Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Henry Holt and Company [First Edition]
Pages
166
Description
As their Alaskan village's only survivors of sickness brought by white men one winter early in the twentieth century, sisters Millie, aged thirteen, and Maura, ten, make their way south in hopes of finding someone alive.
Description
The Great Death arrived with the man from downriver, the one who came with the light-colored strangers and had little red spots covering his body. Thirteen-year-old Millie and her younger sister, Maura, are fascinated by the guests, but soon sickness takes over their village. As they watch the people they know and love die, the sisters remain unaffected and begin to realize that they will have to find a new home.
Alone in the cold Alaskan winter of 1917, struggling to overcome the obstacles nature throws their way, the girls discover that their true strength lies in their love for each other.
John Smelcer's spare and beautiful prose shapes the sisters' story with tenderness and skill, presenting a powerful tale of determination, survival, and family.
Alone in the cold Alaskan winter of 1917, struggling to overcome the obstacles nature throws their way, the girls discover that their true strength lies in their love for each other.
John Smelcer's spare and beautiful prose shapes the sisters' story with tenderness and skill, presenting a powerful tale of determination, survival, and family.
Collection
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
166 p.; 7.8 inches
ISBN
0805081003 / 9780805081008
Similar in this library
Lexile
940L
User reviews
LibraryThing member Sullywriter
Not as gripping as The Trap, Smelcer's previous novel, but still a fast-paced, engrossing survival story set in Alaska.
LibraryThing member nicola26
This was a nice, short book about two girls who are the only survivors in their village. A disease has been brought to their village in Alaska by European settlers and it wipes out everybody they know. The girls decide to travel to the next village for help and the book documents their travels. It
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was interesting and easy to read and the girls were both very strong and likeable. I think it would have been better if the book followed them further than it did instead of just leaving it to our inmagination but that's really the only complaint I have with this book. It was a heartwarming story and told well. Show Less
LibraryThing member Salsabrarian
When smallpox kills all but two young girls in a remote Alaskan village, Maura and Millie set out to reach the settlement often mentioned by their elders. As the bitter winter descends, the two girls struggle with challenge after challenge along their journey, from losing their canoe to hunting
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down food. Their native traditions and skills enable their basic survival but their dogged determination to keep on despite a seemingly abandoned world is the story's suspense and heart. This novel is succinct and compact, as no-nonsense as a winter blizzard. Lib notes: scenes with the girls killing animals for food; implied scene of attempted rape. Show Less
Awards
William Allen White Children's Book Award (Nominee — Grades 6-8 — 2011-2012)
Rise: A Feminist Book Project for Ages 0-18 (Selection — 2011)
Call number
J4E.Sme