Ruby at School

Paull, George A., Mrs., 1859-1895Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.2

Word count: 270K words
Chapters: 27

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.Ruby at School by Mrs. George A. PaullAuthor: Paull, George A., Mrs., 1859-1895,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Jan 5, 2010

Editor's review

Ruby at School is a girls' school story by the late nineteenth-century American author Mrs. George A. Paull, belonging to juvenile literature. The book centers on the everyday life of a girl named Ruby at school, focusing on friendships, classroom and extracurricular happenings, and the small choices of growing up; its tone is gentle, with clear but mild moral instruction. Its value lies first in its documentary quality: readers can see the scenes of girls' education of that era, teacher-student relations, and the narrative conventions of girls' fiction, making it a primary source for the history of children's literature and gender education. For general readers it is more like a window into a school of the old days, with a leisurely plot, suitable for relaxed reading. Note that the language and values carry a distinct period stamp, and some ideas are distant from today's standards; a historically informed eye is advisable. The e-edition is provided by Project Gutenberg; it is not long and suits reading in installments.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Researchers and curriculum designers in children's literature and the history of girls' education
General readers curious about late nineteenth-century American girls' fiction
Intermediate English learners seeking simple original English texts
Lovers of nostalgic school stories who prefer a leisurely narrative

Not a good fit for

Contemporary young readers seeking strong plots and fast-paced narrative
Readers looking for modern educational ideas and diverse values
Readers sensitive to old-fashioned preaching and period-bound expressions

Reading tips

Read one or two chapters a day, treating it as a slice of period life rather than a continuous plot
Jot down the educational ideas in the book and compare them with today's standards
For the English original, read the opening and closing paragraphs of each chapter first to grasp the main thread, then fill in details to reduce intimidation
If used for research, consult histories of children's literature alongside for background

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 as extracurricular reading for children?

The language difficulty is moderate, but the gender roles and behavioral norms carry the stamp of the late nineteenth century, and some ideas differ from contemporary educational orientations. If given to a child, parents are advised to browse it first and discuss its ideas with the child, treating it as a historical text rather than a model of behavior.

What is the story mainly about, and is the plot tight?

It revolves around the daily life and friendships of a girl named Ruby at school, in a slice-of-life narrative with a leisurely pace and mild conflict. It is closer to a sketch of period school life than a suspense-driven coming-of-age novel, suitable for readers who like slow reading.

Is the English original difficult to read?

The sentence structure is fairly regular, the vocabulary mostly everyday school language with few obscure words, making it an original accessible to intermediate English readers. Proceed chapter by chapter; when encountering old-fashioned expressions, guess the meaning first and then verify, to keep reading fluent.

Comments

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About the author

Paull, George A., Mrs., 1859-1895 Author · 1859–1895

Mrs. George A. Paull (1859–1895) was an English-language children's author of the late nineteenth century about whom very little is known. Her birth and death years are clear, but her full name, nationality, and educational background are not recorded in publicly available sources, and verifiable information is scarce. Her only confirmed representative work is Ruby at School, a children's novel set in a school environment that follows the everyday experiences of a girl named Ruby. It belongs to the then-popular genre of girls' coming-of-age and boarding-school stories. Such works typically emphasize the protagonist's character, friendships, and sense of responsibility, in simple language and gentle plots suited to young readers. Because the author died at only thirty-six, her output was small, and systematic study of her life and work remains limited; the book survives mainly as an example of the period's children's literature.