New Releases by Horatio Alger

A number of years ago the author of this story set out to depict life among the boys of a great city, and especially among those who had to make their own way in the world. Among those already described are the ways of newsboys, match boys, peddlers, street musicians, and many others. In the present tale are related the adventures of a country lad who, after living for some time with a strange hermit, goes forth into the world and finds work, first in a summer hotel and then in a large hotel in the city. Joe finds his road no easy one to travel, and he has to face not a few hardships, but in the end all turns out well.

Alone and destitute in New York City, young Walter becomes a newsboy but runs afoul of the local street gang. Aka: Walter Griffith; or, The Adventures of a Young Street Salesman.

From the 1860''s through the 1890s, Horatio Alger wrote hundreds of novels to teach young boys the merits of honesty, hard work, and cheerfulness in the face of adversity. As Carl Bode points out in his introduction, Horatio Alger filled a void in American literature and met scant competition both in the nature and the number of his works. Like his heroes, Alger rose to the top by chance, coincidence, and hard work. The hero of Ragged Dick is a veritable "diamond in the rough"—as innately virtuous as he is streetwise and cocky. Immediately popular with young readers, the novel also appealed to parents, who repsonded to its colorful espousal of the Protestant ethic. Struggling Upward, published nearly thirty years later, followed the same time-tested formulas, and despite critical indifference it, too, had mass appeal. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

On the orders of his wicked uncle, who stands to inherit a fortune, fourteen-year-old Robert Roscoe is pushed overboard from a Hong Kong-bound ship, after which he and his new friend Jack endure many hardships and adventures before being rescued.

Fifteen-year-old Tom lives in New York City with an old man named Jacob; he supports them both with his earnings as a bootblack. Before Jacob dies, he reveals Tom''s identity as the son of a wealthy man from Cincinnati. Jacob also describes the plan he and Tom''s older brother have cooked up to cheat Tom out of his inheritance.

After leaving the ill-tempered woman with whom he lives, ten-year-old matchboy Mark Manton meets a man who recognizes something of himself in the young orphan and helps him rise above his lowly circumstances.