Ruth Of Boston: A Story Of The Massachusetts Bay Colony

by James Otis

""Ruth of A Story of the Massachusetts Bay Colony"" is a historical novel written by James Otis and published in 1910. The book tells the story of Ruth, a young girl who moves to the Massachusetts Bay Colony with her family in the 17th century. The novel explores the challenges and hardships faced by the early settlers in the colony, including the harsh climate, disease, and conflicts with the Native Americans. Ruth's journey is also marked by personal struggles, as she navigates the societal expectations of women in the Puritan community and grapples with her own desires and ambitions. The book provides a vivid portrayal of life in the early years of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and offers a glimpse into the daily lives and experiences of its inhabitants.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

164 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1910

About the author

James Otis Kaler was an American journalist and author of children’s literature, primarily in the boys' adventure genre. The vast majority of his works were published under the name James Otis, but he also wrote as Amy Prentice, Harry Prentice, and Lt. James K. Orton.

His works include the Boy Spies series, the Navy Boys series, the Minute Boys series, a number of historical novels published by the American Book Company, and more than thirty novels about life in New York State.

Reviews

[Thom Swennes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written for children, Ruth of Boston by James Otis tells the story of a twelve-year old girl (in the form of a diary) in the early years of the North American colonies. Her story starts in the year of 1640 (twenty years after the settlement of the first colonies) and she relates the difficulties the pilgrims experienced during the first few years of settlement in the New World. Although the book was constructed to appeal to younger readers, I found it very interesting. Aside from her obvious obsession with food (or lack of it) she explained such long forgotten trivia such as how to grow, harvest and process flax, how to make soap and many other chores the pioneers had to perform to survive in a wild new country. One can’t help to see that the world she lived in was a far cry from the country it would become 140 years later. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and plan to read more books by James Otis, as they seem both informative and inspiring.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

These stories were written more than 100 years ago, yet they're relevant today. They reveal more about everyday life than other accounts I've read. In the introduction, Otis explains that he's not trying to share every historical fact about the time period, but rather to help kids visualize what life was like. And he succeeds nicely. Here, the focus is on Boston in the early 1630s.

This book begins ... Truly it seems a great undertaking to journey from London into the land of America, yet I have done so, ...

Otis always includes a myriad of examples of daily life that might be of interest to kids. Here he relates a punishment that the school teacher might use if a pupil whispers to a classmate:

p 116: These whispering-sticks were stout bits of wood from the oak tree, which could not readily be broken by the teeth, and were put into a child's mouth as you thrust a bit into the mouth of a horse, after which the two ends were bound securely back of the neck. Thus the unfortunate one's jaws were stretched wide open, oftentimes for a full hour.

Etchings are used generously to illustrate the text.

[Amy Griffith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is historical fiction about the Pilgrims. Otis describes a lot of the history involving the lives of the people, both historical events and everyday lives. Sometimes, however, it's painfully obvious that the book was written to teach children, and it isn't as engaging as it could be. However, the chapters are very short, and it would be very easy to assign one or two chapters a day to a child studying this period of history. The reader will not get bogged down if it's read in small chunks.

[Hristina Ivanova-Petrova · Rating 3 out of 5]

Taking into account that this was written from a child's point of view and directed towards children audiences, it was very light to read and informative. It was nothing special, but I liked it.

[Gustavo Cruz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excelente story from start to finish. First time, I read James Otis and I want more.

[Crystal Beavin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found a 1910 edition of this book recently at Half-Price books. What a gem! Excellent book!

[Janelle]

I reached chapter three before giving it up. It is supposed to be the fictional diary of a 12 year old girl, but the author apparently had no idea how to accurately voice a 12 year old child. She sounded like an adult in a child's body. Despite some interesting historical details, it was rather boring. And their religion was so depressing. I'm very thankful I didn't live in that era, reading about their religious idiosyncrasies was bad enough. I think I'd be miserable living them.

[Big H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute and educational.