When the Water Runs: Growing Up With Alaska

by Cheryl Schuermann

Overview

Audrey Purkeypile was born in northern Alaska in 1927 during a remarkable era of Alaskan history. Surrounded by the wondrous beauty of untamed land, Audrey’s parents raised their family alongside the affable Eskimos, daring bush pilots, and rugged trappers and gold miners. They contributed to the development of the Territory of Alaska in their diverse roles as teacher, postmaster, health officer, and reindeer superintendent. In this poignant memoir, author Cheryl Schuermann has captured the delightful stories of her mother’s childhood in When the Water Runs. Audrey’s memories and life lessons learned will provide readers with an inside look at a young girl’s experiences as she grows up with Alaska, America’s last frontier.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781949609912
Publisher:	Pen It! Publications, LLC
Publication date:	05/31/2019
Pages:	198
Sales rank:	1,112,450
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.45(d)

About the Author

Author Cheryl Schuermann and her husband, Stan, enjoy the blessing of living near their children and grandchildren in Oklahoma. A retired education consultant, Cheryl volunteers as a Community Educator and Faith Outreach Liaison for the Oklahoma Alzheimer's Association. She continues to write, focusing on stories for children.

Editorial Reviews

When the Water Runs is an exciting and touching memoir (and I loved it). The narrative flows so smoothly, carrying the reader along apace. The characters are well drawn, becoming people we really care about. The saga of this warm and loving family living together in harmony in the wilderness above the Arctic Circle with only Eskimos and gold miners for neighbors is enthralling. To me it is the Little House on the Tundra!

—Dr. Pamelia S. Cromer

Educator

When the Water Runs is a poignant, informative view of life on the Alaskan frontier. This first-person account draws the reader into the stories of family love and laughter in the midst of the hardships of life. Once I started to read, I didn’t want to stop!

—Elizabeth Sherrer

Literacy Consultant and Writer

While I’m very grateful to be living with indoor plumbing and many of the “finer” things in life, reading this book has made the adventurer in me long to be able to visit the days of Audrey’s youth and run across the tundra with her and her sisters and brother in the wild Alaska of old.

—Pat Cathey Retired

Administrator

Fairbanks School District

This fascinating story of a remarkable pioneer family that found joy while enduring the hardships in the Alaskan frontier brought forth both tears and laughter as I walked through the pages of their adventures.

—Susan Gladhill

Educator

From the Publisher