Peril at Hell's Gate (The Bains)

Set in the 19th century against the rugged backdrop of the British Columbia Rockies and the building of Canada’s first transcontinental railway, teen siblings Kate and Robbie lead pack horses across treacherous mountain terrain to deliver supplies to workers building the transcontinental railroad. Along the way, they befriend Lee, a young Chinese labourer with his own secret reasons for working to build the railway.

The adventure takes a dramatic turn when Kate must disguise herself as a boy to stay at the railroad camp. While maintaining this secret, the teens are drawn into a daring mission to steer a supply barge through the dangerous Hell’s Gate rapids, a critical step in completing the railroad.

This gripping tale of courage and survival is based on a true but little-known story from Canada’s past.

BILL FREEMAN is an award-winning historian, novelist, and screenwriter. Among his previous publications are Far from Home: Canadians in the First World War, which he co-authored with Richard Nielsen; A Magical Place: Toronto Island and Its People, winner of a Certificate of Commendation from Heritage Toronto in 2000; Casa Loma: Toronto's Fairy-Tale Castle and Its Owner Sir Henry Pellatt, which received the Heritage Toronto Award of Merit in 1999; Their Town: The Mafia, the Media and the Party Machine, a study of political power in Hamilton co-authored with Marsha Hewitt; and 1005: Political Life in a Union Local. Bill Freeman is also a popular children's author who has won the prestigious Vicky Metcalf Award for "a body of work" and a Canada Council Award for Juvenile Literature.