The Half-Back: A Story of School, Football, and Golf

The Hillton Academy Series #1

by Ralph Henry Barbour

"The young hero of this story is carried through preparatory school and the freshman year at Harvard. The story closes with an account of the Harvard-Yale game."

132 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1899

About the author

Ralph Henry Barbour (1870 - 1944) was an American novelist who wrote popular works of sports fiction for boys, creating highly readable and idealistic stories that taught about the importance of sports, teamwork, and school spirit. Over his career, Barbour produced more than 100 novels as well as a number of short stories.

He was the winner, along with George Randolph Osborne, of Life Magazine’s Shortest Story Contest, which culminated with a publication of these works in 1916.

Reviews

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining little fiction story written in 1899 by Ralph Barbour who authored a lot sports fiction for teenage boys. This is the story of a young man named Joel March who plays football at high school and a walk-on at college who, of course, becomes the star of the game and the hero of the story. The kind of wholesome reading that was part of the elementary and secondary library systems of the early 1900s.

[Clint · Rating 3 out of 5]

Joel March is a young man from Maine that attends a boarding school. Joel is not like the other kids at the school. His family is not wealthy but Joel works hard to make it at the boarding school. Joel finds quickly that he is able to make friends and also play football. Joel's popularity quickly rises as he becomes the star of the football team and continues to excel in academics. Eventually Joel will become a school legend as his football career unfolds.
I liked this book and thought the language used in it was very interesting. I liked the theme that was stuck in the middle about how people will do better in school if they are involved in activities such as school sports. It was a good story for young men who like sports. The language was a little difficult to follow at times but overall was a good story and generated a few laughs with its 1800's football commentary.