South Sea Adventure is a 1952

1952 in literature

The year 1952, in literature involved some significant events and new literary publications.-Events:*J. L. Carr takes over as headmaster of Highfields Primary School, Kettering, which will eventually furnish the subject matter for his novel, The Harpole Report.*November 25 - Agatha Christie's play...

 children's book

Children's literature

Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...

 by the Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

-born American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 author Willard Price

Willard Price

Willard DeMille Price was a Canadian-born American natural historian and author of children's fiction.Price was born in Peterborough, Ontario, and his family subsequently moved to the United States when he was four. He acquired his MA and Litt.D from Columbia University, before going on to edit...

 featuring his "Adventure

The Adventure Series (Willard Price)

The "Adventure" series is a collection of children's adventure novels by Canadian-born American author Willard Price. The fourteen-book series chronicles the exploits of budding teenage zoologists Hal and Roger Hunt, as they travel around the world capturing exotic and dangerous animals for their...

" series characters, Hal and Roger Hunt

Hal and Roger Hunt

Hal and Roger Hunt are fictional characters appearing in the children's Adventure novel series, by Canadian-born American author Willard Price. The sons of world-renowned animal collector John Hunt, Hal and Roger have grown up alongside exotic and dangerous wildlife...

.

The novel depicts an expedition to the South Pacific

Australasia

Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...

 to capture animals for a zoo. The novel introduces the boys' arch-enemy Kaggs, who appears in other books in the Adventure series. Much of the plot involves the Hunt brothers stranded on an island in the manner of Robinson Crusoe

Robinson Crusoe

Robinson Crusoe is a novel by Daniel Defoe that was first published in 1719. Epistolary, confessional, and didactic in form, the book is a fictional autobiography of the title character—a castaway who spends 28 years on a remote tropical island near Trinidad, encountering cannibals, captives, and...

, but Price denies his heroes the luxuries which Daniel Defoe

Daniel Defoe

Daniel Defoe , born Daniel Foe, was an English trader, writer, journalist, and pamphleteer, who gained fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, as he helped to popularise the form in Britain and along with others such as Richardson,...

's protagonist so easily enjoys: Hal and Roger's island is a pitiless environment scarce in such necessities as fresh water and adequate food. The brothers use their knowledge of science and zoology to survive nonetheless.

Allies

• Captain Ike- An old WW2 captain currently in command of the ship Lively Lady. His wife often accompanies him on his voyages but was told to remain behind on this trip due to the danger involved. While crusty and suspicious at first, He gradually develops a friendship with Hal and Roger.
• Omo- Captain Ike's first mate. He became a blood brother of Hal after his life was saved by the boy. He later took a bullet for him when trapped on the desert island.

Enemies

• "Merlin Kaggs
  Merlin Kaggs
  Merlin Kaggs is a fictional character in Willard Price's Adventure Series.-Character overview:Merlin Kaggs worked along the Australian coast as a pearl smuggler and thief while maintaining his image as a legitimate businessman...
  
  "- An shadowy, unseen character for most of the book although his presence is felt throughout. When he does make his appearance he removes his failed henchman, Crab, from the picture and tries to convince the boys that he's a Christian minister. The ploy worked to begin with although Hal became suspicious towards the end. When they reached the island he tried to steal its pearl beds but was driven away by the boys and eventually went mad after drinking sea water out of desperation. He then went on to appear in later novels.

• Crab- A spy placed aboard the ship by Merlin Kaggs. Lazy and shiftless, he ultimately failed to acquire the location of the boys' secret pearl island and was abandoned and framed by Kaggs as a result. Hal eventually bailed him out of prison and he promptly joined the crew on a tanker and left without even a word of thanks.