MARY OF MILE 18

by Ann Blades ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1976

This was the Canadian childrens' librarians' 1972 book of the year; here its chief interest will be as a document of the austere life many still live in northern British Columbia where temperatures drop to 40 below, Mary Fehr and her sister must fetch buckets of snow to fill the kitchen barrel for drinking, bathing, dishwashing, and laundry, and father refuses to take in a ""wolf-pup"" Mary finds in the snow because even animals must earn their keep. But it's a dirt poor story too, with the pup whining at the door at mealtime and Mary sent to take it away, then that night the pup's screech warning the family of a coyote in the chicken coop and Mr. Fehr deciding that ""Maybe you will earn your keep after all."" The author's amateurish paintings, which do convey the bleakness of the region, look straight off the wall of the high school art room.

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1976

ISBN: 0887765815

Page Count: -

Publisher: Tundra Books--dist. by Scribners

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1976

Categories: CHILDREN'S