← Back to search
Cover of Tom Swift and His Spectromarine Selector

Tom Swift and His Spectromarine Selector

Jim Lawrence (1959)

SubgenreHeroic Fantasy
Age groupMiddle Grade 8-12
Content ratingPG
Pages (Standard (250-400))
SeriesTom Swift, Jr. #15
Setting
CSM age10

Content levels

ViolenceMild
Sexual contentNone
LanguageNone

Trigger warnings

DeathAnimal Harm

Protagonist archetypes

Duo / Partners

Synopsis

"We're trapped a mile below the ocean's surface," Tom Swift announces to his companions as calmly as possible. His father and Bud Barclay exchange fearful glances in the air-bubble elevator stopped in its undersea descent by a jammed cable. This close call is only one of the many hazards which beset Tom on his most challenging deep-sea venture -- a trip to the ancient city of gold on the ocean bottom. Here, with his pal Bud Barclay and other members of the Swift expedition, Tom tests his two new inventions. With the de-organic-izer, which employs revolutionary scientific principles, crusts of centuries-old sea growth are removed from the city's buildings and the original gold luster restored. With his other astounding invention -- the spectromarine selector -- Tom searches for a valuable new rare metal. He must succeed, if his father is to fill an important government rocket contract. A terrifying sea monster, an abandoned submarine containing human skeletons, a near-fatal leak in the hydrodome over the scene of operations, and the unexpected appearance of an enemy fail to daunt Tom in his mammoth undertakings. How the young scientist-inventor achieves his goals is told dramatically in this thrill-packed story of undersea adventure. - Jacket flap.

Is Tom Swift and His Spectromarine Selector appropriate for my child?

Suitable for most readers 10 and up.

Classic juvenile adventure with mild peril including sea monsters, human skeletons in an abandoned submarine, and equipment malfunctions. No violence beyond genre-standard adventure tension.

What to know going in

This book has mild violence, no sexual content, and clean language. Content notes include death and animal harm.

Who'll love this

Readers who love inventing gadgets and exploring lost underwater cities will enjoy Tom's thrilling deep-sea rescue mission.

Tags

Science FictionAdventureJuvenile Series FictionUndersea Exploration