Publication History
The Publisher's Note in The Great Brain Is Back, published after the death of the author, recounts the story of the series' original publication. Fitzgerald had published the best-selling Papa Married a Mormon and its sequel, Mama's Boarding House in 1955 and 1958 respectively. Those books were set in Adenville, Utah at the end of the 19th century. A third book was requested by the editor, E.L. Doctorow but he changed jobs before the manuscript was completed. Fitzgerald submitted the new novel, which focused on the children of Adenville, to Doctorow at The Dial Press but by then family stories were out of favor with adult readers. The new editor for children's book offered to publish the novel if it were cut in half and eliminating some passages aimed at adults. The result was The Great Brain.
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