ALA Booklist (Sun Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 1999)

The 1897 Klondike gold rush is the vivid backdrop to this harshly realistic novel. When 15-year-old Jason Hawthorn sets off from Seattle to the newly discovered gold fields, he has no idea of the difficulties of terrain, weather, and chronically short rations that lie ahead. En route he is befriended by a number of minor characters, including a young Jack London and a beautiful girl named Jamie. More important, Jason rescues a husky from brutal death at the hands of a deranged master. The dog, which Jason names King, becomes essential to the boy's survival. Rich in period detail, the novel is clearly the product of prodigious research. This strength becomes a weakness, however, when the research shows up as extended passages of exposition that slow the narrative pace and occasionally make both characters and dramatic incidents seem contrived. For most readers, these problems will be redeemed by Jason's heroic efforts to survive when winter overtakes him 250 miles short of his destination. Here exposition turns into epic as Hobbs reveals the immense challenges and hardships of surviving in the vast emptiness of the Yukon winter. In an appended note Hobbs discusses his sources and research. (Reviewed August 1999)

Horn Book (Sat Apr 01 00:00:00 CST 2000)

Fifteen-year-old Jason encounters the hazards of the Canadian wilderness in 1897 as he struggles to join his older brothers searching for wealth in the goldfields. The young Jack London makes several cameo appearances, along with a number of lesser-known characters--all historical, as an informative author's note indicates. Hobbs blends fact and fiction to create a believable story that is fast reading but never simplistic.