Burt L. Standish (1866–1945)

In the second book of the series, we are reunited with the boys of Oakdale Academy. Ben Stone, the hero of the first book, is one of them, but this one is told from the point of view of another just-arrived student, a Texan boy called Rodney Grant.

This second book follows a similar arc. For several reasons, Rodney becomes unpopular among the boys, through no fault of his own. He is seem as cowardly because he avoids fights (he has his own good reasons to do so, far from being a coward). He show more is also seen as a liar (but the tall tales he tells are actually his own humorous way to cope with the stereotypes the other boys have of life in Texas). He associates with boys with bad reputation (although not all of those boys are rotten). Then he is suspected of a despicable act.

Once more this is the story of how the new boy is isolated and suspected by his school mates and the whole town, and how he clears his name and wins their friendship and respect. Old-fashioned but readable and entertaining.

The book is in the public domain and available for free in the Gutenberg Project. show less

Published in 1911, this juvenile school story is old-fashioned but still quite readable. Our hero, a boy named Ben Stone, has had a tragic life and joins the Oakdale Academy to get an education, with money he has saved working. Old enemies and bad luck, along with a certain lack of personal charisma, make him look suspicious in front of his school mates, and he ends up being suspected of theft. The story is about this fall from grace and how he clears his name and earns back the trust and show more respect of his mates, and how he gets back the little brother he had been separated from. It's a feel good story, showing how perseverance and good intentions win the day in the end, no matter how insurmountable the obstacles.

The book is in the public domain and available for free in the Gutenberg Project. show less

Good reading for boys