James Otis *

a.k.a. James Otis Kaler, Amy Prentice *

Author Code: AJOK

Educated at public schools in Maine, Otis joined the Boston Journal as a young reporter in 1861. He then took a position at the Boston Globe as a writer producing plays, prose and various serialized stories. Adopting the psudonym of James Otis, in 1880 he published Toby Tyler; or, Ten Weeks With a Circus, which was immensely popular and is still in print today. In 1898, he returned to Maine and became the first superintendant of schools for South Portland. During this period, he wrote numerous historical studies for use as textbooks. Otis produced a large number of works for juveniles under the psudonym of Amy Prentice. Among his other works were Adventures of a Country Boy at a Country Fair (1893), Andy's Ward (1895), Boy Captain (1896), Amateur Fireman (1898), Among the Fur Traders (1906) and The Minute Boys of the Mohawk Valley (1911).