Burr Junior

Frank Burr arrives at Dr Browne's boarding school after being taught at home by a private tutor. His uncle wants him to learn to cope with life among other boys. In the old banqueting hall of Meade Place, lessons compete with whispered conversations, flying peas and games of marbles. A pupil with the same surname already attends the school, so Frank becomes Burr junior, sharing his name with a boy described as a bully.

George Manville Fenn tells this school story through Frank's account of his own uneasiness, hopes and reactions. The exchanges between boys give the classroom scenes their humour, while impatient teachers and teasing companions make learning an uncomfortable business. A humiliating mathematics lesson gives way to the anticipation of riding instruction with Lomax, the military drill-master. The English boarding-school setting and attention to friendship, bullying and confidence give readers a view of how boys negotiate authority and one another's expectations.