Jack London and the Klondike Gold Rush - Hardcover

Lourie, Peter

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0805097570 ISBN 13: 9780805097573

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR), 2017

Synopsis

Here is a compelling middle grade nonfiction tale of how one classic writer drew upon a rugged life of adventure to create works of literature, punctuated by stunning black-and-white art by Wendell Minor and illustrative photographic material.

Swept up in the Gold Rush of 1897, young Jack London headed north to strike it rich in the Klondike and discovered something more precious than gold―the seeds of the stories that would flower into his classic novels The Call of the Wild and White Fang, and timeless short stories such as "To Build A Fire." This gripping tale follows London as he treks up the ruthless Chilkoot Trail, braves the lethal Whitehorse Rapids, survives a bad case of scurvy, and conquers many more dangers of the Yukon during his quest for gold.

A Christy Ottaviano Book

About this title

About the Author:

Peter Lourie was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and grew up in New England, Ontario, Canada, and New York City. He holds a BA in classics from New York University, an MA in English Literature from the University of Maine, and an MFA in nonfiction creative writing from Columbia University. He has taught writing for many years (Middlebury College, Columbia College, University of Vermont), and now makes his living traveling, writing and photographing. He also visits schools to share his adventures with students and teachers. He lives in Vermont where he is now working on an ongoing NSF-funded digital story-telling project about the Arctic, Arcticstories.net. He has been traveling on a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker in the Beaufort Sea where he is recording multimedia stories for a National Science Foundation project. His new book for Henry Holt about Jack London and the Klondike Gold Rush will be published in March, 2017. And he is just beginning to work on a biography of a Norwegian polar explorer.
peterlourie.com
peterlourie.com/bio/index.htm
arcticstories.net

Review:

In this thoroughly riveting real-life-adventure story, Lourie recounts in visceral detail the frequently treacherous, relentlessly grueling 500-mile traverse along the ruthless Chilkoot Trail and Whitehorse Rapids to the Klondike gold mines. Lourie explains how London's experiences in the Klondike became the seeds for some of his best-known, most highly regarded works, such as The Call of the Wild, White Fang, and "To Build a Fire."...Extensive backmatter includes information on First Nations peoples of the area and additional facts about London's journey. A gripping and harrowing true adventure story and a penetrating look into the formative experiences of a writer, one of the first to become a worldwide celebrity. (photos, timeline, glossary, bibliography, index) (Biography. 8-12) Kirkus

Lourie (The Polar Bear Scientists) delivers a vivid account of Jack London's arduous trek, along with thousands of other Stampeders, to the heart of Canada's Yukon Territory in 1897 in search of gold. London returned not with wealth but with the raw material for his best-known writings, which earned him both fortune and fame. Lourie intersperses his narrative with background on London's boyhood, personality, and literary aspirations, and he quotes amply from the work of London and his contemporaries to convey the backbreaking rigors, awe-inspiring landscape, grime, isolation, dangers, and friendships of the journey. London's mental and physical strength, sociability, and optimism seem at times almost superhuman: that winter, until felled by scurvy, he spent four hours a day collecting the wood needed to burn a fire to thaw eight inches of ground to dig for gold on his claim. Lourie's captivating tale of the grueling experiences behind London's crystalline prose testifies to his endurance. Minor's windswept spot illustrations augment archival and modern photos and other supplemental material. Ages 8-12. Author's agent: Susan Ramer, Don Congdon Associates. (Mar.) -Publisher's Weekly, Starred Review

About this edition

• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 0805097570
• ISBN 13: 9780805097573
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 208
• Illustrator: Minor Wendell