Swatty: A Story of Real Boys

"Swatty: A Story of Real Boys" by Ellis Parker Butler is a novel written in the early 20th century. The story revolves around the adventures and misadventures of three boys, particularly focusing on the character Swatty, his interactions with friends, and the dynamics of boyhood relationships and challenges. At the start of the narrative, we meet Swatty, his friends Georgie and Bony, and their encounters at school, where discipline is enforced with corporal punishment. An ongoing feud between friends over a girl, the impending embarrassment of a potential beating from their teacher, and the lure of the rising Mississippi River sets the scene for a whirlwind of youthful mischief. The boys decide to skip school to explore the river, leading to a series of events that include getting caught in dangerous waters, their families fearing for their lives, and a chaotic community response. This opening segment captures the essence of boyhood camaraderie, the joys and fears of adventure, and the tumultuous emotions that come with growing up. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Ellis Parker Butler was an American author. He was the author of more than 30 books and more than 2,000 stories and essays and is most famous for his short story "Pigs Is Pigs", in which a bureaucratic stationmaster insists on levying the livestock rate for a shipment of two pet guinea pigs, which soon start proliferating exponentially. His most famous character was Philo Gubb.