6 h 0 minAudiobook11 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the people who threaten your future are the very people you trust?
In Fighting for Fortune, Roy Franklin sets a young hero against treachery, false imprisonment and enemies who would steal his future. This is an old-fashioned adventure with a clear struggle at its heart: a young man must face powerful opponents and fight to recover what is rightfully his.
Courage matters here, but so does wit. Franklin writes in the tradition of adventure stories for young readers, where honest effort and loyalty stand against greed. The appeal lies in that direct contest: how can a young hero hold on to hope when others try to take away his freedom and prospects?
What you’ll discover
- A future under threat Follow a young man's struggle against enemies determined to take what belongs to him.
- Trust put to the test Enter an adventure where treachery makes trust dangerous and gives courage a sharper edge.
- Courage behind confinement Discover a struggle with false imprisonment that puts freedom and hope at stake.
- Wit against powerful enemies Find the pleasure of a young hero who must rely on more than strength.
- A clear fight for justice Enjoy an adventure built around the clash between honest effort and scheming ambition.
Who will love it
Readers who love old-fashioned adventure, with boy heroes, lake steamers, secret plots and daring escapes, and who enjoy a clear tale of loyalty and justice where good friends stand together against crooked rivals.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A Boyish Choice and a Fair Fight
- A New Steamer and a Missed Boat
- Enemies Plot While Dean Races
- A Stateroom With a Secret
- Fire, Forgery and a Shock at the Bank
- A Triumph Turns Into Suspicion
- The Race and the Crash
- Prison Without a Crime
- Escape and the Boy Detective
Who’s who
- Dean MercerA brave, honest seventeen-year-old who leaves law to captain Judge Oglesby's new lake steamer and must clear his name when enemies frame him.
- Marcus EllisonA quick, inventive boy whose father is accused of murder; he is determined to find the papers that will free him.
- Tim DowneyMillville's worst boy, a sly bully who plots for money and revenge against Dean.
- Rodney DarringfordThe colonel's spoiled, cowardly son, who joins Tim's schemes out of greed and hatred of Dean.
- Jack CarboyAn old sailor with a stream of sea talk, who stands at the wheel and never doubts Dean.
- Judge OglesbyA kind, rich judge who funds the new steamer line to give Millville the service it needs.
- Eva OglesbyThe judge's fifteen-year-old daughter, who believes in Dean when others do not and works to win his freedom.
- Colonel DarringfordThe drunken owner of the old packet boats, who will do anything to stop a rival steamer.
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 6 h 0 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 11 minutes, to read or to hear.
- 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
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Fighting for Fortune
by Roy Franklin
Seventeen-year-old Dean Mercer takes command of a new lake steamer, and his enemies plot to burn it and ruin him.
Easy read5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
Fighting for Fortune is a boys' adventure novel by Roy Franklin. It follows Dean Mercer, a seventeen-year-old who leaves a law office to run a new steamer on a sleepy lake town's waterfront.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A Boyish Choice and a Fair Fight
The story opens as Dean Mercer steps out of the law office of Russell Montague, his employer. He has just quit a promising career in law, and everyone calls it a boyish choice. His father saw that his heart was not in the work, and his mother hated to see him go. Dean feels free and sure that he will win, whatever happens.
On the wharf at Millville he hears cries from behind a pile of boxes. A burly eighteen-year-old named Tim Downey is beating a smaller boy. Dean grabs the bully by the collar and throws him back, and when Tim lunges at him, Dean knocks him flat. The boy he saves is a stranger named Marcus Ellison, who thanks him and hurries off.
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What is Fighting for Fortune about?
It follows seventeen-year-old Dean Mercer, who takes command of a new lake steamer. Rivals burn the boat, steal a fortune and have him locked away, and Dean and his friend Marcus must escape and expose the plot.
Who is Crazy Meg in Fighting for Fortune?
Crazy Meg is a wandering woman of the hills, thought to have escaped an asylum. She marks people she dislikes with a red X, hoards money, and knows a secret about a murder that matters to the story.
What happens to the steamer Spray?
The Spray is the new steamer Judge Oglesby buys to compete with the old lake boats. Enemies try to burn it, which sets off the chain of plots that Dean Mercer must untangle.
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