Gold Rush Fever

Through a comfortable combination of fiction and nonfiction, this book presents the life of a young miner during the Klondike gold rush between 1897 and 1899. Thirteen-year-old Tim accompanies his older brother on a difficult trek from Seattle to the Yukon, where they set up as miners. After enduring difficulties such as frostbite, hard labor, hard luck, and cabin fever, they make their fortunes and head for home. Told in the third person from Tim's point of view, the episodic story is involving as fiction and informative about the experiences of Klondike miners. Between sections of the story are pages discussing everything from the supplies needed for the trip to gambling in the town of Dawson to methods of mining and panning for gold. In addition to period photographs, excellent shaded pencil drawings appear throughout the book.