Flying Ghosts

Dave Jenkinson is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba and the author of the “Portraits” section of Emergency Librarian.

Matheson’s second juvenile novel is a curious blend of seemingly
disparate elements that somehow come together to make a satisfying read.
While the title suggests a supernatural story and the cover illustration
poses the possibility of the book’s being an adventure, the work, in
fact, is an extended character study that uses as its historical
backdrop the World War II construction of the Alcan Highway between
Dawson Creek, B.C., and Fairbanks, Alaska. The central character, Jay
Smith, 15, has lived an isolated life with his family in a remote Alaska
trapline cabin, but the arrival of a bush plane piloted by Matthew
“Midnight” Smith, a paternal uncle formerly unknown to Jay, leads to
the family’s relocation to northern B.C. and involvement in the
road’s construction.

While Jay becomes embroiled in many adventure-filled episodes, such as
rescuing a drowning greenhorn from a thawing river or venturing into the
“haunted” Valley of Lost Planes to search for his downed flier
uncle, the real action involves his changing relationship with his
father plus his discoveries about his highly principled (but
quick-tempered) father’s past. Matheson frames her story within the 11
months between the U.S. declaration of war and the Alcan Highway’s
completion, and, though the historical event is concluded, a number of
subplots, such as Jay’s fledgling romance with the daughter of his
father’s archenemy, remain tantalizingly unresolved. Perhaps
middle-school readers are to construct their own endings, or possibly
Matheson is just leaving openings for a sequel. Recommended.