9781553802440_cover Enlarge Cover
5 of 5
2 ratings
rated!
rated!
list price: $10.95
edition:Paperback
also available: eBook
category: Children's Fiction
published: Sep 2007
ISBN:9781553800484
publisher: Ronsdale Press

Way Lies North, The

by Jean Rae Baxter

tagged: pre-confederation (to 1867)
Description

This young adult historical novel focuses on Charlotte and her family, Loyalists who are forced to flee their home in the Mohawk Valley as a result of the violence of the "Sons of Liberty" during the American Revolution. At the beginning, fifteen-year-old Charlotte Hooper is separated from her sweetheart, Nick, who sympathizes with the Revolutionaries. The war has already taken the lives of her three brothers, and it is with a sense of desperation that Charlotte and her parents begin the long trek north to the safety of Fort Haldimand (near present-day Kingston).

The novel portrays Charlotte's struggle on the difficult journey north, and the even more difficult task of making a new home in British Canada. In her relationship with Nick, the novel explores how the ideals of the American Revolution were undermined by a revolutionary ethos of violence. In the flight north, the Mohawk nation plays an important role, and Charlotte learns much about their customs and way of life, tothe point where she is renamed "Woman of Two Worlds." Later in the novel she is able to repay her Native friends when she plays an important part in helping the Oneidas to become once again members of the Iroquois confederacy under British protection.

The story of Charlotte's journey north is a tale of paradise lost and a new world gained. Strong and capable, Charlotte breaks the stereotype of the eighteenth-century woman, while revealing the positive relationship between the Loyalists and theNative peoples.

About the Author

Jean Rae Baxter

Contributor Notes

Jean Rae Baxter writes both for an adult general audience and for young adults. Freedom Bound is the third volume in a trilogy about the United Empire Loyalist experience, and won the Bronze Medal in the Moonbeam Awards. The Way Lies North (2007) won the Arts Hamilton Award for a young adult book and was nominated for the Red Maple and Stellar awards. Broken Trail won the Gold Medal in the Moonbeam Awards. Jean Rae Baxter sat on Lit Live Reading Series organizing committee for ten yearsand served on the Arts Hamilton's Literary Advisory Committee for six years. Jean lives in Hamilton.

Buy the e-book:

X
Contacting facebook
Please wait...