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(2)
YA
Four young teenagers become fast friends at Wellington, an early-1950s Indian boarding school whose students have been taken from their communities and forcibly enrolled. Almost all of the chapters function as standalone stories; throughout, Smelcer's anger about these stolen children is apparent but controlled, and he provides a well-judged balance of horror and (limited) hope.
Reviewer: Roger Sutton
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
September, 2016
166 pp.
| Holt
| October, 2009
|
TradeISBN 978-0-8050-8100-8$15.99
(1)
4-6
Sisters Millie and Maura are the only survivors of a smallpox epidemic that rips through their Alaskan Native village in 1917. Facing peril, they set off downriver to find--they hope--other survivors. Smelcer's prose is clean yet rich, original yet unpretentious, and he provides more than enough detail (e.g., how to kill and clean a porcupine) to satisfy die-hard survival-story junkies.
170 pp.
| Holt
| September, 2006
|
TradeISBN 0-8050-7939-4$15.95
(2)
YA
First-time novelist Smelcer tells an unforgettable survival tale set in the Alaskan Arctic. Albert Least-Weasel stumbles into his own wolf-trap while running his trapline. His grandson Johnny fights for honor in a community that has turned from tradition to alcohol and nihilism. Alternating chapters tell their stories over the course of four subzero January days. The resolution provides no easy answers.
Reviewer: Vicky Smith
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
November, 2006
3 reviews
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