Bo at Ballard Creek

April 15, 2013
A warm tale set in an Alaskan gold-mining town in 1929-30. Bo, a 5-year-old girl, was adopted as a newborn by two gruff but tenderhearted blacksmiths who've toiled in the mining camps of the Yukon for years. These unlikely fathers smoke a bit and swear a bit, but they love Bo with all their hearts. Theirs is an extraordinarily generous, solicitous, close-knit community, comprised of indigenous neighbors and workers from around the world. Events unfold at a leisurely pace in this narrative that's enriched by authentic details that make the time and place come alive. Readers discover that life in a mining town means surviving brutal winters, handling day-to-day chores in all seasons while still having fun, doing backbreaking labor, and finally, actually extracting the gold from the dirt. (Readers will learn more than they probably ever needed to know about how this is accomplished.) Life in a remote backwater also entails high excitement, such as the townspeople's first-ever sighting of an airplane and bulldozer. Warmth and love pervade this novel, an Alaskan version of the Little House books, and characters are well-drawn. Some realistically sad and frightening events occur, but the novel ends on a happy, though wistful, note. Final art was not seen, though samples are charming and reinforce the Little House feel. Some may find this overly sweet, but Bo is an endearing Pollyanna in a parka. (Historical fiction. 8-12)

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October 1, 2013

Gr 4-7-In 1924, Arvid and Jack, two blacksmiths who work in mining communities in the Alaska territory, adopt an abandoned baby girl. They name her Bo, and, when readers meet her, they will be immediately grabbed by her infectious personality. One moment she helps Jack, who becomes a camp cook, make doughnuts, and the next minute she runs in a three-legged race. When a speechless boy shows up in the camp, five-year-old Bo's compassion helps him heal. Each experience Bo has, including her frightening encounter with a bear, plays out naturally. Pham's joyful illustrations match the overall exuberant mood of the story. Sweeping generalizations like "Eskimos are just foolish over babies" and "All the Eskimos made up songs-funny songs or sad or happy," coupled with some strong language, are unfortunate. Readers can easily picture the Alaskan mining town where Bo and her family live, though they might wish for a map to give them a sense of the vast land and the distance between the towns mentioned and documentation about the Native group(s) living in the territory during the early part of the 20th century. The endearing qualities of Bo, her fathers, and the other characters are what make this story.-Hilary Writt, Sullivan University, Lexington, KY

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2013
Grades 3-6 When Bo was just a newborn, two strong, tenderhearted gold miners saved her from life in an orphanage and brought her to Ballard Creek, a gold-mining camp and Eskimo village along the Koyukuk River in Alaska. This novel, set in the late 1920s after the big Alaskan gold rushes, is more a slice of life than a plot-driven narrative, as five-year-old Bo visits her kind neighborsfrom Eskimo Big Annie to Milo, who runs the Roadhouseand pitches in with the never-ending workload, including the tedious task of sluicing pay dirt for gold. Her papasJack, the camp cook, and Arvid, a blacksmithare supportive of tomboy Bo, whose adventures range from riding in a dog sled to being chased by a bear to watching a biplane land. It's the simple things that thrill, and Hill, born and raised in a gold-mining Alaskan community herself, infuses her text with engaging small details, while Pham's exuberant illustrations add playfulness to the story. Although some readers may wish for a more continuous story, others, particularly fans of the classic Little House books, will soak in the atmospheric look at a particular time and place. A great choice for classroom units on the gold rush.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)