Customer Reviews

The Erie Train Boy

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Horatio Alger was one of America's most popular authors. He was born in 1832 and died in 1899. Over 250 million copies of his books were published. Horatio lived in poor parts of New York City and thus was able to write in detail about how the poor lived. His Rags-To-Riches stories excited the imaginations of the youth of the day. It is sad to see that books written for teenagers over a hundred years ago are now stored in the adult section of the library. The vocabulary is much richer than youth books being published today. When looking for Alger stories always try to get an unabridged version.

But be warned, some of the Horatio Alger stories are not as good as this one. For example "A Rolling Stone" is very racist.

The hero in the "The Erie Train Boy" is Fred Fenton, a hard working 17 year old boy. We first meet him on a train where he sells travelers food, magazines, and books. He is struggling to provide for his widowed mother and his younger brother. Early in the story they almost get kicked out of their apartment because they don't have enough money to pay the rent. It is such a contrast to see how times have changed. For example their rent back then was $10 a month, and they had very few possessions.

Fred has a number of adventures in New York City. He also does some traveling, first going over to Niagara Falls, and then later up into Canada. At Niagara Falls Fred is suspected of being a thief, but is able to prove his innocence and help find the real crock. Later in the story he ends up working for a wealthy man and is entrusted with a mission to go into Canada to recover some stolen bonds.

This is a fun book. It is very well written. My children kept asking me to read the book. If you want an entertaining story about life in America over a hundred years ago, this is a great book to buy.

The book was received as described and in the condition that was described. Order was processed promptly and delivered to me before I expected. Pleasure to do business with this vendor.