Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Gold Rush Winter
Illustrator: Richard Waldrep
Historical Fiction
For ages 6 to 8
Random House, 2002 ISBN: 978-0307264138
Klondy was named by her father after the gold rush in the Klondike. It was this same gold rush that took her father away from her when he went north to try to find gold. Klondy’s father wrote his family a few letters but he did not come home or send home much needed money.
At last Klondy’s father sends his wife and daughter money so that they can join him in Nome, Alaska. Klondy is upset to find out that Nome is a very ugly and harsh place. It is also incredibly cold. Klondy’s father has made arrangements for his wife and daughter to join him in the gold camp where he is working. This place is even worse than Nome was and it is very hard to get to. Nevertheless Klondy’s father is there and they can be a real family once more. Though it is wonderful to be together again, there are many hardships to be faced; loneliness and isolation, the cold, and boredom.
This special little story about life in the far north in the days of the gold rush captures the flavour of what it must have been like to be a gold rush family. The reader is bable to see how the gold drove people to do things that they would otherwise never consider doing. Based on the story of a real little girl called Klondy Nelson, this chapter book will give young readers great pleasure.
This is one of the books in the "Stepping Stone" series
