Make or Break

Make or Break is one of Oliver Optic’s many novels for boys, with the title pointing to the decisive moment framework that the wider Optic catalogue used in various forms. The make or break premise positions the central character at a turning point that will define his future direction, with the standard moral and character development of the wider Optic catalogue working through that defining moment.

Oliver Optic was the pen name of William Taylor Adams, a Massachusetts writer who became one of the most prolific producers of boys’ fiction in mid to late nineteenth century America with more than a hundred novels.

For scholars of nineteenth century American children’s literature or of the wider career of Oliver Optic, the various novels in his catalogue are essential. Many are now in the public domain.