Miracle at Willowcreek

Description

285 pages
$7.95
ISBN 1-896764-04-5
DDC jC813'.54

Publisher

Year

1998

Contributor

Illustrations by Kasia Charko
Reviewed by Sheree Haughian

Sheree Haughian, a former teacher-librarian with the Dufferin County
Board of Education, is an editor with Gage Educational Publishing and
the author of The Private Journal of Day Applepenny, Prisoner.

Review

Tess’s grandfather knew all about the calls of birds, the culture of
marsh plants, and the rhythms of nature. Every summer Tess visited him
at Willowcreek Farm. Here, in a precious wetland area located in
southwestern British Columbia, they celebrated the majesty of the rare
sandhill cranes. Her grandfather now dead, Tess and her mother are
living at Willowcreek with Uncle Randall. The home has lost its harmony:
Tess’s beautiful mother is an indoors type and her uncle is a key
player in a development scheme that would turn the wetlands into a
tourist-choked theme park.

Tess joins forces with a sensitive Native girl, an empathetic boy, and
an aged “bird woman” who shares her knowledge and love of the cranes
with the young people. Together, they manage to save the cranes from
local extinction by successfully raising a baby crane and returning it
to its habitat. Equally masterful is their way of turning a tragic
environmental incident into an emotional appeal to stop the development.
While understanding all she can about birds is her most compelling
concern, Tess also gathers insights into human relationships.

The novel’s strong ethical stance tends to divide characters into
embodiments of goodness or malevolence. Uncle Randall, the
progress-at-any-price villain of the piece, often seems too bluntly
drawn. However, there are very few missteps in LeBox’s eloquent
narrative. Details about cranes and other aspects of nature are
meticulously researched and threaded seamlessly into the text. Two
glossaries and an afterword provide additional information. Most
impressive of all is the novel’s portrayal of the affinity that can
exist between humans and animals, and its poetic call to the spirit.
Recommended.

Citation

LeBox, Annette., “Miracle at Willowcreek,” Canadian Book Review Annual Online, accessed July 14, 2025, https://cbra.library.utoronto.ca/items/show/19421.