Away to the Goldfields! [Hardcover]

Pat Derby (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

Some things are more precious than gold

Stubborn, spirited Molly Malarky embarks on a life-altering adventure as she and her brother flee their miserable New Hampshire farm on the trail of their widower father, who abandoned them during the first months of the California gold rush. Traveling from Boston, to Panama, across the isthmus, and up the Pacific coast, they find that no part of the journey is easy. Cheats and scalawags abound, the distances are enormous, and unhealthy conditions are inescapable. And for a young woman trying to make headway alongside hundreds of desperate men -- her greedy, bad-tempered, and chauvinistic brother included -- the journey is overwhelming.

In this stirring historical story, resourceful Molly is never defeated as she heads west to stake a claim that is bigger and more personal than she ever imagined.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-9–Resourceful, independent 16-year-old Molly Malarkey and her 18-year-old brother are left alone on the family's hardscrabble New Hampshire farm when their father and older brother take off to follow dreams of riches in the gold rush. After receiving a letter from Pa, the siblings set out for California, and what follows is a hard, dirty journey, but also one of self-discovery for Molly. As they travel by ship to Panama, then across the isthmus to another vessel to San Francisco, Molly tries to take charge of the irresponsible Malachi, who is always gambling and getting into trouble. She has the great fortune to find adult mentors who help her reach her destination. Although she never tracks down her disreputable family, she makes loyal friends, including a young man whom she may–or may not–marry. The end of the story is actually a beginning for Molly in her quest to find what she wants out of life. This is an engrossing adventure with an attractive heroine. Although villains abound, readers are left with a feeling of hope for her future.–Cynthia M. Sturgis, Ledding Library, Milwaukie, OR
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 5-8. In 1853, 16-year-old Molly Malarky is left to care for her family's "poor, rocky New Hampshire farm" with her older brother, Malachy. Their mother died long ago, and their father, consumed by gold rush fever, has departed for California. Malachy is fonder of gambling and drinking than farmwork, and survival seems tenuous. Then a letter arrives asking Malachy to join their father in California, and Molly, knowing that irresponsible, illiterate Malachy may not survive the journey on his own, accompanies him. It's Molly's ingenuity that sees the siblings through the long, grueling trip from the Atlantic to Pacific Oceans, passing overland through Panama. The story's pacing is uneven; logistical details bog down the adventure and leave less room for emotional exploration of the characters. But Derby writes an intriguing historical adventure, peopled with colorful supporting characters and a passionately independent young heroine who actively questions the available roles for women of her time. For related reading, suggest Susannah Fairchild's Seeds of Hope: The Gold Rush Diary of Kristiana Gregory (2001). Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR); 1st edition (September 23, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374399611
• ISBN-13: 978-0374399610
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,158,933 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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