Bound to Rise; Or Up the Ladder

Horatio Alger Jr. (1832-1899) wrote over 100 ‘rags-to-riches’ novels often about teenage boys forced by circumstances to earn their own living selling newspapers blacking boots carrying luggage or tending store.Alger’s heroes are honest temperate generous and brave good in a fight and ready to protect a weaker boy from a bully. Alger stresses work study and thrift as ways to escape poverty. Alger’s villains on the other hand are usually dishonest sometimes alcoholic or brutal.Alger’s stories are thrilling often with cliff-hanger chapter endings. Alger’s books have sold hundred of millions of copies making him one of the best-selling authors in U.S. and world history.