One hundred and fifty years ago, Alaska belonged to Russia and was called Russian America. The Russian American Company ran trading posts called odinochkas, trading tobacco and tea for furs to send back to Russia. A young girl named Erinia Pavaloff lives at just such an isolated trading post. A Creole—a native person with a Russian father or grandfather—Erinia likes the life she lives, despite its isolation and the ongoing conflicts among natives and Russians. She likes the place and the characters in her life, and she wants things to stay the same. However, things do change when the U.S. purchases Russian America and residents of Erinia’s community become American Alaskans. Based on a memoir of Hill’s ancestor, the narrative tells the story of a little-known time and place. Admirable research and attention to historical detail yield a densely written work with a slow pace but a wonderful recreation of this part of the world, one of the few such resources for young readers. However, the author’s works for a bit younger audience, such as The Year of Miss Agnes (2000), are more compelling reading. (maps, author’s note, bibliography) (Fiction. 9-14)
Pub Date: July 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-689-87388-3
Page Count: 272
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2005
Explanatory note; reading list.
Yep illuminates the Chinese immigrant experience here and abroad in a follow-up to The Serpent's Children (1984) and Mountain Light (1985).
After accidentally killing one of the hated Manchu soldiers, Otter (14) flees Kwangtung for the "Golden Mountain"; he finds his adoptive father Squeaky and Uncle Foxfire in the Sierra Nevada, where thousands of "Guests" are laboriously carving a path for the railroad. Brutal cold, dangerous work, and a harsh overseer take their toll as Squeaky is blinded in a tunnel accident, Foxfire is lost in a storm, and other workers are frozen or half-starved. By the end, toughened in body and spirit, Otter resolves never to forget them or their sacrifices. Foxfire and Otter consider themselves only temporary residents here, preparing for the more important work of modernizing their own country while ridding it of Manchu, Europeans, and, especially, the scourge of opium. America is a dreamlike place; English dialogue is printed in italics as a tongue foreign to most of the characters; and though Otter befriends the overseer's troubled son, such social contact is discouraged on both sides. In a story enlivened with humor and heroism, Yep pays tribute to the immigrants who played such a vital role in our country's history.
Explanatory note; reading list. (Fiction. 11-14)Pub Date: Oct. 30, 1993
ISBN: 0-06-022971-3
Page Count: 276
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1993
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Paulsen recalls personal experiences that he incorporated into Hatchet (1987) and its three sequels, from savage attacks by moose and mosquitoes to watching helplessly as a heart-attack victim dies. As usual, his real adventures are every bit as vivid and hair-raising as those in his fiction, and he relates them with relish—discoursing on “The Fine Art of Wilderness Nutrition,” for instance: “Something that you would never consider eating, something completely repulsive and ugly and disgusting, something so gross it would make you vomit just looking at it, becomes absolutely delicious if you’re starving.” Specific examples follow, to prove that he knows whereof he writes. The author adds incidents from his Iditarod races, describes how he made, then learned to hunt with, bow and arrow, then closes with methods of cooking outdoors sans pots or pans. It’s a patchwork, but an entertaining one, and as likely to win him new fans as to answer questions from his old ones. (Autobiography. 10-13)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-385-32650-5
Page Count: 150
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2000
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