Cabin on Trouble Creek - Softcover

Van Leeuwen, Jean

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0142411647 ISBN 13: 9780142411643

Publisher: Puffin Books, 2008

Synopsis

After clearing enough forest to build a log cabin for their new home, Pa returns east to fetch the rest of the family, while young brothers Daniel and Will stay behind to watch the land. Pa had planned to return within six weeks . . . but something must have gone wrong. Now the boys must survive the winter with only a few supplies and their ability to invent and improvise. But are they alone in the woods? Jean Van Leeuwen?s engrossing novel of pioneer survival is based on a true incident.

About this title

About the Author

Jean Van Leeuwen is the author of more than fifty children's books, including picture books, Easy-to-Read books, and middle-grade fiction. She has won numerous awards, among them the William Allen White Award, the South Carolina Children's Book Award, the Massachusetts Honor Book Award, and the Washington Irving Children's Choice Award, as well as many ALA Notable Book citations.

Her own two children were the inspiration for the Oliver and Amanda Pig stories, as well as several others, including Dear Mom, You're Ruining My Life. Many of her other books have grown out of her long-time interest in American history. Her historical picture books include Going West, which was cited as an IRA Teachers' Choice and Across the Wide Dark Sea, selected by the New York Public Library as one of the "100 Titles for Reading and Sharing." She has written historical fiction for older readers as well. Her Bound for Oregon was a Child Study Association Book of the Year, and Cabin on Trouble Creek was nominated for children's Choice awards in eight states. 

Ms. Van Leeuwen now lives in another small town north of New York City with her husband, Bruce Gavril. She has two grown children, David and Elizabeth, and a young grandchild, who will surely inspire more stories. 

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-7–Van Leeuwen brings the excitement and danger of life on the frontier vibrantly to life. Daniel, 11, Will, 9, and their father travel to Ohio in 1803 to claim their new land. After hastily building a cabin, Pa returns home to Pennsylvania to fetch Ma and the younger children, intending to come back five or six weeks later. The boys first treat their time alone as an adventure, exploring the woods and fishing in the creek. However, as the weeks stretch into months with still no sign of their parents, the brothers must shift their focus to withstanding the winter. Luckily, a Native American trapper notices them and teaches them some basic survival skills. Still, as snow piles up around them, the youngsters realize how fierce the outdoors can be. Excellent pacing is what makes this novel work so well. From an action-packed beginning to the challenges of a difficult winter, the suspense builds consistently. The boys' struggle is portrayed realistically, without sugarcoating nature's harshness. Daniel and Will also grow and mature as they learn to rely on themselves, their wits, and one another. Not only is this a relevant tie-in to frontier studies, but it is also a good story.–Kristen Oravec, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Strongsville, OH
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Edition details

• Publisher: Puffin Books
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0142411647
• ISBN 13: 9780142411643
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 219