The subject of the Danny Dunn books came up earlier on Midgard. They are a series of fairly cheesy (but much beloved!) 50s, 60s and 70s boy-genius books. The science in them at least attempts to be decent. I first got into them when my mom grabbed a copy of Danny Dunn and the Anti-Gravity Paint for me when I had chickenpox. They filled much the same psychological niche as Heinlein juveniles did, by providing impossibly high coolness standards to live up to. I can't find much information about them on the web; only the most popular have plot summaries available. After making a note to track down physical and/or etext copies, I realized with a bit of a shock that my life (both personally and the world around me) has lived up to the series pretty well. I like thinking that the 10 year old me would be proud of what we've become. It isn't always possible, of course, but it seems polite to my former self to try to honor their goals.
( All the Danny Dunn books, with commentary )