The best part of this novel is its strong sense of place. It’s set in the Yukon, where the reader is immersed in northern life, including gold mining in both its modern-day and traditional contexts.
There are fun elements, such as a popcorn-loving guard goose, lightning-paranoid junkyard dealer, eccentric muffin maker and women’s motorcycle gang. And scenes burst with excitement around the climax.
Although the shadow of living with an alcoholic father just released from jail is there, it’s a fairly small part of the book. Front and center is young Chris’s concern for his father, the boy’s determination to find gold on their property and his brave sleuthing to uncover a family mystery and rid his father of dubious companions.

I squinted at Ballcap. He gave me a steely look back. I suddenly knew what was going on. He and Shifty didn’t want me to come and live here because then I would be able to keep an eye on things and keep my dad on the straight and narrow. It would be hard to swindle someone with his son watching. So, they were going to try to convince Mrs. O this was a bad situation and I shouldn’t come, weren’t they? Oh, it was on

The plot is a little on a the slow-and-meandering side, and some expressions are repeated a few too many times (“it’ll be game over” and “hope we don’t have to go back to eating pickles and crackers”). But the attention to detail and the warmth of community support that Chris encounters is uplifting. In short, it’s a fun read that offers an inspiring taste of life up north.

-P.W.