Ragged Dick

Meet Ragged Dick, a fourteen-year-old bootblack on the streets of 1860s New York City. Despite his poverty, Dick is cheerful, honest, and determined to make something of himself. When he befriends a wealthy boy from the country, Dick gets a glimpse of a better life and decides to pursue it. Through hard work, a little luck, and the help of friends like Henry Fosdick, Dick begins to climb out of poverty.

This classic novel by Horatio Alger Jr. is a lively and optimistic story of self-improvement and moral character. It offers a vivid portrait of a vanished New York, from the bustling streets of Broadway to the crowded tenements of Mott Street. Readers young and old will enjoy Dick's adventures, his clashes with the bully Micky Maguire, and his triumph over adversity.

This edition contains the complete text of Ragged Dick, a new introduction that sets the book in its historical context, a character guide, a summary of the plot, a thematic overview, a glossary of period terms, and discussion questions for book clubs and students.