READING LEVEL: 6.6 AR POINTS: 9.0

Lost in the Barren by Farley Mowat (1956 1st ed.) 244 pages.

not my favorite book in the world. :( ( )

Good enough that I remember the book almost 50 years later, after reading during a series of rainy days at sleepaway camp in the camp library.

From his non-fiction writings Mowat was obviously familiar with the high Arctic. One of the events of the book was a December warm wave that almost fatally lured the two adventurers trapped in the tundra to strike out for the tree line and milder weather. Should give pause to climate alarmists since novels usually hew pretty close to real geographic and weather conditions.

Another was the kindness of strangers. Overall, if still in print, I recommend it. ( )

I discovered this book after seeing a reading of it on a cable TV program many many years ago, and could not remember the name of it for quite some time afterwards. ( )

Of the 100 books on the list from CBC "100 Young Adult Books That Make You Proud to be Canadian" I have only read 8 so I thought I should try to remedy that. In my (partial) defence I will say that quite a few of the books on the list have been written since I could claim to be a Young Adult myself. However, this book was written in 1956 so I had lots of years to discover it but somehow it escaped my notice. Well, it's never too late.

Jamie Macnair comes to northern Manitoba to live with his uncle who is a trapper. A year after Jamie joins him his uncle and the chief from the neighbouring Cree nation have to make a long trip by canoe to The Pas to sell their furs. There is not enough room for Jamie in the canoe so he is left in the Cree settlement with the chief's family which includes Jamie's best friend, Awasin. A few weeks after the men leave a group of Chipeweyans who live further north come to ask for bullets as their people are starving. Denikazi, the Chipeweyan chief, wants to go north to meet the migration of caribou as they come down to the treeline where they winter. Awasin, as the chief's son agrees to give the bullets providing he can go to the Chipeweyan camp to verify the people are starving. Jamie is eager to accompany him on this adventure. When they arrive at the encampment they can see the truth of the story and they agree to hand over the ammunition. However, Denikazi wants Awasin and Jamie to accompany him on the hunt because they have much better rifles. The boys agree and set off with a small group to go further north into the barrens. Awasin and Jamie become separated from the others and are forced to spend the winter in this desolate area (which would be in Nunavut now). Their survival rests on their abilities, knowledge and skills.

Although this was written over 60 years ago it didn't seem all that dated. In the wilderness people who can hunt, fish and make clothing and shelter would use many of these same tactics today. And it is a rousing good adventure story. ( )