Young Ames

by Walter D. Edmonds

Young Ames was good-looking, impudent and hell-bent for success. He came to New York in 1830, eager to do battle with the brash rowdy city. Almost before he knew it, Ames found himself trying to corner the cotton market by traveling from New York to New Orleans in a crazy race against time... caught up in violent abolition riots... spending wild nights fighting roaring blazes with the volunteer fire department ... trying to find an Irish immigrant girl who was lost almost before she had set foot on American soil... and, not least, blissfully - and sometimes desperately - lost in a love affair with a beautiful young lady who just happened to be his boss's niece.

Genres: Historical Fiction

342 pages, paperback

First published January 1, 1942

About the author

Walter Dumaux Edmonds has been a National Book Award winner and recipient of the Newbery Medal. He is the author of Bert Breen’s Barn, The Boyds of Black River, In the Hands of the Senecas, Mostly Canallers, Rome Haul, Time to Go House, and most recently the autobiographical Tales My Father Never Told, all available from Syracuse University Press.

Reviews

[Peg Lotvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful! Maybe the oldies really are the goodies. Young John Ames comes to New York City from Troy in the 1830s. He goes to work in a counting house (we might call it import/export) where he has a ringside seat of the workings of NY at that time. The gangs, the architecture, the haves living close with the have-nots, the fires and firefighting....and a wee touch of romance all combine to give a picture of how NY became what it is today.

[Debby · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the story of a young country boy's rise to success, though his own initiative, in New York City in the early 1800's. The writing style of the book is slightly antiquated, but presents an interesting historical view of the City.

[Sally]

This is an "Armed Services Edition"
I learned about them, or was reminded about them in "The Libraian of Burned Books" - a fabulous read. I wondered what they looked like, searched and found some resonably priced ones.

I'll try to read this title, but not sure I'll read the Armed Service Edition...

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved it. Mr. Edmonds does such an outstanding job painting a picture of every-day life in the past. In this case, I found the gang and fire department story arc drawing me into what earlier life in NYC must have been like.