The Great Death

January 11, 2010
As the author notes in his introduction, in the Alaskan winter of 1917, a pandemic spread from white traders to native villagers, killing two thirds of the population. Smelcer (The Trap) offers the fictionalized account of two sistersâ13-year-old Millie and 10-year old-Mauraâthe sole survivors from their village ("The village that was all the girls knew of life and place and home had transformed into a smoky shadow of death"). A multitude of experiences challenge the strength and dedication of the girls, as they make their way downriver in an attempt to locate civilization. With two dogs as their only companions and an armful of supplies, they navigate rough weather, wolf attacks, and visits from ghosts. In graceful, detail-rich language, Smelcer renders poetic even the darkest moments of this fast-paced adventure ("Outside, stars clustered like mosquitoes and the moonless night dwindled into nothingnessâand within the nothingness rising to the stars, were a multitude of spirits of the dead") without mitigating the intensity of the horrors the girls face. The sisters' hardships and triumphs should stay close to readers' hearts. Ages 10âup.

November 1, 2009
Gr 6-9-Smelcer draws on the early-20th-century history of his native Alaskan ancestors for this story based on the tragic effects of the white man's diseases on people who had neither natural immunity nor medicines to fight them. Two sisters, Millie and Maura, ages 13 and 10, are the sole survivors of such an epidemic in their village. Knowing that they cannot manage on their own, they strike off downriver in hopes of finding people who are still alive. The author vividly describes the progression of the disease on the afflicted, the inability of those who were still alive, but infected, to dispose of the dead properly, and the gruesome results. The sisters' flight is hampered by severe winter weather, a lecherous settler, and hungry wolves, which add to the tension in the story. The novel is part history and part survival guide. It also graphically illustrates the effects of a plague on isolated peoples. Readers come to know the sisters' strengths and weaknesses in the first few chapters. Both girls could best be described as stoic for they know that although they are mourning the loss of their parents, friends, and relatives, they must press on until they find other survivors. The cover art, a photograph of mukluks, does little to attract readers; librarians will need to booktalk this one."Nancy P. Reeder, Heathwood Hall Episcopal School, Columbia, SC"

Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2009
Grades 6-8 In 1917, two Native Alaskan girls watch their entire village die after being infected by a horrible disease brought by white settlers. With no one and nothing left in their village, sisters Maura and Millie set out along the river to find another settlement in hopes of rejoining civilization. Their journey is plagued by tragedy: their canoe is destroyed, the two dogs that join and bravely defend them die, a white man welcomes them into his cabin and then tries to rape Millie, and as the winter deepens, they come perilously close to death by exposure. This is a survival story, but the omniscient third-person narration removes much of the immediacy of the girls experience while weaving in details of daily life. Each chapter begins with an excerpt from a tale about Raven, a trickster who rarely uses his powers to help people, and whom the girls recognize as a presence in their lives. This grim tale of the sisters struggle against the elements will leave readers wanting to know more about this little-known time in history.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)