With the Swamp Fox: A Story of General Marion's Young Spies

Otis, James, 1848-1912Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.0
Word count
334K words
Chapters
34

Tags

English Originals Historical FictionChildren's Literature Historical ReappraisalMilitary StrategyAdventure JourneyHeroismComing of AgeGrowing UpYouth 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.With the Swamp Fox: A Story of General Marion's Young Spies by James OtisAuthor: Otis, James, 1848-1912,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Jan 12, 2014

Editor's review

This historical novel for young readers is set in the southern theater of the American Revolution and follows the adventures of young scouts under General Francis Marion. James Otis, a practiced writer of history for young people, blends authentic historical atmosphere with the tension of spy missions; the plot moves briskly, the characters' allegiances are clear, and readers can feel the choices and courage of wartime. As a free public-domain ebook from Project Gutenberg, it suits English reading practice or as supplementary material for an introduction to American history. The original is in English, with language marked by its period; some military and regional terms require notes. Suitable for classroom extension reading, parent-child reading, or independent extensive reading, and for readers studying early American historical fiction for young people.

Who it's for

A good fit for

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Reading tips

  1. Learn about General Marion and the southern theater before starting the story.
  2. Mark military and regional vocabulary first, then look them up together after each chapter.
  3. Read in sections with children and discuss the characters' choices and allegiances after each chapter.
  4. Use it as English extensive reading material, keeping a steady pace of one or two chapters a day.

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
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34

FAQ

Is this book in Chinese or English? The original is in English, a public-domain ebook from Project Gutenberg. Chinese readers need some English reading ability and may use a dictionary or bilingual comparison.
Are the historical figures in the story real? The story is set against the historical figure General Francis Marion during the American Revolution and is historical fiction. The young scouts and other characters are mostly fictional, used to link historical atmosphere with adventure plot.
What age of child is it suitable for? Given the subject and language difficulty, it suits young people with basic English reading ability. For younger children, parents are advised to read along and explain the background; readers sensitive to war scenes should judge for themselves.

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About the author

Otis, James, 1848-1912 Author

James Otis (1848–1912) was an American author known for juvenile coming-of-age fiction, with 42 of his works held in this collection. His representative works include Toby Tyler; or, Ten Weeks with a Circus, which follows a boy’s experiences and growth in a circus, and Mr. Stubbs’s Brother, also centered on boyhood life. Other titles, such as Sarah Dillard’s Ride: A Story of the Carolinas in 1780, With Porter in the Essex, Martha of California: A Story of the California Trail, The Boys of ’98, and Defending the Island: A Story of Bar Harbor in 1758, place themes of growing up within American historical events and regional settings. His style is accessible and vivid, using a boy’s perspective to explore courage, responsibility, and self-reliance; his works are often classified as inspirational coming-of-age stories and offered positive guidance to young readers of his time. Public information is limited and biographical details are largely unavailable, but the surviving works clearly reflect his creative orientation.