Roy Blakeley's Bee-line Hike

Fitzhugh, Percy Keese, 1876-1950Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.1

Word count: 195K words
Chapters: 20

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.Roy Blakeley's Bee-line Hike by Percy Keese FitzhughAuthor: Fitzhugh, Percy Keese, 1876-1950,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Apr 5, 2008

Editor's review

Roy Blakeley's Bee-line Hike is a boys' adventure novel by Percy Keese Fitzhugh, part of Project Gutenberg's free eBook collection. Built around scouting-style outdoor hikes, it moves briskly in plain, lively prose and carries the humor and comradeship typical of early twentieth-century American juvenile literature. Its descriptions of hiking, camping, and teamwork are concrete and vivid, making it a suitable entry-level English original for young readers and a light read for those interested in early American boys' fiction. As a public-domain eBook, it is cheap to access and easy to read in short stretches on commutes, trips, or between English-study sessions. Note that its language and period setting are remote from the present, and some expressions need annotation. On the whole, it is a boys' book prized for fun and adventure rather than a serious literary classic.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Young readers who enjoy outdoor adventure and scouting themes
Middle schoolers looking for light English originals to practice reading
Readers interested in early twentieth-century American boys' literature
English learners who need extracurricular extensive reading material

Not a good fit for

Adult readers seeking complex literary technique and deep themes
Beginners unfamiliar with early English usage who are unwilling to look up words
Young readers hoping for contemporary school or realistic fiction

Reading tips

Read one chapter straight through to feel the rhythm of the language before deciding whether to read closely paragraph by paragraph
Mark unfamiliar words first, then look them up together after finishing a section
Use the hiking plot to take notes on characters and the sequence of events
One or two chapters a day suits the book's brisk pace

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 for English beginners to read directly?

Not really for complete beginners or readers just starting out. The language carries early twentieth-century usage, and its sentence structures and vocabulary are remote from modern English, so it requires some vocabulary and a habit of looking words up. It is better attempted at an intermediate reading level, or begun in shorter chapters read in stages.

What does this book have to do with scouting?

The story is built around boys' hikes and outdoor activities, emphasizing teamwork, route planning, and incidents along the way, with a clear scouting-style flavor of adventure. The available information does not state a direct connection between the author and the scouting organization, however, so readers can take it simply as a boys' outdoor adventure story.

What is it like to read the public-domain eBook?

The Project Gutenberg edition is free and easy to obtain, and suits reading in short stretches on an electronic device. Public-domain books usually lack modern notes and introductions, though, so readers must check period background or unfamiliar expressions for themselves. A dictionary or reading aid is recommended.

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About the author

Fitzhugh, Percy Keese, 1876-1950 Author

Percy Keese Fitzhugh (1876–1950) was an American author of children's literature, best known for his two boys' series featuring Roy Blakeley and Tom Slade. The collection here includes twenty-six of his works, among them Roy Blakeley: His Story, Roy Blakeley's Bee-line Hike, Roy Blakeley's Motor Caravan, Tom Slade on Mystery Trail, Tom Slade, Motorcycle Dispatch Bearer, Tom Slade at Temple Camp, Tom Slade on the River, and Roy Blakeley's Adventures in Camp. These books are generally classified as inspirational coming-of-age stories. Set around boys' experiences in camping, hiking, cycling, and outdoor adventure, they portray friendship, courage, and responsibility in a light, humorous tone and stress honesty, mutual help, and self-reliance. Public information about his life is limited, but the series show his skill in creating lively, upright boy characters whose stories stay close to young readers' lives, giving him a representative place in early American juvenile fiction.