Cheechako: An Alaska Adventure

Will Rollins, a greenhorn--cheechako--(chee-chock-oh) is miserable in his new Alaska life. In addition to the bully hassling him, he can't seem to make any friends in school and doesn't know a thing about dogsleds, riverboats, hunting, or survival at 40 degrees below zero. Even though he doesn't feel very brave, Will darts out alone onto rampaging-river ice to rescue a stranded dog. His bravery wins him a valuable, trained sled dog, Blackie, and a new human friend as well, a Native American boy named Elias. It's Elias who challenges and inspires the cheechako to become a rugged outdoorsman and a real Alaskan. Will starts out by feeding, harnessing and then driving a sled dog team. He learns to throw a hatchet-and hit what he aims at! He learns to snowshoe and stay alive in the cold, to challenge his fears and to keep moving when everything he wants to do is quit. Best of all, he learns to be a good friend.But when a fierce, Siberian blizzard rampages across central Alaska, stranding Will's family, nearly burying their log cabin in wind-blown snow drifts, it will be up to Will and Blackie to try to make it out alive. With Elias injured and Will's family in danger of freezing, can a cheechako save them? Can he save himself? A thrilling read for boys or girls who love adventure.

Author: Jonathan Thomas Stratman
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Published: 03/03/2012
Pages: 144
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.38lbs
Size: 8.00h x 5.25w x 0.34d
ISBN: 9781470185909

About the Author
Jonathan Thomas Stratman When I was seven years old, my father moved us to the village of Nenana in interior Alaska. It was all my dreams coming true! I learned to hunt, fish, drive a dog sled, and to survive and feel okay even when it was really cold. From about age 12 on, I wanted to write, and have. I have been a Cricket Magazine author, also a teacher, and now am pleased to have two book series based around Nenana, the Cheechako series for readers from about grade five up, and and an adult mystery series, the Father Hardy Mysteries. Although I haven't always lived in Alaska, I have always been able to feel that part of Alaska in me. I love going back to that older Alaska and bringing it to life. If you are Alaskan, or ever wanted to be, I'm writing so that you can come to feel it, too. I now know that writing success is staying at it, writing and re-writing. Actually finishing. Knowing you've done your best work and knowing the book you submit or upload ... works. And it's also hearing from readers, Alaskan and otherwise who say, as several have recently, "I couldn't go to bed without finishing your book."

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