Non-fiction Review: Indian Creek Chronicles

Title: Indian Creek Chronicles: A Winter in the Bitterroot Wilderness
Author: Pete Fromm
Publisher: Lyons & Burford, 1993. 184 pages
Source: Library

Publisher's Summary:
Winner of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Book Award, Indian Creek Chronicles is Pete Fromm's account of seven winter months spent alone in a tent in Idaho guarding salmon eggs and coming face to face with the blunt realities of life as a contemporary mountain man. A gripping story of adventure and a modern-day Walden, this contemporary classic established Fromm as one of the West's premier voices.

My Review:
I wish I could recall who gave me the recommendation to read this one, because it was a real pleasure. Fromm's account of his winter alone (mostly) in the Bitterroot Mountains wraps up a whole lot in one package--everything from an environmental message to a coming-of-age tale to a young man's simple delight in pushing his limits.

Many young people come to a love of wilderness through a summer spent working in a park or at a camp. Pete Fromm got there by spending a winter snowed in along a creek in the mountains of northern Idaho. He dropped out of school to babysit a creek full of salmon eggs, not because he had any particular environmentalist leanings, but so he could "have a story." His sole knowledge of the wilderness at that point appears to have come from reading a lot of books about mountain men, and he takes the job out of a romantic desire to emulate them. It's a desire that directly contributes to his misery in the first months in his tent.

Fromm has to learn everything he needs to know on the fly (and much of what he needed to know about food, he would have done better to have learned before he went, as he was pretty much stuck with what he bought). Having gone with the intention of being a "mountain man" and making his way by hunting, he finds that he not only has to learn to hunt, but then has to learn to deal with the conflicting feelings he gets from acts of mountain-man derring-do that result--he realizes abruptly one day--in the death of an actual living thing. He manages to balance that for the creatures he eats, but his trap line doesn't last past his first kill.

I laughed at some of his ignorance going into the job, but I admired the young man who hung on, who learned from his mistakes and from anyone he could find to observe, and learned to love the wilderness. He struggled through that winter, with its isolation and privation, but I think that he was privileged to discover that he was, indeed, one of the people who are at home in the wilderness. (Plus, he learned to love books.)

My Recommendation:
This is a quick and easy read that is good for anyone who loves the wilderness--or thinks s/he might. Some events in the book may be a little disconcerting to our 21st-Century ideals of wilderness travel, but bearing in mind that it was 1977 and Pete was only 19, he actually did amazingly well at developing a wilderness ethic.


FTC Disclosure: I checked Indian Creek Chronicles out of my library, and received nothing from the writer or publisher for my honest review.  The opinions expressed are my own and those of no one else.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising." 

Middle Grade Monday: Connect the Stars

 

Title: Connect the Stars

Author: Marisa de los Santos & David Teague

Publisher: Harper Collins, 2015. 192 pages (Nook version)

Source: Library digital resources

Publisher's Summary:

When thirteen-year-olds Aaron and Audrey meet at a wilderness camp in the desert, they think their quirks are enough to prevent them from ever having friends. But as they trek through the challenging and unforgiving landscape, they learn that they each have what it takes to make the other whole.

Luminous and clever, Connect the Stars has Marisa de los Santos and David Teague’s trademark beautiful prose, delicate humor, swooping emotions, and keen middle grade friendships. This novel takes on the hefty topics of the day—bullying, understanding where you fit in, and learning to live with physical and mental challenges—all in a joyous adventure kids will love!

My Review: 
First, that's a lovely cover. Just wanted to say that, because once again that's what caught my eye while randomly browsing for a distraction. Now for the review.

The book is told in first person, alternating chapter-by-chapter between the voices of Audrey and Aaron, which actually works well. Sometimes I had to check back to see who we were following, but I think that was about me being tired, not the voices being clear (actually, the voices aren't so very different, but the things they notice and comment on are, if that makes any sense). We start with several chapters of the kids' lives at home, which sets the backstory for why they are going on the wilderness camp and why each struggles with friendship. Of course, knowing that, we know from the start that the two will become friends during this camp experience. And we know that the wilderness camp will test them in unexpected ways.

The story lies in how those things happen. The one drawback, for me, is that the story relies in part on an unbelievable setup for the wilderness trek. The idea that any commercial operation could or would take 15 kids into the desert with only one adult was almost laughable (but probably wouldn't trouble juvenile readers). That adult then exercises a lot of bad judgement and endangers his charges more than once, which is also probably more believable to young readers. For a time, however, the unbelievable elements made me think I might not be able to enjoy the book. And the book does rather depend on there being just the one adult present.

Fortunately, as the kids begin to bond and discover their strengths and overcome their weaknesses, I was more able to engage in the story. I liked that Aaron and Audrey aren't "troubled youths," in the typical sense. This isn't a camp meant to whip kids into shape before they end up in jail. It's "La Viaje a la Confianza," the Journey to Confidence, and while some of the kids are dealing with some major issues, those issues aren't trouble with the law.

And even though things don't exactly go according to plan, they do gain confidence. Audrey and Aaron also come to realize that they can learn to live with their issues, be honest with each other (and the other two friends who are part of what becomes a foursome), and be best friends anyway. In the end, this gets a positive review despite the unrealistic elements, because the message is great without being preached at the reader. Instead, it is wrapped in a mild adventure. The ending gives it a bit of a marking down, for excessive sentiment.

Recommendation:

I think this is a good read for any kid who wonders if he or she has what it takes to have friends (which I'm guessing is most junior high kids). But beware: whether or not the reader already loves the outdoors, they are apt to feel at the end as though they could maybe love the desert, and they'll want to go find out. My answer: go . The desert is an amazing place--all our different deserts.

FTC Disclosure: I checked Connect the Stars out of my library, and received nothing from the writer or publisher for my honest review.  The opinions expressed are my own and those of no one else.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."   

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