Heinlein’s Juveniles

From 1946 to the early 1960s Robert Heinlein wrote twelve novels intended for juvenile readers. These 13 books were a milestone for science fiction because they were published by a "respectable" publisher and therefore could be bought by libraries and schools without the controversy that the purchase of so-called "junk literature" would otherwise cause (the fact that Heinlein had published short stories in the premier non-genre fiction magazine (The Saturday Evening Post) also helped). Scientists, engineers, science fiction writers and astronauts have cited these books as their inspiration for adopting their respective careers. Of the 13, only one has not aged well – the first. Farmer in The Sky is currently being used in a combination gardening and science school project.

This site has brief summaries of each of the juveniles: http://kunden.swhamm.de/herbsev/juvie.htm