Tisha
As Told To Robert Specht
From the backpiece:
"Alaska was as remote as the moon, as roistering and lawless as the Gold Rush. And a pretty young schoolteacher from Colorado like Anne Hobbs was even rarer than nuggets. 'So appealing are the people here, even the villainous ones; so dramatic is the landscape in which they act out their adventure; so pure is the moral conflict that forms the story's backbone, and so honest is its sentimentality--that I managed to suspend all my disbelief as I read it. And it was with pleasure that I raced through this good, old-fashioned yarn, hissing the villains, holding my breath at each succeeding catastrophe, and above all adoring 'plain old Anne Hobbs,' as she calls herself, the pretty slip of a nineteen-year-old who in 1927 had the courage not only to brace the Alaska wilderness as a teacher in a tiny gold-mining community called Chicken, but also to face down the community's violent disapproval when she dared to treat the local Indians as human beings...." (Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, The New York Times
Two Old Women
Velma Wallis
1993 Western States Book Award
1994 Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award
While not widely known Outside Alaska, Two Old Women certainly holds a place of honor in the hearts of Alaskans who are familiar with the story. Truth be told, when I mentioned to my 10-year-old that I wanted to bring Alaska books to a wider audience, he insisted that Two Old Women be at the top of the list!
From the Back:
Based on an Athabascan Indian legend passed along for many generations from mothers to daughters of the upper Yukon River Valley in Alaska, this is the suspenseful, shocking, and ultimately inspirational tale of two old women abandoned by their tribe during a brutal winter famine.
Though these women have been known to complain more than contribute, they now must either survive on their own or die trying. in simple but vivid detail, Velma Wallis depicts a landscape and way of life that are at once merciless and starkly beautiful. In her old women, she has created two heroines of steely determination whose story of betrayal, friendship, community, and forgiveness "speaks straight to the heart with clarity, sweetness and wisdom" (Ursula K. Le Guin)
Sitka
Louis L'Amour
The #1 New York Times Bestselling Author's only Alaskan adventure.
"The Alaska Territory is chartered to the Russians, but with Russia in political turmoil, Baron Zinnovy takes over the local fur trade. Savagely hunting down those who defy him, Zinnovy has free rein till he meets the one man who can stop him....
An adventurer, a sailor, and a man who will brave any risk, Jean LaBarge finds the challenge of a lifetime on the rugged Alaskan coast. After sailing his ship from the teeming port of San Francisco to the icy waters of the north Pacific, LaBarge will let no man stand between him and his dream. And with a beautiful Russian princess by his side, he will fight until he changes the face of a nation..." (from the backpiece)
Journey
James A Michener
"Gold fever swept the world in 1897. The chance for untold riches sent thousands of dreamers from all walks of life on a perilous trek toward their fortunes, failures, or deaths. Here, we are immersed in the searing adventures of four English aristocrats and their Irish servant as they misguidedly haul their dreams across cruel Canadian terrain toward the Klondike gold fields." (from the backpiece)