Marven is only 10, but sent to a remote lumber camp to escape the 1918 Influenza Epidemic in Duluth, MN. He has to take a train and then cross country ski to the camp. He works for the lumber camp helping to keep tabs on the accounting. French dialogue intermixed through story.

I very much enjoyed this story. I believe that it had a lot of depth for a book of its length and I believe that the characters were complex and well-rounded. The protagonist, although a young boy, was strong and independent, and made the best of a hard situation. I believe that the main character is a good role model and a good example of the strength and independence that a child can have. I also liked this story because although the boy clearly did not want to leave his home, it almost became an exciting adventure for him. He made the best of it, made friends, and enjoyed his time in the woods. Overall, I found this to be a really lovely picture book that I would be pleased to use in my own classroom. ( )

This book is a true story about how two unlikely people become friends. Marven a ten year old boy from Duluth, Minnesota in 1918, is sent to live at a logging camp far awar from home in the Great North Woods to escape the influenza that is sweeping the country. Marven is scared to go becasue he does not know what to expect, and is also afraid that the influenza might take the life of some of his family members. At the logging camp Marven meets a French speaking lumberjack named Jean Louis. The two have nothing in common, but become freinds anyway. When Marven comes back home he is relieved to find out that the influenza is over, and that all of his family memebers are alive. ( )

Based on a true story about Kathryn Lasky's father as a young boy of 10. Marven and his family have moved to the United States from Russia. It is 1918 and an epidemic breaks out in Detroit, Michigan. To escape the disease, Marven is shipped away to live and work at a lumber camp in upper Michigan. He sets out on a five hour train ride by himself. When he arrives at his destination, he then has to ski about 5 miles to the lumber camp.

I loved this story. Kathryn Lasky is one of my favorite writers. She authored the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series. This story is one of those total Immersion experiences. Kevin Hawkes paintings are superb throughout the book. The text and the artwork combine to bring you right into the rousing lumber camp in the middle of winter.
In the classroom I would talk with the students about being brave and accepting personal responsibility. Can they remember a time when they were brave or had to be responsible? The students could talk in pairs and then write down individually their experiences to share later. ( )

Marvin is sent up to Northern Minnesota during an outbreak of Influenza in Duluth. In the Great North Woods, Marvin stays with a company of loggers where he has to solve new problems.

Although there are some excellent details in the story, mostly around Jean Louis, the french-canadian logger who befriends Marvin, the pacingof the story seems to be slow, and after it's over, I find myself asking if anything at all really happened. There's just not enough in the plot structure to make it a compelling story for me, no matter how beautifully it is told.