Tech Wizard Mike was very fond of the Encyclopedia Brown books by Donald J. Sobol.
Mike the Wizard didn’t have any true friends at the time (although he was not consciously aware of that fact) so these books were a way to escape into another world where kids were a lot nicer and better adjusted — except for the town nogoodniks who were clearly presented as being bad eggs.
The Encyclopedia Brown stories were always engrossing and the solvable mysteries promoted critical thinking but the books also featured examples of true friendships (e.g. Sally Kimball and Encyclopedia Brown), positive collaborations and a vivid example of a repellant, unambiguously bully character appropriately named (again Sobol is spelling it out for his young readers) “Bugs Meany.”
“Sure, sure”, said Bugs Meany, pushing his way to the front. “I’ll be so rich my little sister will have to quit piano lessons and take up playing the cash register!”
― Donald J. Sobol, Encyclopedia Brown Saves the Day