Ragged Dick: Or, Street Life in New York with the Boot Blacks

Look at Ragged Dick through the lenses of 1860s New York and Alger's own life there. Ragged Dick is a fourteen-year-old bootblack - he smokes, drinks occasionally, and sleeps on the streets - but he is anxious "to turn over a new leaf, and try to grow up "'spectable". He won't steal under any circumstances, and many gentlemen who are impressed with this virtue (and his determination to succeed) offer their aid. Mr. Greyson, for example, invites him to church and Mr. Whitney gives him five d...