Sophie Swett has won a remarkable and deserved popularity for the strong and wholesome stories for girls which she has written. In her stories she believes in introducing boys, and it is this feature of her work that gives her stories their naturalness and much of their interest. In her latest book, “Cap’n Thistletop,” the principal characters are a boy and a girl, brother and sister; the girl’s firmness of character holds her brother up to his work for making a place for himself in the world. She urges, beguiles, and compels, as occasion serves, but still remains the natural, lovable girl, herself, so many thousands of whom are daily making the world brighter and better. Margaret E. Sangster says, “Miss Swett has the knack of telling a story so naturally and in so interesting a manner that you cannot put her books down until you are at the very end of the last chapter, and then you sigh and wish there was a sequel.” _JACK BENSON’S LOG; or, Afloat with the Flag in ’61._ By CHAS. LEDYARD NORTON. Illustrated. Cloth, $1.25. Of all the boys who enlisted in the navy at the outbreak of the Civil War, perhaps Jack Benson was the luckiest. His guardian, an old sailor, wanted him to enlist; his first ship was “Old Ironsides,” and he helped to save her from an attempted capture by the secessionists at Annapolis in 1861. Then he had the good fortune to ship on board a fast little steamer that was hurried into commission for blockading purposes and had a very pretty little fight off Cape Hatteras, and captured a prize at the very beginning of her career. In short, Jack was on hand as a spectator, if not as a participant, at most of the notable naval events that took place on the Atlantic coast during the four years of the war. _THE MYSTERIOUS VOYAGE OF THE DAPHNE_, By Lieut. H. P. WHITMARSH, R. N., and others. 305 pp. Illustrated. Cloth, $1.25. A book of stories for boys and girls by some of the best American authors. Such names as Wm. O. Stoddard, Hezekiah Butterworth, James G. Austin, Lieut. H. P. Whitmarsh, Marjorie Richardson, and Emma H. Nason will give a fair idea of the reputation and the standing of the writers whose stories are included in this book. The book is made exceptionally interesting by a large number of illustrations, while the quality of the stories cannot be questioned. The book is one that we can recommend as entirely safe to put in any girl’s or boy’s hands. _BIG CYPRESS._ By KIRK MUNROE, author of “Fur Seal’s Tooth,” “Camp-mates,” “Raft-mates,” “Dory-mates,” “Canoe-mates,” etc. 164 pp. Illustrated. Cloth, $1.00.