Motor Matt's Queer Find or, The Secret of the Iron Chest

Matthews, Stanley R.Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.3
Word count
186K words
Chapters
19

Tags

Children's Literature English Originals Adventure JourneyFriendship TeamworkMystery SolvingMechanical FunGrowing UpWitty ResponseDetective FictionPopular NarrativeBoyhood AdventureYouth Reading

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.Motor Matt's Queer Find; or, The Secret of the Iron Chest by Stanley R. MatthewsAuthor: Matthews, Stanley R.,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Mar 19, 2015

Editor's review

Motor Matt's Queer Find; or, The Secret of the Iron Chest is a boys' adventure novel by Stanley R. Matthews, part of the public-domain juvenile literature collected by Project Gutenberg. Judging from the title and classification, it follows the classic formula of "boy protagonist + machine/vehicle + mystery": a strange discovery leads to the secret of the iron chest and drives the plot forward layer by layer. The value of such work is not literary depth but type narrative that is brisk, clear in its goals, and suited to building reading stamina. For readers studying the conventions of early boys' adventure fiction, it is also a usable sample, showing how that era shaped boy characters who were brave, quick-witted, and valued comradeship. As a free ebook, it suits English extensive reading or genre entertainment, but do not expect complex characterization or exploration of social issues. Treat it as a light old-fashioned adventure film.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Not a good fit for

Reading tips

  1. Read the first two chapters to establish the character relationships and the central mystery before deciding whether to read through, so you do not lose direction.
  2. Treat it as extensive-reading material: guess unfamiliar words from context, then look up key words after finishing a chapter.
  3. Note clues about "the secret of the iron chest" as you read; this increases engagement with the puzzle.
  4. For English study, retell the plot in two or three sentences after each chapter to check comprehension.

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.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19

FAQ

What age is this book suitable for? By genre and language, it suits young readers with some English reading ability, especially those who enjoy adventure and puzzles. Younger readers with insufficient English are advised to start with an abridged version or read with an adult, to avoid frustration with old-fashioned expression.
Can I read this without having read other books in the Motor Matt series? Boys' series novels of this kind usually have relatively independent plots, with the central mystery advanced within this volume, so it can generally be read directly. If recurring character relationships are unclear, there is no need to go back and complete the series; follow this volume's main line.
Is the English difficult? It is old-fashioned boys' adventure English: direct narration and much dialogue, but some vocabulary and syntax carry the marks of the era. Intermediate readers can attempt it; read for plot momentum and do not grind over every word.

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About the author

Matthews, Stanley R. Author

Stanley R. Matthews is an author in the field of English popular fiction, and public information about his life and nationality is limited; his writing can only be assessed on the basis of the works held in the collection. The collection contains 32 of his works, most of which center on youthful mechanical and adventure themes, with the "Motor Matt" series being the most concentrated, including Motor Matt's Reverse, Motor Matt's Mandarin, Motor Matt's Short Circuit, and Motor Matt's Double Trouble. These works generally follow a young protagonist's experiences with motor vehicles, aircraft, and other new machines, interwoven with puzzle-solving, chases, and exotic adventures; the pace is brisk and the suspense dense, with clear features of early juvenile adventure fiction. The representative works show that the author was skilled at creating dramatic tension through mechanical breakdowns, misunderstandings, and reversals, and often incorporated Chinese elements, circuses, and balloons into the stories. His works are important samples for studying early twentieth-century English juvenile adventure fiction and mechanical imagination.