Steve and the Steam Engine

"Steve and the Steam Engine" by Sara Ware Bassett is a children's novel written in the early 20th century. The story revolves around a boy named Steve Tolman, who, after taking a car for a joyride without permission, encounters a series of challenges that teach him about responsibility and facing the consequences of his actions. This tale situates itself against a backdrop of early industrial America, intertwining the excitement of youthful adventure with the historical development of steam technology. At the start of the narrative, Steve takes his family's car out while they are away, hoping to impress his friends by driving them to a football game. However, he finds himself stranded when the car runs out of gasoline. Alone on the roadside, he reflects on the wrongness of his decision and worries about his father's reaction. Fortunately, a friendly mechanic appears to assist him, but the encounter leads Steve to contemplate his dishonesty and the shame of having let his friends, particularly his guiding influence, down. As he learns to navigate the implications of his actions, the story hints at broader themes of morality, accountability, and the importance of self-reflection. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Sara Ware Bassett was an American writer of fiction and nonfiction. Her novels primarily deal with New England characters, and most of them are set in two fictional Cape Cod villages she created, Belleport and Wilton. Her first novel, Mrs. Christy's Bridge Party, was published in 1907. She subsequently wrote more than 40 additional novels, continuing to write and publish into the late 1950s. Many of her novels focus on love stories and humorously eccentric characters. A number of her works are available as free e-books. Two of her novels, The Taming of Zenas Henry (1915) and The Harbor Road (1919), were adapted as the motion pictures Captain Hurricane (1935) and Danger Ahead (1921).