Series books have never been wholeheartedly approved of by educators and specialists in young adult literature. In 1914 Franklin K. Mathiews, chief librarian of the Boy Scouts of America, launched an all-out campaign against the Stratemeyer Syndicate. He charged that series books "blew out" young boys' brains "by overstimulation, debauch and vitiate, as brain and body are debauched by strong drink." To counter the influence of Stratemeyer's books, Mathiews sponsored a series of his own, Tom Slade, featuring Boy Scouts as heroes. The Tom Slade series sold more than three million copies and produced several spinoffs. In the long run, however, Stratemeyer's heroes proved to have the greater appeal, and Mathiews's books gradually disappeared. But the syndicate's products were actually improved as a result of this so-called "Great Book War." They became less rough, better researched, better plotted, and—if possible—even more wholesome.

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