A Young Mutineer

Meade, L. T., 1854-1914Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.9

Word count: 284K words
Chapters: 29

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.A Young Mutineer by L. T. MeadeAuthor: Meade, L. T., 1854-1914,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Feb 13, 2008

Editor's review

A Young Mutineer comes from the hand of L. T. Meade, a prolific writer of children's literature, and is classed as juvenile literature. Meade's works often take family, school and the moral choices of growing up as their subjects; the plot moves briskly and the relationships between characters are clear, giving the book the typical appearance of English-language children's literature from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century. The book revolves around a "young mutineer" and will suit readers interested in classic girls' fiction, boarding-school stories or early young-adult literature. It does not excel in complex psychological description but relies on events and dialogue to drive itself forward, making for a brisk read. As a public-domain eBook, the original text is freely available, but readers need basic English reading ability. It is best treated as a sample for understanding early English children's literature as a genre: pay attention to its narrative patterns concerning rules, friendship and growing up, and compare it with works of the same period to observe how the image of youth was shaped.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Teenage readers who enjoy classic English girls' fiction and boarding-school stories
Literature enthusiasts studying early children's literature as a genre and its narratives of growing up
Intermediate English learners who need public-domain English young-adult reading for extensive reading
Readers interested in the landscape of English children's literature from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer modern fast-paced fantasy or science-fiction young-adult novels
Beginners with weak English who need annotations or a translation to assist them
Adult literary readers expecting deep psychological analysis or complex narrative structures

Reading tips

Read the first few chapters first to sort out the relationships and the starting point of the conflict, then proceed chapter by chapter; there is no need to skip.
While reading, note the tension between the young characters' choices and adult norms; brief notes can help.
After finishing, compare it with English children's literature of the same period and observe the common tropes of the coming-of-age theme.
English learners can excerpt two or three lines of dialogue from each chapter to get a feel for the language style of early children's literature.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

What age group is this book suitable for?

Judging by its classification and subject matter, it is aimed at young readers, especially secondary-school students and above who are interested in classic English girls' fiction. Younger readers whose English is still at the beginning stage may need adult assistance or a translation; adult readers can read it as a sample of the children's literature genre.

What does "Mutineer" in the title refer to?

"Mutineer" literally means a rebel or one who mutinies; in the context of juvenile literature it usually refers to a young character who challenges rules or adult authority. The specific plot should be judged by the original text; readers can enter the reading with the questions "who is rebelling, against what, and how does it end?" rather than applying a fixed interpretation in advance.

This is a public-domain book; what should I pay attention to when reading it?

Public-domain eBooks usually preserve the original text as it stands and may lack modern annotations or an introduction. Readers should have a dictionary to hand and be alert to early English usage. If using it for study, choose a text from a reliable source to avoid versions with many errors that hinder understanding.

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About the author

Meade, L. T., 1854-1914 Author

L. T. Meade (1854–1914) was an author of English-language children's and young adult fiction active in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Fifty-six of her works are held in this catalogue, suggesting a substantial and widely circulated output. Her representative works include school stories such as A World of Girls: The Story of a School, A Sweet Girl Graduate and Three Girls from School; a mystery-flavoured title, A Master of Mysteries; and stories set among city children, such as Scamp and I: A Story of City By-Ways and A London Baby: The Story of King Roy. Her writing generally centres on girls' growth, school life and family circumstances, with accessible plots that emphasise character and feeling while combining moral instruction with entertainment. Public information is limited, and details of her life, nationality and career cannot be reliably established; this entry describes only the themes and style suggested by the works held here.