At 14, orphaned James leaves San Francisco to become a “stampeder” in the Yukon. He has some money and his dead father’s small savings to buy a steamboat ticket to Alaska and a mining outfit once he’s there. Aboard the rusty, crowded steamer, he meets people who will be his friends in the wilds and the usual assortment of con men, cheats and thieves; they, too, will reappear. The story covers the tough life in the diggings, winter, the hard work, the dangers and describes his partner, who, readers learn, is a girl disguised as a boy. Everything should be exciting as Wyss tells about the adventure, but in James’s first-person narration, it is quite pedestrian. Excitement is described, never rising from the page, and the story has so many elements that the action blurs. Moreover, how did James buy about 2,000 pounds of supplies with the small amount of money he had, and how did he portage it over the Chilkoot Pass by himself? The Yukon rush of the 1890s is historic, but even when James and his companions find gold, it seems unexciting. (A map would have been a plus.) (Historical fiction. 6-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 23, 2007
ISBN: 978-1-4169-4212-2
Page Count: 160
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2007
Although pushed into retirement by old age, Grandfather and his constant canine companion Roo quickly find themselves thrust back into action onboard the ominously named Unsinkable, in search of the mythical King Cod. Written as a series of short letters to his gender-neutral grandchild and as the Unsinkable’s ship log, Grandfather again finds himself suffering from a bout of bad luck compounded by Roo and her finicky ways, which seem to change with the wind. It isn’t long before the Unsinkable gives the lie to its name and the adventurers find themselves in the titular bind. Black-and-white illustrations are sprinkled throughout, with short quirky annotations from Grandfather that add even more humor and depth to this zany adventure. Packed with silly hijinks and fantastical creatures, this last of the Lasts (The Last Cowboys, 2008, etc.), with its endearing duo of grandfather and Roo, delivers fun for readers new to chapter books. (Fiction. 6-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-1-56145-439-6
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2009
Slipping out of his shell, a courageous little clam finds a whole new world to explore, and also gets to be a hero in this quirky outing from the author of The Story of Frog Belly Rat Bone (2003). “Necks out to eat and necks in to hide” has always been the practice of young Edwin’s fellow clams, but when a clamdigger scoops up everyone else, he remembers wondering what it would be like to “flow with the current,” and timorously sets out to search for them. That quest takes him up to dry land, and even, briefly, into the digger’s pot—but he rescues his caged comrades at last by getting them to eject their shells too. In decided contrast to his tried and true theme, Ering wields the brush in manic freestyle to depict clams and their nemesis alike as shapeless, irregular blobs with (if you look closely enough) human features. Ralph Steadman fans, at least, will flock to this. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-7636-2355-5
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2007
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