Way Lies North, The
The Way Lies North
by Jean Rae Baxter
$10.95
- Autumn 2007
- print ISBN: 978-1-55380-048-4 (1-55380-048-6)
- ebook ISBN: 978-1-55380-244-0
- 5-1/4″ x 7-5/8″ Trade Paperback, 342 pages
- Young Reader Novel – Ages 9 to 12
- Out of print
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, to the 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 the Native peoples.
Click here to read an excerpt from The Way Lies North.
Reviews & Awards:
- Shortlisted for the Red Ceder and Stellar Awards
- Selected for Best Books for Kids & Teens
“This novel is incredibly subtle in its intensity and details. You don’t realize how catching the story is until you are unable to put it down, and the last words are read . . . the adventure sneaks up and grabs you from behind.”
—What If? magazine“A fascinating story about young people fleeing the violence of the American Revolution and discovering a new way of life with the help of the First Nations peoples.”
—Ann Walsh, author of Moses, Me and Murder and Your Time, My Time“…a useful addition to the historical fiction collections about the United Empire Loyalists and their dangerous treks to Canada.”
—Resource Links“a compelling story about decent believable and engaging people”
—Deakin Newsletter“This book is of higher calibre than the usual young adult fiction because of the accurately placed famous people, historic events and detail woven throughout the novel.”
—The Loyalist Gazette“Jean Rae Baxter’s first book is a pleasure to read”
—Stratford Gazette“The author has done an amazing job of incorporating an enjoyable story with a historical event. By the end of the book you almost feel as though you are part of the story and that you really are one of the characters”
—KIdsWWwrite – Sarah’s Stars
