4 h 14 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 4 h 14 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What does a Boy Scout's promise mean when service takes him onto a wartime sea?
In Tom Slade on a Transport, Percy Keese Fitzhugh sends a young American Boy Scout aboard a ship carrying soldiers and supplies. The ocean brings Tom into a world where duty means real risk. His scouting ideals are no longer just principles to follow at home; they must guide him through a wartime adventure.
Tom's wider story follows a tough, poorly schooled boy who finds a new path through scouting. Here, he learns by doing as service takes him out to sea. Published in 1918, during the First World War, this fast, plain adventure also reveals how American writers encouraged young readers to think about loyalty, courage, and duty.
What you’ll discover
- A scout at sea Follow Tom aboard a transport where soldiers, supplies, and wartime service share the same voyage.
- Duty beyond the familiar Explore what scouting ideals demand when helping others carries real risk.
- A boy finding purpose Meet a young hero whose path leads from rough beginnings toward a life of service.
- War through a youthful lens Discover how a wartime adventure brings the First World War closer to its young readers.
- A direct adventure Enjoy a fast, plainly told story built around a hero who learns through action.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy scout stories, spy mysteries, ships and submarines, or wartime adventure with a modest, honest hero.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Tom comes home to an emptied grocery
- A missing strip of molding points to a secret
- Stolen papers and a letter change his plans
- A ship full of soldiers and a cheerful Frenchy
- Tom learns to keep his mouth shut
- A tiny iron button carries a whole homeland
- What a boy owes his family and his country
- Small clues, plain voice, and a dark passage below
Who’s who
- Tom SladeA blunt, careful seventeen-year-old former scout who works as the captain's mess boy and wants to fight for his country.
- Mr. ConneA Secret Service man with an unlit cigar who finds Tom a job and tells him to do his work first.
- FrenchyArmande Lateur, an American soldier born in Alsace, who is teased by all and longs to win back his homeland.
- Mr. BurtonThe manager of the Temple Camp office, who understands that Tom was born to wander and lets him go.
- Pete ConniganA good-natured truck driver in Bridgeboro who once chased Tom and now tells him what happened to the Schmitts.
- Adolf SchmittThe grocer who vanishes from Bridgeboro overnight after federal detectives start asking questions about him.
Formats and delivery
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- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
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Tom Slade su una nave da trasporto
by Percy Keese Fitzhugh · 1918
A mess boy on a wartime troop ship follows one odd phrase from a hidden letter toward a dark passage below deck.
Medium level2–5 hours to readItaliano
Learn a language with medium classicsSpagnoloFranceseTedescoItalianoGiapponesePortogheseIngleseHow we measure levels
Excellent
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In short
A seventeen-year-old mess boy crosses waters hunted by submarines aboard a troop ship. He holds a scrap of a phrase from a hidden letter, a black smudge on a dinner plate, and a dark passage below deck.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Tom comes home to an emptied grocery
The story opens with Tom walking to work along Terrace Avenue in Bridgeboro. He takes the long way round to see the town. He stops beside a truck where Pete Connigan, a driver he once threw rocks at, is wrestling with a heavy table.
They laugh about old times and sit on the back of the truck while Tom tells his story. He talks of the steamer carrying supplies to the Allies, the spy, the torpedo, and two days in an open boat. He fears two friends from that voyage, Conne and Archer, are drowned.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1918
- Language
- Italiano
- Reading time
- 2 h 45 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Fitzhugh, Percy Keese. Tom Slade on a Transport. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/tom-slade-on-a-transport.
Fitzhugh, P. K. (2026). Tom Slade on a transport. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/tom-slade-on-a-transport (Original work published 1918)
Fitzhugh, Percy Keese. Tom Slade on a Transport. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/tom-slade-on-a-transport.
@book{fitzhugh2026tom,
author = {Fitzhugh, Percy Keese},
title = {Tom Slade on a Transport},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/tom-slade-on-a-transport},
note = {First published 1918}
}
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What is Tom Slade on a Transport about?
It follows Tom Slade, a Boy Scout from Bridgeboro, who takes a job as the captain's mess boy on an army troop ship during the First World War. He finds hidden papers and begins to suspect that spies are signaling the ship's position.
Who is Frenchy in Tom Slade on a Transport?
Frenchy is the nickname of Armande Lateur, an American soldier born in Alsace, now sailing for France. He becomes Tom's friend, tells him his story, and gives him a small iron button as a lucky charm.
Is Tom Slade on a Transport a true story?
No, it is a made-up adventure by Percy Keese Fitzhugh, one of the Tom Slade series. It is set during the First World War and shows the fears and habits of that time, such as spy scares and troop ships crossing the Atlantic.
The author
Percy Keese Fitzhugh
1876–1950 · American children's writer
Percy Keese Fitzhugh was an American author of popular boys' fiction in the early twentieth century, best remembered for his cheerful Boy Scout adventure series. Skinny McCord belongs to that same warm-hearted tradition of youthful adventure and good humor.
More by Percy Keese Fitzhugh
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