The Whitman Authorized Editions (1941-1947) were published by the Whitman Publishing Company of Racine, Wisconsin. Each of the books featured a popular film actress' name in the title and her image on the dust jacket. While the Whitman Authorized Editions are not a book series named as such, each book features a fictional analogue of a '40s era teenage star as the protagonist of a mystery story.[1] Stars featured in the series included Deanna Durbin, Bonita Granville, Judy Garland, Ginger Rogers, Betty Grable, and Ann Sheridan. Critics have remarked on the similarity in tone and story structure between the Whitman Authorized Editions and the Nancy Drew series. [2]
Whitman continued to publish books based upon licensed properties - film and TV productions, for the most part - into the 1970s. These books were also marked as "Authorized Edition" but were not part of this series.
Many of the protagonists model ways for girls and young women to help the war effort on the home front, and some of the books explicitly mention World War II events. For example, Ginger Rogers plays a telephone switchboard operator who is moved to assist in the war effort after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.[3]
It is not known whether the series was in fact "authorized" by the film studios that employed the actresses featured. The books were written by a team of writers. Though most of the authors were journalists or copywriters who pitched and completed series installments on an individual basis, one of the most consistent authors was Kathryn Heisenfelt, a Minnesotan journalist and playwright.