Book
The wanigan : a life on the river / by Gloria Whelan ; illustrated by Emily Martindale.
In 1878, eleven-year-old Annabel and her parents survive a year of adventure which includes floating downriver in two shacks along with a group of Michigan lumbermen moving logs.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780375814297 (trade)
- ISBN: 9780375914294 (lib. bdg.)
- ISBN: 0375814299 (trade)
- ISBN: 0375914293 (lib. bdg.)
- Physical Description: 133 p. : ill ; 19 cm.
- Edition: 1st ed.
- Publisher: New York : Knopf, c2002.
Search for related items by subject
Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at South Central Regional Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winkler Library | J F Whe (Text) | 35864001355427 | Junior Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Monthly Selections - #2 May 2002
Gr. 4-7. When 11-year-old Annabel's parents lose their savings in 1878, they sign a three-month river contract: Annabel's father and a team of lumberjacks will shepherd logs downstream; Annabel and her mother will cook in a floating bunkhouse, the Wanigan. At first Annabel hates the Michigan cold and discomfort, and she fights with Jimmy, the chore boy. But gradually, as the weather warms, so does her enthusiasm for the surrounding woods, the tall tales and songs, and even the work. Whelan, the author of Homeless Bird, winner of the 2000 National Book Award for Young People, offers a wholly satisfying adventure of the nineteenth-century North Woods. Life on the river includes timber pirates, illness, and logjams; and readers will enjoy the skillful suspense, historical detail, and Annabel's distinct, fully realized voice. ((Reviewed May 15, 2002)) Copyright 2002 Booklist Reviews - Horn Book Guide Reviews : Horn Book Guide Reviews 2002 Fall
After selling their farm in 1878, Annabel Lee and her parents find work in the logging business, traveling downriver with a group of Michigan lumbermen who are floating their timber to the city. Although Annabel's adventures (including brushes with pirates and fire) are gripping, the narrative flow is often disrupted by references to her favorite poet, Edgar Allan Poe. Black-and-white drawings and an author's note are included. Copyright 2002 Horn Book Guide Reviews - Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2002 March #2
"I will be forced to live in low circumstances," moans bookish Annabel Lee as she and her mother prepare to follow her father and other lumberjacks down Michigan's Au Sable River aboard a "wanigan," or floating kitchen/supply raft, with a winter's crop of logs. Before the logs drift into Lake Huron three months later, Annabel Lee has slowly become aware of the natural beauties passing on every side, coped with the cooking when her mother falls ill, survived a forest fire and other misadventures, and even reached an accord with the motherless "chore boy" Jimmy. Quoting lines of lugubrious verse at every turn, Annabel Lee (named after a figure from her favorite poet) makes a refreshing narrator reminiscent of Lucy Whipple, though with less stamina, and the author's picture of logging camps and life in the 1870s makes a vivid backdrop for the adventure. As Annabel Lee departs with her parents for a more settled life in Detroit with barely a backward glance, the trip has more of an episodic feel than a life-changing experience. Still, readers will enjoy meeting this spirited 11-year-old, and may even be tempted to seek out Cornelia Meigs's Newbery Honor winning Swift River (1932, 1994) for a similarly rousing voyage. (author's note, illustrations not seen) (Fiction. 9-11) Copyright Kirkus 2002 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 2002 March #3
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. (Apr.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information. - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 2003 December #3
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. (Nov.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information. - School Library Journal Reviews : SLJ Reviews 2002 March
Gr 3-6-An overview of life on a floating chuck wagon for American loggers in the 1870s. Eleven-year-old Annabel Lee initially disdains the ramshackle hut in which she and her mother live and work for three months during Michigan's logging season. But as the story progresses, the girl adapts to her living conditions and the rough manners of the lumberjacks on the river. Unfortunately, her narrative voice does not come across as that of a preadolescent, no matter how prim and prissy her character is supposed to be. She refers to the men and their habits as "inelegant," their company as "unrefined," and frequently waxes sentimental over the poetry of Edgar Allan Poe, a habit that quickly becomes cloying and contrived. The lumberjacks are poorly realized stereotypes, including a boisterous French Canadian called "Frenchy" and a taciturn Native American nicknamed "Big Tom." The narration is at its best when Annabel describes the loggers' daily routines. Readers learn that they slathered their feet with layers of lard to keep them dry, and that they had many different titles: sawyer, sprinkler, swamper, skidder. These details are interesting and ring truer than Annabel's maudlin poetry recitations. Make this a supplemental purchase if first-person narratives about the pioneer spirit are popular.-Catherine Threadgill, Charleston County Public Library, SC Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.