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Lucky Bob #1
Lucky Bob
Bob Ryan has a way with animals. For that matter, he has a way with everyone! It's hard to believe that his own father could have cruelly abandoned this boy to shift for himself. But Bob has no trouble making friends with everyone he meets, and with their help, he is able to make his way in the world quite well. Is he lucky, or have all his sufferings simply perfected love through adversity?
"The great charm of this delightful new book by Father Finn is in the characterization of the hero, Bob Ryan. There is a certain bigness, a jovial, wholesome atmosphere about him that will at once assure him an enthusiastic welcome in the hearts of Father Finn's readers." (American Catholic Quarterly Review, October 1917)
"The great charm of this delightful new book by Father Finn is in the characterization of the hero, Bob Ryan. There is a certain bigness, a jovial, wholesome atmosphere about him that will at once assure him an enthusiastic welcome in the hearts of Father Finn's readers." (American Catholic Quarterly Review, October 1917)
248 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1917
1 person is currently reading
11 people want to read
About the author
Francis J. Finn
57 books11 followersFather Francis J. Finn, S.J. was born to Irish immigrant parents at St. Louis, Missouri in 1859.
As a boy, Francis was deeply impressed with Cardinal Wiseman’s famous novel of the early Christian martyrs, Fabiola. After that, religion really began to mean something to him. Eleven-year-old Francis was a voracious reader; he read the works of Charles Dickens, devouring Nicholas Nickleby and The Pickwick Papers. From his First Communion at age 12, Francis began to desire to become a Jesuit priest; but then his fervor cooled, his grades dropped, and his vocation might have been lost except for Fr. Charles Coppens. Fr. Coppens urged Francis to apply himself to his Latin, to improve it by using an all-Latin prayerbook, and to read good Catholic books. Fr. Finn credited the saving of his vocation to this advice and to his membership in the Sodality of Our Lady.
After graduating from St. Louis University, he became a Jesuit and was ordained a priest in 1893. He had already begun writing his debut novel Tom Playfair prior to this, as he was assigned to St. Mary s College in Kansas and dealt with unruly boys on a daily basis. He went on to write twenty-seven other books, and his novels for children were very successful. The books contain fun stories, likeable characters and themes that remain current in today's world. Each story conveys an important moral precept. He was much loved by young people, and thousands of them gathered to honor his death in 1928.
As a boy, Francis was deeply impressed with Cardinal Wiseman’s famous novel of the early Christian martyrs, Fabiola. After that, religion really began to mean something to him. Eleven-year-old Francis was a voracious reader; he read the works of Charles Dickens, devouring Nicholas Nickleby and The Pickwick Papers. From his First Communion at age 12, Francis began to desire to become a Jesuit priest; but then his fervor cooled, his grades dropped, and his vocation might have been lost except for Fr. Charles Coppens. Fr. Coppens urged Francis to apply himself to his Latin, to improve it by using an all-Latin prayerbook, and to read good Catholic books. Fr. Finn credited the saving of his vocation to this advice and to his membership in the Sodality of Our Lady.
After graduating from St. Louis University, he became a Jesuit and was ordained a priest in 1893. He had already begun writing his debut novel Tom Playfair prior to this, as he was assigned to St. Mary s College in Kansas and dealt with unruly boys on a daily basis. He went on to write twenty-seven other books, and his novels for children were very successful. The books contain fun stories, likeable characters and themes that remain current in today's world. Each story conveys an important moral precept. He was much loved by young people, and thousands of them gathered to honor his death in 1928.
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June 24, 2025
Read these books in elementary school. Very sweet!
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