The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-11-22
Boys Books.

Counors latest contribution to literature
IN '0lengarry School Days" FLEMING II.
Reven Coz. 1t IL the old district school
story with strong Calvinistic notifications
and any amount OF out-of-door feeling.
The boyt are interesting, and their parents
are, TOO. though perhaps q bit unco' guild.
vigorous game Of Skinny on the ice Is de-
sHtbed at the end. Mr.. Connor's style Is
VIVID, and he writes good English, an un-
common quality in boys books.
Football In the theme OF Mr.. Ralph II.
Barbour's Behind the Line (Appletons).
There are $50 pages Of instructive descrip-
tton Of school life. in which the game is the
ono matter OF interest. and Mr.. Lorin F.
Deland, the inventor Of strategy. has been
consulted for the details Of play. There
are remarkable diagrams of ,otball game
depicted in wavy lines which experts
perhaps may be able TO interpret.
SO far as we can see. -The Boys of Wa
veney,- by Robert leighton &C. p. Put
MANS Sons), contains most of the qualities
that parents once objected to in yellow
covered" fiction for youth 1t is practically
a detective stoiy, combined with other sem
sational adventures, including needless
and brutal murder The actors. 1t is true.
etC rStVoipyo anu tif stOty pun IOi u W
'escrite school life In England but the bad
boy IL worse than most villains in melo-
drama. and the curious Anne rican boy who
combines the qualities OF Monte Crsto and
Old Sleuth puts Sherlock Holmes to shame
In his powers Of analysis. The school trial
Ii far above the range Of even elderly British
schoolboys, and 1t Is to be hoped that the
brutality Of the boys is an exaggeration
There Is much more excitement than edi-
hcation to be obtained from the book and
the snobbishness Of the end il deplorable.
Very little art il employed in Play Away.
A Story Of the Boston Fire Department
by Willis Boyd Allen Dana Estes 4 Coz
In q crude way the working Of the FIRE de-
partment IA shown, but we really believe
that II would have been more entertaining
II the attempt at a story had been omitted.
A ridiculously bad villain and some pain
fully vulgar good people are employed TO
set OF the information.
A book that can be thoroughly recon-
mended 10 THE Boys Of the Rincon Ranch"
by H. s. Garfield (The Century Coz. 1t
Is the story Of two city boys and their
Western cousin let loose ON a Texas ranch.
Their experiences are such as all boys will
care to read about. There are plenty Of
out-of-door adventures. and there is moth
ing unnatural or strained about them. The
author uses good English, such a. boys
should read. and shows good taste in omit
ting things that parents would object to,
One popularity OF the book is the prese n
tation OF the border Mexican as a human
creature with some good qualities. The
sgreaser' has been a scapegoat in all
juyanile fiction We hay, seen
Medieval romance is presented with a
delicate and artistic touch In The Boy
and the Baron" by Adeline Knapp Crhe
Century Coz. 1t is a poetic story, with
enough of the atmosphere Of chivalry and
OF Germany to satisfy even critical tastes.
There is plenty OF fighting and adventure
and woodcraft for youth, and all in excel
lent taste, and the authors management
Of the conversation Of her personages is
generally admirable. There is just enough
touch Of the archaic to make it fit in with a
child's idea OF the times and no more.
There is little besides fighting in the 400
pages of Mr.. George Manville Fenns Stan
Lynn. A Boys Adventures in China" (E
p. Dutton 4 Coz. The author is an old
favorite with the British boy and knows
we'll what that boy wants. Though his
yOunk nero rtdTt uIDll a NalNti
he finds 1t necessary to fight Chinese river
pirates at the beginning, and keeps on
fighting them with much gallantry and
bloodshed. though perhaps with some
monotony. to the end.
We are made acquainted with a lot Of
bright, live youngsters in Katharine y
Birdsall's Jacks Of All Trades" apple
tone) The disaster to the family fortunes
that impels the boys to try to make living
seems somehow familiar, but the expert
ences are amusing, the people entertaining
including a new Topsy. and the book one
that children. we should think, will enjoy
Tho mischief that various children get
into In the country is recounted in -Four
Little Indians; or. How Carroll Got Even.
by Ella Mary Coates Henry T. Coates a
Coz. One of the Indians. and by no means
the least troublesome, is a girl As in al
properly built books of the kind, there is a
runaway. There is nothing startling in
the advent ures. and the humor is pretty
mild. but the book may serve the purpose
Of revealing to city children the POSSIBLE
ties OF the country
A somew hat moral tale is Tommy Rem
ington's Battle" by Burton Egerton Steven
son CHE Century Coz. Tommy is a miner
son who IL struggling for an education anc
his battle Ia with himself The echo of thu
coal strike in the nursery may give a presen
interest to the book.
Fun OF mild sort which small boys ma.
appreciate is provided in Bob Knight
Diary. Camping Out. With Sketches b.
Bob by Charlotte Curtis Smith (E.
Dutton 4 Coz More slang is used thai
small boys should Use, though perhaps no
moro than they do Use. The pictures ar
p,rpoeely crude and by no means bad.
II 10 to very small boys that Boy Donal'
and His Hero by Penn Shirley dee ant
Sheparc), Ia addressed, Donald in on
shape or another makes up series. Their
arc q runaway and rescue from fire so tina
TIA requirements OF this style Of Juvenile
are fulfilled.
6snsAtion Of the cheapest kind. with NJ
regard to style or respectable English, !
the characteristic OF several publication
sent by the Saalfield Publishing Co, Phi
and Dick by Enrique H. Lewis, professe
to Be tho story OF apprentices in the Ameri
can navy The field was open for descrip
ton Of the training Of apprentices or of sea
life. at any rate. Instead we have a sue
cession of claptrap attempts on life AM
rescues that taken together are merel
absurd. In His Mothers Letter; or, Tn
Boy Waits Search. again we find the oppor
tunity for pictures Of country life. lnstea
va net q silly succession Of escapes fror
II. hl