cover springboard 2500

Chester Pawling, keenly interested in space travel, is invited to work at a base in the South Pacific where the great scientist, Dr. Havensson, is conducting highly secret experiments. That is just the beginning of a grand adventure that fulfils Chester's dream of traveling into space. But it is not simple or safe. A rival national group has launched a rocket ship and a dangerous space race has begun. Chester, who is physically handicapped, gets more than one chance to prove that he is as capable as any other member of the crew.

OPERATION SPRINGBOARD is a juvenile science fiction novel (published first in 1958) by John Ball. Ball is best known for mystery novels involving the African-American police detective Virgil Tibbs. Tibbs was introduced in the 1965 novel IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT, which won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel from the Mystery Writers of America and was made into an Oscar-winning film of the same name. Ball's departure from the mystery genre was a bestselling what-if political thriller THE FIRST TEAM. Mr. Ball was also a member of the Aviation Space Writers Association and served for a time as the public relations director of the Institute of Aerospace Sciences. His interest in and knowledge of aviation and space add a sense of authenticity to OPERATION SPRINGBOARD that was not always present in the young adult science fiction of the period.

As the original owner of Thunderchild Publishing, I had the pleasure of getting this book back into print. It had never been reprinted since it's original publication until I tracked down the current copyright holder and acquired the publishing rights. I had read this book as a young person (probably soon after its original publication) and I never forgot it. I built a model of the space-going flying boat described in the model and then used a photo of the model to make this cover. The book is still available from Thunderchild: https://www.amazon.com/Operation-Springboard-John-Ball-ebook/dp/B0CTMXRLHY/