6 h 28 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 6 h 28 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if a boy can fight, play tricks, and break rules without losing his good heart?
Tom Bailey leaves his early life in New Orleans for Rivermouth, a small New England seaport. Here, his firm but loving grandfather, Captain Nutter, sets the rules. At Temple Grammar School, Master Grimshaw keeps stern order. Tom and his friends find their fun wherever they can.
In The Story of a Bad Boy, Thomas Bailey Aldrich gives mischief room to breathe. Pranks, firecrackers, and snow-fort battles fill Tom’s world, but friendship and responsibility matter too. An older Tom tells the story, laughing at himself rather than pretending he is a model child.
What you’ll discover
- A hero without a halo Meet a boy whose mistakes sit beside loyalty, humor, and a willingness to face himself.
- Schooldays beyond the lessons Follow Tom and his friends as they find adventure in the gaps between strict school rules.
- Winter turns into battle Enter the snow-fort rivalries between Temple Grammar boys and the boys of Slatter’s Hill.
- A household full of care Get to know Captain Nutter, worried Aunt Abigail, and Sailor Ben with his sea tales.
- Laughter with a backward glance Enjoy a grown narrator’s gentle humor as he recalls the scrapes of his boyhood.
Who will love it
Readers who like warm, funny memoirs of boyhood will find a friend in Tom Bailey. It suits anyone who enjoys pranks, pets, ships and a narrator who laughs kindly at his younger self.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Tom fears an unfamiliar world
- Rivermouth begins to feel like home
- School unsettles Tom's importance
- Mischief brings a quiet reckoning
- Tom stands up for Binny
- Play lies close to danger
- Sailor Ben returns to Tom's world
- Imagined sorrow meets real worry
- Kindness gives mischief room to change
Who’s who
- Tom BaileyA lively boy from New Orleans who tells the story of his Rivermouth boyhood and wants fun, friends and adventure more than goodness.
- Captain NutterTom's grandfather, a cheerful retired sailor and militia captain who corrects mischief with quiet jokes and a firm sense of justice.
- Miss Abigail NutterThe Captain's severe sister, who runs the household and believes hot drops can cure every illness.
- Kitty CollinsThe Irish maid of the Nutter House, quick with a joke and carrying the secret sorrow of a husband who vanished.
- Sailor BenA tattooed seaman Tom meets on the Typhoon, full of tall tales and eager to share a harmless prank.
- Pepper WhitcombTom's freckled, loyal schoolmate who joins every scheme and usually pays the price.
- ConwayA red-haired schoolyard bully who torments Tom and the smaller boys and keeps looking for a fight.
- Mr. GrimshawThe quiet, kind teacher at Temple Grammar School who keeps discipline fairly and notices more than the boys think.
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The Story of a Bad Boy
by Thomas Bailey Aldrich · 1869
A runaway Southern boy fights a bully, blows up his pistol and wakes a New England town with twelve old cannons.
Medium level2–5 hours to read20 languages
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“This is the story of a bad boy.”
In short
What would you do if you believed the North was full of scalping Indians and log cabins, and your father said you were moving there? Tom Bailey, a boy raised in New Orleans, stamps his foot, knocks over a playmate and refuses to go.
The Story of a Bad Boy at a glance
- Reading time
- About 3 h 45 min2 h 55 min fast, 4 h 25 min slow
- Length
- 53,100 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1869by Thomas Bailey Aldrich
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A Southern boy sails north with strange fears
Tom Bailey grows up in New Orleans with strange opinions. When his father says he must go north to school, Tom knocks over little Sam, stamps on the veranda floor and refuses to live among Yankees.
The fear has a source. Aunt Chloe, his old nurse, has told him that the North is full of scalping Indians, log cabins and endless winter. For several evenings Tom's father gives him a plain account of New England, and Tom starts lying awake with excitement.
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Details
- First published
- 1869
- Language
- English
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Aldrich, Thomas Bailey. The Story of a Bad Boy. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-story-of-a-bad-boy.
Aldrich, T. B. (2026). The story of a bad boy. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-story-of-a-bad-boy (Original work published 1869)
Aldrich, Thomas Bailey. The Story of a Bad Boy. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-story-of-a-bad-boy.
@book{aldrich2026story,
author = {Aldrich, Thomas Bailey},
title = {The Story of a Bad Boy},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-story-of-a-bad-boy},
note = {First published 1869}
}
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What is The Story of a Bad Boy about?
It follows Tom Bailey, a boy raised in New Orleans, who moves to the New England town of Rivermouth. There he goes to school, makes friends, plays pranks, fights a bully and slowly grows up.
Is The Story of a Bad Boy a true story?
It is a novel, but Aldrich drew on his own boyhood in a New England seaport. Tom is a fictional version of the author, and Rivermouth stands in for the real town.
Why is Tom Bailey called a bad boy?
Tom calls himself bad to distinguish himself from perfect storybook boys and to admit that he was no cherub. He is mischievous, impulsive and fond of fun, but he is honest, loyal and kind.
The author
Thomas Bailey Aldrich
1836–1907 · American poet and novelist
Thomas Bailey Aldrich was an American poet, novelist, and editor. He was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1836 and died in Boston in 1907. He lived in New York and Boston. He published The Story of a Bad Boy in 1869 and edited The Atlantic Monthly from 1881 to 1890.
“This is the story of a bad boy.”
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