Larry Dexter and the Stolen Boy or, A Young Reporter on the Lakes

Garis, Howard Roger, 1873-1962Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.6

Word count: 272K words
Chapters: 28

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.Larry Dexter and the Stolen Boy; or, A Young Reporter on the Lakes by GarisAuthor: Garis, Howard Roger, 1873-1962,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Mar 16, 2018

Editor's review

This is a boy-reporter adventure novel by Howard Roger Garis, a typical early twentieth-century American juvenile reader. The protagonist, Larry Dexter, as a young reporter, tracks a stolen-boy case in the lake region; the story combines news reporting with aquatic adventure, with brisk pacing and clear suspense. Its value lies in the intersection of early newspaper culture and the boy's coming-of-age narrative: readers follow the protagonist as he runs down leads, conducts interviews, and investigates, and also see how courage, responsibility, and judgment are tempered in practice. As a public-domain eBook, the book has plain language and short chapters, making it suitable as light reading in the original English, especially for readers who want to see what juvenile adventure fiction looked like a century ago. When reading, note the differences between the reporter's professional details and the attitudes of the time, and do not judge the characters harshly by contemporary standards.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English light-reading readers who enjoy juvenile adventure and detective investigation plots
Literature enthusiasts who want to understand the landscape of early twentieth-century American juvenile fiction
Students who need short-chapter English materials for extensive reading practice
Readers interested in early newspaper work and the reporter profession

Not a good fit for

Mature readers expecting complex literary technique and deep psychological portrayal
Readers who prefer contemporary fast-paced suspense or hardcore crime fiction
Beginners with weak English who need annotated assistance

Reading tips

Proceed chapter by chapter; after each chapter, retell the case progress and characters' actions in two or three sentences.
Separately note the protagonist's interviewing and verification process, and observe details of early reporters' working methods.
When encountering attitudes that are clearly of their time, mark them first and understand them in context rather than rushing to judge.
Read alongside other boy-reporter novels to compare narrative pacing and character development.

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

Is this book suitable for practicing English reading?

It is suitable for readers with some foundation as extensive reading. The chapters are short and the plot moves directly; unfamiliar words are concentrated in adventure and newspaper settings. It is best to read through for the plot first, then revisit key words that affect comprehension rather than looking up every word.

What is the core appeal of the story?

The appeal lies in the boy reporter tracking the whereabouts of the stolen boy while dealing with emergencies in the lake region. News reporting procedures and adventure suspense are interwoven, showing readers how the protagonist builds judgment and responsibility through practical action.

Do I need to know the author or historical background first?

No. The story stands relatively on its own, and you can enter the plot directly. If you want to understand the newspaper details and period attitudes, you can supplement your knowledge of early twentieth-century American juvenile reading and local newspapers after finishing.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Garis, Howard Roger, 1873-1962 Author

Howard Roger Garis (1873–1962) was an American author of children's literature. Little is publicly documented about his life, and reliable biographical information remains limited. The library holds 39 of his works, mainly animal stories and adventure novels for young readers. He is best known for the Uncle Wiggily series, including Uncle Wiggily's Adventures, Uncle Wiggily in the Woods, Uncle Wiggily's Travels, Uncle Wiggily's Auto Sled, and Uncle Wiggily's Squirt Gun, which feature an anthropomorphic rabbit and are marked by light, humorous plots suited to younger children. Other works, such as Dick Hamilton's Touring Car, tell lively stories of a young millionaire's motoring adventures. His sizable output gave him a modest place in early twentieth-century American children's publishing.