Harriette Sheffer Abels’ “Galaxy 1” books appear to be fully consigned to obscurity — I don’t have a single friend who remembers them. They were published by Crestwood House in 1979; I certainly loved the ones I found in my elementary school library in the 1980’s. And that says a lot, because I was a kid who loved the fantasy genre far more than science fiction. (I had an older brother who played “Dungeons & Dragons,” and Ralph Bakshi’s animated take on “The Lord of the Rings” had captured a lot of kids’ imaginations since 1978.) I remember how pleased I was to discover anthology-style books that featured the same cast of characters on different space-based adventures.
I’m pretty sure that “Mystery on Mars,” “Medical Emergency,” and “Silent Invaders” were among those that I read. My favorite, however, was “Green Invasion,” which featured alien vines that grew uncontrollably and crushed anything they could ensnare and tangle. Lord knows that was a scenario I re-created with my G.I. Joes at home.
Eric Robert Nolan, Author 
I was just thinking about “Unwanted Visitors” the other day after watching a new Star Trek Discovery “Short Trek” that featured Tribbles – a throwback to one of the most popular episodes of the original 60s series. I think Harriet borrowed from that narrative, but I remember her creatures being pink, like cotton candy. I wish there was an image of the cover in your story to satisfy my nostalgia. Thanks for keeping these alive – I loved the series when I was a wee tot in the mid-80s.
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Hi! I just wanted to say thank you VERY much for sharing this!
I had a post up on StackExchange (https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/183960/looking-for-an-old-sci-fi-book-series) for a few years asking for help identifying a pretty vague memory of some books from my childhood. I got a lot of good responses, but all dead ends, until one in particular pointed me to your post here, and I’m not reasonably sure these are the books. And, in fact, I now own all but one of them 🙂 And, even if they’re NOT the right books, this a great little series and I couldn’t be happier owning them.
I had been literally looking for these books for years based on a 40-year old picture in my head and nothing more… which, as you can imagine, didn’t go so well! And I’d probably still be looking had it not been for this post and a kind stranger pointing me to it.
So, thanks again for putting this out there 🙂
(Oh, and hey, fellow author here!)
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I’m so glad that you found the post helpful, Frank! Thank you for popping in to say hello! You want to hear something nuts? I believe you and I were reading these at about the same time — and not far from each other. (I would have been a fifth grader over at Ridge Elementary School, which I guess is maybe a half an hour from Bay Shore. I’ll bet our schools got these from the same distributor. Small world, huh? 🙂
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Yep, sure sounds like it 🙂
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