The Clock Strikes Thirteen

Wirt, Mildred A. (Mildred Augustine), 1905-2002Project Gutenberg · United StatesMar 2023

3.0

Word count: 240K words
Chapters: 24

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.The Clock Strikes Thirteen by Mildred A. WirtAuthor: Wirt, Mildred A. (Mildred Augustine), 1905-2002,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Nov 22, 2010

Editor's review

This is a young adult novel by Mildred A. Wirt, falling within classic juvenile literature. Wirt is known for her series of girl-detective stories, and this book continues her brisk, suspense-driven narrative style, built around the mysterious premise of "the clock striking thirteen." For readers curious about the landscape of twentieth-century American popular juvenile fiction, it offers a light and entertaining sample: short in length and moderate in English difficulty, it works well as extensive reading material. Readers should not expect deep social critique or complex character arcs; its value lies more in plot momentum and period atmosphere. It is best read in short segments during commutes or before bed, following the chapter-by-chapter suspense; it can also be compared with other works by the same author to observe how her narrative formulas persist and change. As a public-domain ebook, it is easy to obtain and serves as an accessible introduction to a genre tradition.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Young readers who enjoy classic girl-detective stories
English learners seeking to improve their language sense through extensive reading
Researchers interested in twentieth-century American popular literature
Commuters looking for light English reading material

Not a good fit for

Serious literary readers who prefer profound social themes and complex characterization
Hardcore mystery fans with high demands for rigorous detective logic
Beginners at the very start of English reading with clearly insufficient vocabulary

Reading tips

Read the chapter titles first to grasp the suspense structure, then proceed chapter by chapter to preserve the pleasure of deduction.
When encountering unfamiliar words, first guess from context, and look them up together after finishing the chapter.
Read alongside other girl-detective series to observe similarities and differences in genre conventions.
Set aside two or three fixed half-hour sessions per week to maintain narrative continuity.

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 English level is this book suitable for?

As a twentieth-century young adult novel, its sentences are relatively short and its vocabulary mostly everyday expressions, suiting readers with at least a high school English foundation who can infer word meanings from context. Readers with smaller vocabularies can use a dictionary or a bilingual edition, but it is not suitable as zero-beginner material.

Can I read this directly without having read the author's other works?

Yes. Such young adult detective stories usually have independent plots and do not rely on prior installments, so reading this directly causes no comprehension problems. If you enjoy the narrative style, you can then go back to the author's other series.

The book is a public-domain ebook—is the reading experience reliable?

This book comes from Project Gutenberg as a public-domain electronic text; the content is freely available, but typesetting and proofreading quality depend on the specific version file. Before reading, browse the first few pages to confirm the format suits you.

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About the author

Wirt, Mildred A. (Mildred Augustine), 1905-2002 Author

Mildred A. Wirt (1905–2002) was an American writer of children's and young adult literature; publicly available information about her life and education is limited. Thirty of her works are held in this collection, including Whispering Walls, The Brownie Scouts in the Circus, Signal in the Dark, The Clock Strikes Thirteen, Swamp Island, The Secret of the Sundial, The Deserted Yacht, and Voice from the Cave. These works mostly fall under inspirational coming-of-age fiction, often featuring young protagonists and centering on mystery, adventure, and puzzle-solving. The plots move briskly, emphasizing suspense and the testing of character. Written for young readers in accessible language, her stories are strongly narrative and hold a place in the tradition of children's adventure and detective fiction, exerting a degree of influence on later juvenile mystery writing.