The Rover Boys at School

The Rover Boys #1

by Arthur M. Winfield (Pseudonym)

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Genres: Fiction, Adventure, School, Classics

121 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1899

About the author

A pseudonym used by Edward Stratemeyer

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Rover Boys were the first popular and successful series of adventure books for young readers. They were written by Edward Stratemeyer under the pseudonym of Arthur M. Winfield, and led to his creation of The Stratemeyer Syndicate to produce series of novels for the juvenile market, and the influence of some, like Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, is still extant. I was a big fan of many of the series that were contemporary with my youth (Tom Swift, Jr., Rick Brant, Ken Holt, etc.), as well as a library's worth that were left over from my father's young days (Don Sturdy, the original Tom Swift, several aviation series, etc.), and I decided to give the Rovers a try. My father didn't have any of them; perhaps he didn't like them, or maybe he just never happened to get any. I found the first three volumes at a used book store, and wasn't at all impressed. All three books were published in 1899, and were full of sermons and moralizing that lectured the reader rather than having the demonstration of good moral character to which I was accustomed. The three Rovers seemed to me to be spoiled and privileged and got away with all manner of cruel practical jokes because of their position and connections. The characters weren't realistic, and the dialog not at all convincing. The books are rife with racial and ethnic slurs and caricatures, too. Perhaps Stratemeyer hadn't caught his groove yet, or they were just so old that I was unable to relate to them, but for whatever reason I never went back after the first three. I can appreciate their position in literary history, but didn't enjoy reading them.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was typical fair of the time. I would say, before handing this to children, know that all African-Americans in this book were called negroes and were shown as uneducated help. Typical of the the time and often they were uneducated because society kept them that way.
Overall, I didn't hate the book, but I didn't love it either.

[Tabi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Rover Boys at school is the first of a series of 20 books about Dick, Tom and Sam Rover. The series was started in 1899 and so the language is very "old-fashioned" and many words don't mean quite what they mean today, so it would be easy to be offended if you weren't smart enough to realize that. The series starts off a little slow, but it's fun to watch the characters grow up. The brothers are sent away to a military school in this book and make friends and enemies among the students and teachers. Some of their adventures in other books are foreshadowed in this one.

[Jeff Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a early juvenile that predates The Hardy Boys, though has much in common with those books. Since The Hardy Boys were my first love as a young reader decided to check this out since it is in the public domain on Project Gutenberg and Librivox.

The book was enjoyable as an 1890's young adult literature. Nothing great, but bun in its way and nicely innocent. This is a first in a series so plot elements play out in other books.

[Samantha Glasser]

Read this book for free through Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5780....

[Christine Goodnough · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in the 1890s, this appears to be the beginning book in the Rover Boys series. Written in a style that was common in that day, archaic by today's standards, but it's still an interesting story for pre-teen boys.
Some stereotypes: the school bully is all-round rotten and no effort is made to get along with him. Blacks in this story have servant roles -- true to that era, and their dialogue is done in the jargon to match.
The Rover boys are a big hit at school, except with the assistant headmaster, Mr Crabtree. A quick-tempered stickler-for-details, he's annoyed with the Rover brothers as soon as they arrive, especially Tom, but the Rovers stand up to him. Almost too much, considering his authority! Later on they play a couple of nasty pranks on him.
The Captain who owns and heads the school is a decent, fair man and the brothers think this military-themed school is great. Of course they always succeed at whatever they do, athletically and otherwise, and are all round decent sorts except when Tom's playing naughty pranks. Overall it's a fairly good read for boys, definitely clean, but set in a different world that young people now are familiar with.

[Joelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

We read these in 5th grade and I forgot about them until recently

[Larry Piper · Rating 3 out of 5]

In reading something about the author of the Hardy Boys series (Lesley something or other, a Canadian), I got interested in Edward Stratemeyer, who masterminded a number of popular youth series, including the Hardy Boys, Tom Swift, Nancy Drew, the Bobbsey Twins, and the Rover Boys. Well, I'd never read any Rover Boys, which seemed to be Stratemeyer's first series and one he largely penned himself. Many of the others he outlined and then farmed out the actual writing to others, for a fixed price and no royalties. The poor bastard who wrote the Hardy Boys only made about $100 for a volume, which then went on to sell to several generations of boys over several decades.

Anyway, the Rover Boys is short and active. There's always something going on. Lots of youthful hijinx, scary adventures, e.g. being attacked by a rampaging snake, robbed by a hobo, choked on a moving train, etc. There are also lots of moral teachings, so as to instruct boys as to how to grow up to be proper men, lots of foreshadowing, and of course a summary of the story which pitches the next one in the series. Since the book leaves a number of questions up in the air, e.g. will the rich widow be bamboozled into marriage by the malevolent, former schoolmaster, one must, naturally, immediately go out to buy the next adventure in the series. So, perhaps I shall.

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the very first series Edward Stratemeyer wrote which led to the creation of the Stratemeyer Syndicate which gave birth to the Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys.
The Rover Boys are portrayed as healthy, wholesome American boys - so it's surprising to see how prejudiced the writing is and how much trouble the boys get into while still being viewed as terrific. (Actually, I guess the prejudice is not surprising because that is a big part of American history - past and present.) "Boys will be boys" is the phrase that sums up why their antics are viewed so positively. The biggest compliments the book hands out to them are "manly" and "lively." I have a feeling mother types weren't wild about these books. 1899 was a different world though.
Those complaints aside, this is a fun, rollicking adventure and I plan to read more of the series.

[A.J. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this one by way of research. In many ways a typical school story - sporting events, a bully to deal with, a mean teacher and a damsel in distress. Very much of its time though, in the moralising tone of the author, who isn't afraid of putting his own opinions into the story. He also had a rather annoying habit of blatantly promoting the next books in the series.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Published pre-1923. Takes place in the 1890s as the boys go off to a military academy. Their father is missing, and their Uncle is not up to raising a spirited group of boys so off they go on their adventures at school. Their father's watch, left with one of the boys, is stolen and leads to quite a few situations until it is recovered at the end of the book.

[jy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intro to military school

This story shows just a glimpse of a military school life of a cadet. Meanwhile ,it has the same action adventure as any other Rover Boys book.

[Niyati · Rating 5 out of 5]

rover boys make some enemies but ..............
interesting book........