The Whitman Authorized Editions (1941-1947) were published by the

Whitman Publishing Company Whitman Publishing is an American book publishing company which started as a subsidiary of the Western Printing & Lithographing Company of Racine, Wisconsin. In about 1915, Western began printing and binding a line of juvenile books for the Hamm ...

Racine, Wisconsin Racine ( ) is a city in Racine County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Root River (Wisconsin), Root River, south of Milwaukee and north of Chicago. It is the List ...

. Each of the books featured a popular film actress' name in the title and her image on the dust jacket. While the Whitman Authorized Editions are not a book series named as such, each book features a fictional analogue of a '40s era teenage star as the protagonist of a mystery story. Stars featured in the series included

Deanna Durbin Edna May Durbin (December 4, 1921 – April 17, 2013), known professionally as Deanna Durbin, was a Canadian-born American soprano and actress, who moved to the U.S. from Canada with her family in infancy. She appeared in musical films in the 1 ...

Bonita Granville Bonita Gloria Granville Wrather (February 2, 1923 – October 11, 1988) was an American actress and producer. The daughter of vaudevillians, Granville began her career on the stage at age three. She initially began as a child actress, making ...

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. Possessing a strong contralto voice, she was celebrated for her emotional depth and versatility across film, stage, and concert performance. ...

Ginger Rogers Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starri ...

Betty Grable Elizabeth Ruth Grable (December 18, 1916 – July 2, 1973) was an American actress, pin-up girl, dancer, model, and singer. Her 42 films during the 1930s and 1940s grossed more than $100 million, and for 10 consecutive years (1942–1951) she p ...

, and

Ann Sheridan Clara Lou "Ann" Sheridan (February 21, 1915 – January 21, 1967) was an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles in the films ''San Quentin'' (1937), '' Angels with Dirty Faces'' (1938), '' They Drive by Night'' (1940), '' ...

. Critics have remarked on the similarity in tone and story structure between the Whitman Authorized Editions and the

Nancy Drew Nancy Drew is a fictional character appearing in several mystery book series, movies, video games, and TV shows as a teenage amateur sleuth. The books are ghostwriter, ghostwritten by a number of authors and published under the collective pseudo ...

series. Whitman continued to publish books based upon licensed properties - film and TV productions, for the most part - into the 1970s. These books were also marked as "Authorized Edition" but were not part of this series.

World War II

Many of the protagonists model ways for girls and young women to help the war effort on the home front, and some of the books explicitly mention World War II events. For example, Ginger Rogers plays a telephone switchboard operator who is moved to assist in the war effort after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Writers

It is not known whether the series was in fact "authorized" by the film studios that employed the actresses featured. The books were written by a team of writers. Though most of the authors were journalists or copywriters who pitched and completed series installments on an individual basis, one of the most consistent authors was Kathryn Heisenfelt, a Minnesotan journalist and playwright.

Books

*''Deanna Durbin and the Adventure of the Blue Valley (1941)'' *''Deanna Durbin and the Feather of Flame'' (1941) *''Bonita Granville and the Mystery of Star Island'' (1942) *''Ann Rutherford and the Key to Nightmare Hall'' (1942) *''Jane Withers and the Hidden Room'' (1942) *''Ginger Rogers and the Riddle of the Scarlet Cloak'' (1942) *''Betty Grable and the House with the Iron Shutters'' (1943) *''Jane Withers and the Phantom Violin'' (1943) *''Ann Sheridan and the Sign of the Sphinx'' (1943) *''Jane Withers and the Swamp Wizard'' (1944) *''Judy Garland and the Hoodoo Costume'' (1945) *''Shirley Temple and the Spirit of Dragonwood'' (1945) *''Shirley Temple and the Screaming Specter'' (1946) *''Gene Tierney and the Invisible Wedding Gift'' (1947) *''Betty Grable and the House of Cobwebs'' (1947) *''Dorothy Lamour and the Haunted Lighthouse'' (1947)

References

{{reflist Book series Racine, Wisconsin