New York (N.Y.)
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Paul Prescott’s Charge
According to Wikipedia: "Horatio Alger, Jr. (January 13, 1832 ? July 18, 1899) was a prolific 19th-century American author whose principal output was formulaic juvenile novels that followed the adventures of bootblacks, newsboys, peddlers, buskers, and other impoverished children in their rise from humble backgrounds to lives of respectable middle-class security and comfort. His novels were hugely popular in their day. Born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, the son of a Unitarian minister, Alger entered Harvard at the age of 16. Following graduation, he briefly worked in education before touring Europe for almost a year. He then entered the Harvard Divinity School, and, in 1864, took a position at a Unitarian church in Brewster, Massachusetts. Two years later, he resigned following a pederastic scandal involving two teenage boys. He subsequently retired from the ministry entirely and moved to New York City where he formed an association with the Newsboys Lodging House and other agencies offering aid to impoverished children. His empathy for the working boys of the city, coupled with the moral values learned at home, were the basis of his many juvenile "[rags to riches]" novels. He died in 1899. The first Alger biography was published in 1928, and later proved to be heavily fictionalized. Other biographies followed, sometimes citing the 1928 hoax as fact. In the last decades of the twentieth century however, a few reliable biographies were published that corrected the errors and fictionalizations of the past. Many of Alger's works have been described as rags to riches stories, illustrating how down-and-out boys might be able to achieve the American Dream of wealth and success through hard work, courage, determination, and concern for others. This widely held view involves Alger's characters achieving extreme wealth and the subsequent remediation of their "old ghosts." Alger is noted as a significant figure in the history of American cultural and social ideals."
Paul the Peddler; Or, the Fortunes of a Young Street Merchant
Paul Hoffman is a fourteen-year-old young man who sells "prize packages." An elementary gambling game, he sells envelopes that have either candy or money in them; although the odds are poor, the price to play is cheap, and he performs well. Paul is a second generation American, whose late father was a skillful cabinet-maker. Paul has pride in his personal appearance, and chooses not to be a bootblack. As for the selling of newspapers, he did not care for the competition. He lives with his mother, who sews shirts to contribute towards their apartment, and his nine-year-old brother, who is lame but possesses an exceptional artistic ability. Paul is robbed of his earnings and encounters a number of setbacks to success. Of particular interest are Alger's description of life on the streets of late 19-century New York City.
Peter a Novel of Which He Is N
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Phil the Fiddler: The Story of a Young Street-Musician
The young Horatio Alger heroes often sold newspapers or delivered telegrams, a reminder of how technology has moved on. Alger's tales created youthful heroes whose persistence and pluck triumphed over enormous odds, often having to educate themselves by a flickering candle and late at night. But they hoped for better things and in the Alger novels their diligence and hard work won the day and they ended up getting the educations they deserved and the success that their exemplary morality earned. The reader will find this prototypical Alger story both a good read and food for thought in an era when the technology has indeed moved on but the challenges have remained. The introduction is provided by Dr. Wallace Boston, President of the American Public University System and a Horatio Alger enthusiast.