Jr. Horatio Alger 
Ragged Dick 
Streetlife In New York With The Boot-Blacks

‘Ragged Dick’ is a fourteen-year-old bootblack – he smokes, drinks occasionally, and sleeps on the streets – but he is anxious "to turn over a new leaf, and try to grow up ‘spectable". He won’t steal under any circumstances, and many gentlemen who are impressed with this virtue (and his determination to succeed) offer their aid… (Excerpt from Wikipedia)