Young Hunters in Porto Rico or, The Search for a Lost Treasure

Stratemeyer, Edward, 1862-1930Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.8

Word count: 277K words
Chapters: 28

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.Young Hunters in Porto Rico; or, The Search for a Lost Treasure by StratemeyerAuthor: Stratemeyer, Edward, 1862-1930,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Jun 2, 2016

Editor's review

This is a boys' adventure novel by Edward Stratemeyer, one of his many juvenile books; the subtitle identifies the core plot as a treasure hunt in Puerto Rico. The work continues the author's favored pattern of boys' team adventure: a group of young hunters travels afar, encounters clues, obstacles, and rivals in an exotic setting, and the story advances around a lost treasure. Its reading value lies mainly in its place in genre history, helping readers understand the narrative conventions, geographical imagination, and character arrangements of early twentieth-century American boys' adventure fiction. The prose is driven by plot, with brisk scene changes, making it suitable as a sample for English extensive reading or genre study. Note that the book's depictions of exotic places and peoples carry the limitations of its era; today's readers should read it with a critical eye, as material for understanding the shape of old-style boys' adventure fiction rather than mere entertainment.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English-language readers who enjoy classic boys' adventure and treasure-hunt stories
Students and enthusiasts studying early American juvenile genre fiction
Readers at middle-school level and above seeking English extensive-reading material with a brisk plot
Those interested in the conventions of Stratemeyer-style juvenile fiction

Not a good fit for

Readers sensitive to old-style exotic depictions and bothered by period prejudice
Beginners with limited English reading experience who need extensive annotation
Readers expecting the psychological depth of modern young adult fiction

Reading tips

Read chapter by chapter, briefly noting treasure clues and character actions at the end of each chapter.
While reading, pay attention to the book's depictions of Puerto Rico and compare them with real geographical and cultural sources.
As a genre-study sample, summarize the common narrative patterns of boys' adventure fiction as you read.
For English extensive reading, read for plot first and look up vocabulary afterward to keep the overall reading rhythm.

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

Will not having read other books in the series affect my understanding?

The plot revolves around a self-contained treasure-hunting adventure, and the main character relationships can be established within this book, so prior reading of other series installments is usually unnecessary. If you want character backgrounds, you can read related earlier works afterward.

Are the book's exotic depictions problematic to today's readers?

The work dates from the early twentieth century, and its depictions of Puerto Rico and local people carry the imagination and prejudices of that era. Readers are advised to read it critically as a historical text, distinguishing literary conventions from real local culture.

Is this book suitable for learning English?

It is suitable as extensive-reading material for readers with some foundation. The sentences are mainly driven by narrative, and the plot is clear, but there are many old-fashioned expressions and place names; reading with a dictionary is recommended, and there is no need to struggle over every word.

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About the author

Stratemeyer, Edward, 1862-1930 Author

Edward Stratemeyer (Stratemeyer, Edward, 1862-1930) was a writer and planner of far-reaching influence in the history of American juvenile publishing; the library holds seventy-eight of his works, commonly classified under inspirational coming-of-age stories. Public information about his life is limited, but his representative works reveal a clear creative orientation: taking youthful adventure as the main thread and weaving commercial pursuits, treasure-hunting expeditions, overseas military service, and frontier marches into coming-of-age narratives, as seen in the Rover Boys and Dave Porter series and in works involving ocean voyages and the Japanese navy. These stories move briskly, are full of suspense, and emphasize courage, honesty, and responsibility, catering to the reading tastes of young readers of the time. His writing model and series-based approach exerted a considerable influence on the production of American juvenile adventure fiction in the twentieth century.