Ragged Dick

Ragged Dick (1868) is the first in a series of six novels by American author Horatio Alger. In each, Alger uses the Protestant work ethic as a template to not only examine the harsh realities of urban poverty, but provide a hopeful, concrete moral for his young readers.

Dick is a teenage bootblack who lives and works on the streets of New York City. Despite his difficult circumstances, he never loses hope. Dick is determined to both survive and make it in life, and prides himself on his mor...