author
Ruel Perley Smith
1869–1937
Best known for the lively Rival Campers books, this American writer mixed outdoor adventure with the pace of a seasoned newspaperman. His stories helped shape early 20th-century boys' fiction, especially for readers drawn to boats, camps, and Maine settings.
4 Audiobooks
The Rival Campers Afloat; or, The Prize Yacht Viking
by Ruel Perley Smith
The Rival Campers; Or, The Adventures of Henry Burns
by Ruel Perley Smith
The Rival Campers Ashore; or, The Mystery of the Mill
by Ruel Perley Smith
Jack Harvey's Adventures; or, The Rival Campers Among the Oyster Pirates
by Ruel Perley Smith
About the author
Born in Bangor, Maine, in 1869, Ruel Perley Smith became an American novelist and newspaper editor. He built a career in journalism in New York and is noted for later serving as Night City Editor of the New York World.
He is best remembered for the Rival Campers series, a group of boys' adventure novels published by L. C. Page & Co. in the early 1900s. These books, including The Rival Campers and The Rival Campers Afloat, are especially associated with outdoor action, boating, and youthful rivalry, often with a strong Maine flavor.
Smith also wrote other fiction and co-authored Everything About Our New Possessions, a topical 1899 book about territories acquired by the United States after the Spanish-American War. He died in 1937.