Ragged Dick, Or, Street Life in New York with the Boot-Blacks

by Horatio Alger

"Ragged Dick, Or, Street Life in New York with the Boot-Blacks" by Horatio Alger Jr. is a novel serialized in 1867 and published in 1868. This tale follows fourteen-year-old Dick, a street bootblack who smokes, drinks, and sleeps outdoors, but refuses to steal and dreams of becoming respectable. Through honesty, hard work, and fortunate encounters with helpful gentlemen, Dick begins his climb from vagrant life toward middle-class respectability in 19th-century New York City. The story became Alger's best-selling work and established the formula repeated throughout his career.