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The Wanigan

A Life on the River

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available
To save his family, a logger goes down the river—and brings along his wife and daughter
When Annabel’s father sells their house in Detroit, she is thrilled by the idea of life on a farm. But when they reach their little plot of land, she sees that her daddy has been swindled. The rocky ground is hard and unforgiving, and nothing will grow there. Ruined, her father has no choice but to take the only job he can find: chopping down trees in the lush Michigan forest. For Annabel, life in the camp is dreary—but it is about to get a whole lot worse.
When her father is chosen to accompany the year’s load of logs as it floats down the river, Annabel and her mother take up residence in the wanigan, the floating cookshack that follows the men. This rough-hewn one-room cabin will house them for three months. As uncomfortable as it is, Annabel learns that sometimes, a river can be a home.
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  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      November 1, 2003
      After her parents sell their house in Detroit for what proves to be a worthless farm in the wilderness, and her father takes a job as a lumberjack, an 11-year-old girl "comes to appreciate the ever-changing landscape and emerges as an immensely likable and fully realized character," wrote PW. Ages 8-12.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      March 18, 2002
      Whelan (Angel on the Square) whisks readers to the wilds of a northern Michigan lumber camp in this brief, evocative novel. After 11-year-old Annabel Lee's parents sell their house in Detroit for what proves to be a worthless farm in the wilderness, Annabel's father must take a job as a lumberjack. The heroine does not take kindly to the logging camp: "I did all that I could to raise myself above my sad surroundings." Jimmy McGuire, the motherless son of one of the loggers and camp chore boy, soon dubs her Princess Annie. Things only get worse when her father is chosen to shepherd the logs downriver to Lake Huron, and Annabel and her mother are consigned to the wanigan, a floating cookhouse that accompanies the men. Using the trip downriver as a metaphor for Annabel's own inner journey, Whelan crafts an engaging tale, skillfully conjuring the time period and setting as she weaves in information about the 19th-century timber industry and natural history of the region. As the narrator comes to appreciate the ever-changing landscape and the rough-hewn crew (she dots all of her observations with frequent allusions to her favorite author, "Mr. Edgar Allan Poe" ), she emerges as an immensely likable and fully realized character, one with whom readers will readily sympathize. Final artwork not seen by PW. Ages 8-12.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • Lexile® Measure:810
  • Text Difficulty:3-4

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