Missing at Marshlands

Cleo F. GarisProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.3

Word count: 256K words
Chapters: 26

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.Missing at Marshlands by Cleo F. GarisAuthor: Garis, Cleo F., 1905-1998,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Sep 5, 2012

Editor's review

Missing at Marshlands is a public-domain English novel for young readers, built around a mysterious disappearance in a marshland setting and tinged with suspense and adventure. The pace is brisk, the plot advances through the discovery of clues and the characters' actions, and the language is of moderate difficulty, making it a light text suitable for English reading practice and for the study of juvenile literature. Its pleasure lies in following the characters as they piece information together and guess where events will lead, rather than in deep literary symbolism. Because it belongs to juvenile fiction, characterization and thematic depth are relatively limited; adult readers expecting complex psychological portrayal or social critique may find it thin. The public-domain electronic edition is easy to obtain and suits classroom extensive reading, book-club discussion, or parent-child reading as suspense-driven material, and it is also convenient for teachers selecting passages for plot-analysis exercises.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Young readers seeking English extensive-reading practice
Primary and secondary English teachers leading students in analyzing suspense texts
Casual readers who enjoy light suspense and adventure stories
Reading promoters in need of public-domain juvenile-fiction material

Not a good fit for

Adult readers seeking complex literary structure and intellectual depth
Readers uninterested in juvenile adventure subjects
Language learners hoping to read highly difficult English originals

Reading tips

Read through once to grasp the plot, then go back to where key clues appear.
While reading, list the characters and a timeline of events to help trace the unfolding of the disappearance mystery.
Choose a chapter for reading aloud to feel the rhythm of dialogue and narration.
After reading, discuss with companions which clues are most effective, practicing reasoning and expression.

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

How difficult is the English in this book?

As a work of juvenile literature, its language is generally plain, its sentences are of moderate length, and dialogue makes up a fair proportion, so it suits young readers with basic English reading ability. If your vocabulary is limited, use the search function of the electronic edition to look up words, ensuring plot comprehension first and dealing with detailed expression afterward.

Is it suitable for classroom use?

Yes. The plot clues are clear and the chapters are of manageable length, making it suitable as extensive-reading material or for suspense-text analysis. Teachers can select key chapters for students to predict the direction of events and compile clue charts, but should note that its literary depth is limited and it should not bear too heavy a burden of thematic interpretation.

Is it part of a series or a standalone story?

According to the public-domain information, the book is a standalone juvenile suspense story built around a disappearance in the marshlands. The information does not indicate that it belongs to a series requiring sequential reading, so readers can start with this book without worrying about missing prior context.

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About the author

Cleo F. Garis Author · American · 1905–1998

Cleo F. Garis (1905–1998) was an American children's author. Her parents, Howard Garis and Lillian Garis, were both prolific writers of juvenile fiction, and this family background in writing shaped her own focus on the popular genre of girls' detective stories. She published only the "Arden Blake" girls' mystery trilogy, all issued in 1934: The Orchard Secret, The Mystery of Jockey Hollow, and Missing at Marshlands. Featuring a young female protagonist, the books build investigative plots around rural and country-estate settings, combining suspense with adventure in a style typical of 1930s American girls' series fiction. With just three titles, the trilogy had limited influence on children's detective literature, and public information about her remains quite scarce; readers chiefly know her through these three works.