As a kid some of my favorite books were “The mad Scientist club” books. While they were short on technical stuff they were perfect for inspiration of a young boy’s imagination.
>>>During the course of the books, the boys often use technology (such as ham radios) and science to pull off harebrained schemes. For example, in “The Strange Sea Monster of Strawberry Lake,” they build a fake sea monster out of chicken wire mounted to a rowboat, and row it out on Strawberry Lake. When it gets too dangerous to take the boat out on the lake themselves because hunters are preparing to shoot it with an elephant gun, they rig a remote control system to operate it at a distance.<<<
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mad_Scientists%27_Club
I read that one!
Those were some of my favorite books as a youngster.