Cast Upon the Breakers revolves around the struggles of a boy, Rodney, who must overcome adversity, dishonesty, villains and bad luck to succeed. It is part of a series of rags to riches stories of boys working hard and achieving the American dream of wealth. The stories can be seen as tracing American cultural and social patterns. Horatio Alger, Jr. authored about seventy books. He was the son of a clergyman, graduated from Harvard. His stories are pure, inspiring and as endearing today as they were when first published.