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Title: Cheechako

Subtitle: An Alaska Adventure, Volume 1

Author: Jonathan Thomas Stratman

Narrator: Jonathan Thomas Stratman

Format: Unabridged

Length: 3 hrs and 42 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-29-13

Publisher: Jonathan Thomas Stratman

Genres: Kids, Ages 8-10

Publisher's Summary:

Will Rollins, a greenhorn - cheechako - (chee-chock-oh) is miserable in his new Alaska life. In addition to the bully after him, he can't seem to make any friends in school and doesn't know a thing about dogsleds, riverboats, hunting, or surviving at 40 degrees below zero. When Will darts out alone onto rampaging river ice to rescue a stranded dog, his bravery wins him a valuable, trained sled dog, Blackie, and a new human friend as well, an Alaskan Indian boy named Elias. It's Elias who challenges and inspires the cheechako to become a rugged outdoorsman and a real Alaskan.

Will starts out by feeding, harnessing and then driving a sled dog team. He learns to throw a hatchet - and hit what he aims at! He learns to snowshoe and stay alive in the cold, to challenge his fears, and to push on when everything he wants to do is quit. Best of all, he learns to be a good friend. But when a fierce, Siberian blizzard rampages across central Alaska, stranding Will's family, nearly burying their log cabin in wind-blown snow, it will be up to Will and Blackie to try to make it out alive. With Elias injured and Will's family in danger of freezing, can a cheechako save them? Can he save himself?

Members Reviews:

Great wilderness survival story for young adults!

When Will moves with his mother and stepfather Jim to Alaska from Boston, he is taunted and dismissed by the local boys at school as a cheechako, a greenhorn. But when he makes a daring rescue of a dog caught on an ice floe, he earns the respect of one of these boys, and they soon become friends. From Elias, Will learns how to run sled dogs, split wood, throw a hatchet, and clean and dry salmon at his friend's family fish camp. Months later, when Jim is days overdue from his winter field work studying caribou herds, Will must strike out in the wilderness with a team of dogs to try to locate him. He soon finds himself caught up in a powerful Siberian blizzard and is forced to make split second decisions, relying on every ounce of strength, endurance, and survival smarts he has gained.

Jonathan Stratman certainly knows his territory and masterfully provides authenticity to the setting, characters, and edge-of-your-seat series of events. This is an exciting coming-of-age wilderness survival story steeped in the unforgiving winter landscape of the far north. Give this book and others in its series to young adults who have enjoyed White Fang and the Gary Paulsen books. âHolly Kruse, former librarian at Cabot School, VT

Excellent Read! Hard to put down!

Loved it! Picked up the book to read on my commute. The story had me hooked right from the start! Highly recommend for anyone. The story moves along with ample detail, to feel like you are right in the midst of it. And the story brings laughter and tears and was hard to put down.

Strong Alaskan Adventure for the Reluctant Middle School Reader

Mr. Stratman knows the Alaskan bush. His writing is imbued with bits of Alaskan knowledge that will appeal to middle schoolers and adults alike. As an Alaskan middle school teacher with 30+ years of experience, I know what appeals to young teenagers and this book should find wide acceptance in that market. I would strongly recommend it for reluctant middle school readers that love outdoor adventure. "Cheechako" could be just the book to get them "hooked on reading".