring, was published in 1912. Unlike many of his mysteries, adventure stories, and juvenile novels, Baum published his two Daring Twins novels under his own name, rather than employing one of his multiple pseudonyms. The Daring Twins was republished in 2006 under the alternative title The Secret of the Lost Fortune. The 2006 edition carries a notice on its copyright page that "The novel contains a number of racial and ethnic stereotypes that may be considered offensive today."