Library of Indiana Classics – serie

Of all the books written by Hoosier writers, Gene Stratton-Porter's A Girl of the Limberlost is unquestionably the most cherished: the timeless story of an impoverished young girl, Elnora Comstock, growing up on the edge of the Limberlost swamp. Elnora Comstock has served as a role model for successive generations of independent young readers.

This cherished classic of rural American life was a popular success when it first appeared in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. By the early twentieth century, it was nationally acclaimed by critics for its realistic portrayal of a vanishing phase of American life. Today it is considered a milestone in American literature, a monument to regional writing. Edward Eggleston's account of the adventures of a young schoolmaster in a nineteenth-century school system presents a vivid and readable chapter in the history of America and American education. First and foremost, however, The Hoosier School-Master is a charming yet realistic novel in the manner of Tom Sawyer. Set in Flat Creek, Indiana, in the 1850s, the story relates the encounters of the new schoolteacher, Ralph Hartsook, with such lovable characters as Bud, Hannah, and Shocky. This marvelous tale contains all the elements of a good, old-fashioned melodrama—the bully, star-crossed lovers, the poorhouse, and the one-room schoolhouse. Written with Hoosier humor and candor, Eggleston's delightful portraits of heroes and villains are a bit sentimental, but they are also perceptive—full of life and truth.

The Bears of Blue River describes the adventures of a young boy growing up in early nineteenth-century rural Indiana. Little Balser lives with his parents, a younger brother, and a baby sister in a cozy log cabin on the bank of the Big Blue River. Although only thirteen or fourteen years old, he is quite familiar with the dangers and rigors of frontier life. As the story unfolds, the boy becomes lost in the forest, encounters the fierce one-eared bear, and is nearly caught by a bear as he dozes next to what he thinks is a bearskin. This is a book for children or adults who love nature and tales of early pioneer life.

Of all the books written by Hoosier writers, Gene Stratton-Porter's A Girl of the Limberlost is unquestionably the most cherished: the timeless story of an impoverished young girl, Elnora Comstock, growing up on the edge of the Limberlost swamp. Elnora Comstock has served as a role model for successive generations of independent young readers.

Penrod's escapades have delighted generations of readers. The stories in this Indiana classic will captivate still another generation of young readers and awaken nostalgia in many an adult.

In Freckles a homeless waif finds his deliverance in the primeval Limberlost swamp. Maimed and abandoned as an infant, Freckles seeks a chance to prove his worth. He is given that opportunity as the guard of the precious timber of the Limberlost.

This classic romantic thriller contains all the elements of a good mystery story: an isolated mansion inhabited by mysterious creatures, a handsome hero, duels, ghosts, and an old-fashioned shoot-out.

Loosely based on Stratton-Porter's own childhood, Laddie is a double tale—the classic poor-boy/rich-girl romance and the story of a child of nature and her idyllic childhood.

[FYI: Named one of the 100 Best Novels by the editors of the Modern Library; 7/20/98 New York Times, p. B1]"Booth Tarkington's The Magnificent Ambersons is a delightful novel. In addition, it is a view of Indianapolis' evolution from a major marketing center to a great industrial city. It adds a new dimension to one's understanding of the coming of the Industrial Age to the State of Indiana." —Herman B Wells, Indiana University"With the tremendous emphasis on wealth and status in contemporary society, Tarkington's observations are as apt today as when first written. But that is what makes a classic, isn't it?" —Library Journal

Set in the author's adopted home of California in the 1920s, this is Gene Stratton-Porter's last novel, a story filled with wisdom, a love of nature, and her own abiding optimism. In it a Master Bee Keeper, his bees, and the natural beauty of California restore a wounded World War I veteran to health.

This early 20th-century classic chronicles the adventures of an orphaned newspaper boy in his "hand-to-hand scuffle" with life in a midwestern metropolis. Gene Stratton-Porter's faith in the healing power of nature is also apparent, in a lovingly depicted tamarack swamp set near the city.

Kate Bates is another Gene Stratton-Porter unsung hero in the tradition of Elnora Comstock, of A Girl of the Limberlost, and Freckles and Laddie, of books of the same name. As the youngest child, and female, in a large prosperous farm family, she has been designated as her mother's helper in old age. Kate finds this unfair since all of the brothers have been given land and the older sisters sent to teacher training. With the help of a nephew and sister-in-law, she defies her parents, becomes a teacher, leaves home. Her real ambition, however, is to own and cultivate a large farm. After rejecting the easy path to her dream, she suffers through a bad marriage but ultimately acquires her land and achieves happiness.

Another early 20th-century classic from the remarkable pen of Gene Stratton-Porter. Set in Rainbow Bottom along the Wabash River, At the Foot of the Rainbow tells of the lives of a dissipated Irishman, Jimmy Malone, his long-suffering wife Mary, and Jimmy's boyhood friend and lifelong companion, Dannie Macnoun.

In Penrod and Sam, the imaginative adventures of Tarkington's 10-year-old Penrod Schofield continue. Penrod's sidekick is Samuel Williams, and together they improvise, causing general mischief and disorder wherever they go. In picaresque fashion, a fencing battle takes them all through the neighborhood; they narrowly escape serious injury while making boastful demonstrations with a loaded gun; they indulge in dubious "'nishiation" practices for their secret society; they steal food for the starving horse concealed in the Schofields' empty stable; they attempt to fish a cat out of a cistern using a pair of trousers; and they cause general chaos at Miss Amy Rennsdale's dance. Familiar characters from the earlier Penrod volume—Maurice Levy, Georgie Basset, Roddy Bitts, Herman and Verman, and Marjorie Jones—make their appearance in Penrod and Sam. This is a delightfully nostalgic look at Tarkington's turn-of-the-century Indiana.

The Dark Didn't Catch Me tells the story of the Robinson family during the Great Depression in Greene County, Indiana. Seely Robinson is the tenacious 11-year-old heroine, and it is from her perspective that the story is told. It begins when Seely, her two siblings, and her parents relocate to the hills of southern Indiana. There they face a struggle to survive, as Seely's father works to control his anxieties and temper, and as Seely's mother labors through personal disappointment and poverty to raise her family. Seely learns and grows, and in spite of all her troubles, through all of these hardships, ultimately manages to see through the darkness and appreciate the wonder of living.

The time is 1813, during America's last war with England; the place is the Ohio Valley, the thickly wooded, hilly, creek-carved highway of western settlement. Wolves still howl at midnight on village greens. Each log cabin is a fortress, and no one travels without a knife and gun. Through this armed and fearful countryside, three people—Ely Jackson, a 17-year-old backwoods boy; Owen Lightfoot, a lawyer from Philadelphia with a romantic view of the frontier; and Rain Hawk, a half-breed girl living on her own in the wilderness—chase an awesome quarry, a mysterious giant-like figure who is on the run for murder. Ely and Owen set out on the trail of the "Bearman" with the intent of bringing him "to justice," while Rain Hawk struggles to protect him from the public's wrath. Bad Man Ballad is a riveting tale by a masterful storyteller and an appealing contemporary addition to the Library of Indiana Classics.

" . . . vintage early-twentieth-century romantic literature." —Indiana Magazine of HistoryOriginally published in 1908, Uncle Tom Andy Bill relates the boisterous boyhood adventures of the narrator, Thomas Andrew William Addison. By the author of The Bears of Blue River.