The High Climber of Dark Water Bay

An orphaned girl becomes a lumberjack in the Pacific Northwest.

 

It’s the early years of the Great Depression and preteen Lizzie is sent to her uncle’s British Columbia lumber camp following the suicide of her father.  But upon her arrival in the remote location, Lizzie’s uncle is nowhere in sight and she must fend for herself among a crew of rough-hewn loggers and a shifty camp boss.

The descriptions of an operating 1930s lumber camp are well done, from the indifferent attitude toward safety and sanitation to the operation of a high lead logging system.  Lizzie’s experience learning to climb trees using a harness and spurs is particularly interesting.

This would be a good companion for other books about young people in the logging industry including Blackwater Ben by William Durbin, Swift Rivers by Cornelia Meigs, and My Near-Death Adventures by Alison DeCamp.