Toughboy and Sister

Overview

After Momma's death, Toughboy and Sister find themselves in the care of Father, who spends more time in the local bar than looking after his children. With help from the women in the village, though, Toughboy and Sister get through the rest of the winter without Mamma.

Finally, spring comes: time to make the long-awaited annual trip to the fish camp with Father. Once they arrive at their cabin, things start to look up for the children — the fish camp is always fun, and Father ...

See more details below
Other sellers (Paperback)
  • All (30) from $1.99   
  • New (12) from $4.48   
  • Used (18) from $1.99   
Note: Kids' Club Eligible. See More Details.
Sending request ...

Overview

After Momma's death, Toughboy and Sister find themselves in the care of Father, who spends more time in the local bar than looking after his children. With help from the women in the village, though, Toughboy and Sister get through the rest of the winter without Mamma.

Finally, spring comes: time to make the long-awaited annual trip to the fish camp with Father. Once they arrive at their cabin, things start to look up for the children — the fish camp is always fun, and Father seems to be in good spirits. Maybe their fractured family will be all right.

Or not.

When Father goes to town and drinks himself to death, Toughboy and Sister are suddenly left to fend for themselves in the Alaskan wilderness.

The death of their drunken father strands ten-year-old Toughboy and his younger sister at a remote fishing cabin on the Yukon River near Ruby, Alaska, where they spend a summer trying to cope with dwindling food supplies and hostile wildlife.

Read More Show Less

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
Survival is at stake when a boy and his sister are stranded at their family's Yukon fishing camp. Ages 8-12. Feb.
Children's Literature - Marilyn Courtot
Two Athabascan children are left to survive by their own skills when their drunken father suddenly dies. Eleven-year-old Toughboy and his younger sister have not really recovered from the recent death of their mother when they head out with their father to their remote Alaskan fishing camp. Their abilities to cope with the hardships and dangers and the strengths and weakness of these siblings make a captivating story. 1992 orig.
School Library Journal
Following their parents' deaths, two young Athabascan Indians work together to survive in the family's remote fish camp on the Yukon River. Hill ably depicts a lifestyle unfamiliar to many continental Americans. Through Toughboy and Sister, she illuminates the larger community of Athabascans, showing their values and strong belief in family ties. Athabascan words are smoothly explained in the text. Toughboy and Sister are not idealized characters; they learn to get along because they have to, and each tries to be strong to reassure the other. Readers will enjoy the idea of children their own age figuring out how to cook, fish, and kill a bear. The story is quietly told, which may be its biggest problem; while the setting and characters are vivid and appealing, the dramatic aspects of the tale are understated. Toughboy and Sister accept their father's death with a worldly wise sense of resignation. A confrontation with a bear, forshadowed in the jacket art and throughout the story, is oddly anticlimactic. The tone and ideas are similar to those in O'Dell's Island of the Blue Dolphins Houghton, 1960 and Paulsen's Hatchet Bradbury, 1987, but Toughboy and Sister lacks their depth and excitement. Easily read and accessible, this miniature portrait of Alaskan Indian life is not a high-priority purchase, but would be a good choice for larger collections. --Lucinda Snyder Whitehurst, County of Henrico Public Library--Fairfield Area Library, Richmond, VA
Read More Show Less

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780689839788
  • Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
  • Publication date: 9/1/2000
  • Edition description: 1 ALADDIN
  • Pages: 128
  • Age range: 8 - 12 Years
  • Product dimensions: 0.30 (w) x 5.00 (h) x 8.00 (d)

Meet the Author

Kirkpatrick Hill lives in Fairbanks, Alaska. She was an elementary school teacher for more than thirty years, most of that time in the Alaskan "bush." Hill is the mother of six children and the grandmother of eight. Her three earlier books, Toughboy and Sister, Winter Camp, and The Year of Miss Agnes, have all been immensely popular. Her fourth book with McElderry Books, Dancing at the Odinochka, was a Junior Library Guild Selection. Hill's visits to a family member in jail inspired her to write Do Not Pass Go.

Read More Show Less

Customer Reviews

Be the first to write a review
( 0 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(0)

4 Star

(0)

3 Star

(0)

2 Star

(0)

1 Star

(0)

Your Rating:

Your Name: Create a Pen Name or

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked, or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help ensure that your review can be posted.

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer. However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.

What to exclude from your review:

Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the information on the product page, please send us an email.

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

  • - HTML tags, profanity, obscenities, vulgarities, or comments that defame anyone
  • - Time-sensitive information such as tour dates, signings, lectures, etc.
  • - Single-word reviews. Other people will read your review to discover why you liked or didn't like the title. Be descriptive.
  • - Comments focusing on the author or that may ruin the ending for others
  • - Phone numbers, addresses, URLs
  • - Pricing and availability information or alternative ordering information
  • - Advertisements or commercial solicitation

Reminder:

  • - By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.
  • - Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.
  • - See Terms of Use for other conditions and disclaimers.
Search for Products You'd Like to Recommend

Recommend other products that relate to your review. Just search for them below and share!

Create a Pen Name

Your Pen Name is your unique identity on BN.com. It will appear on the reviews you write and other website activities. Your Pen Name cannot be edited, changed or deleted once submitted.

 
Your Pen Name can be any combination of alphanumeric characters (plus - and _), and must be at least two characters long.

Continue Anonymously

    If you find inappropriate content, please report it to Barnes & Noble
    Why is this product inappropriate?
    Comments (optional)