Back to the Klondike

Brenda Baltensperger is a playwright, a director of children’s
theatre, an editor of children’s fiction, and the author of Fractured
Fairy-tales.

Julianna is off on a white-water rafting trip down the Alsek River with
a group from her Whitehorse Junior High School. At the Kluane Park
Visitors Centre, their jumping off point, they are joined by a German
visitor, who is an expert kayaker. He warns Gary Robertson, the outdoor
education teacher, that the river is running dangerously high; but
Robertson insists the students are up to the challenge. Julianna and
Graham, a boy she really likes but is unable to be civil to, have some
past experience in white-water rafting and are aware how strenuous the
trip will be.

While running one of the more difficult canyon rapids the raft almost
capsizes, and Julianna is thrown against the canyon wall and knocked
out. In her unconscious state, she is transported back to 1898, and is
rescued from drowning by a young Tlingit brave named Split the Waves.
Julianna is suffering from amnesia, so her rescuer names her “River
Woman.” He takes her to his village where his grandmother teaches her
Tlingit ways. The Klondike gold rush is in full force and many people
are traveling to the gold fields. Split the Waves has a close friend who
is supposed to get married; but the young woman’s uncle sells her to a
white trader, and Split the Waves, his friend, and Julianna set out to
rescue his bride.

Besides being an action-packed adventure story, Back to the Klondike
contains a wealth of historical and cultural information that adds to
its value. Highly recommended.