From the inside dust cover: "This gripping story is set in the New Zealand gold rush of the 1860s. Fourteen-year-old Johnie Crawford, who has recently arrived in Dunedin from Edinburgh with his mother - his father did not survive the passage from England - gets caught up in the gold rush and gold fever that is mounting in the town. There he meets some tough characters who have lived their lives with the scent of gold in their nostrils and the thrill of the gold rush in their veins. He meets Tatey - a likeable rogue - and together they set up their own claim. Tatey and the other characters he meets teach Johnie much about life; gold prospecting is hard and he has to learn quickly how to survive in a rough and primitive environment, and to cope with his particular 'gold fever.'"
I picked up this book, expecting it to be another "normal" children's book about New Zealand history. I was expecting some good historical fiction with a little adventure. I was mistaken! Ruth Dallas has written a compelling story about a young teen swept up in the gold fever of the 1860s. I could not put this book down and I was so taken by the boy's character, by the end of the book I was relieved to finish and rest from the fever that had controlled and driven young Johnie to near ruin.
Johnie Crawford had a dream of owning a small farm and taking care of his mother. He's willing to work hard and earn his wage, but when he sees the gleam of gold and hears how you can pan a month's wages in a day, he "catches" the fever and nothing can stop him from running away to the gold fields.
Poor young Johnie is mistreated and cheated wherever he goes, and it seems success eludes him at every turn. His prospecting companion, Tatey, finds gold with one hand and takes it with the other. When Johnie can finally go home and see his mother, the gold fever grips him again and he's back to his claim. This book is a historical lesson about the gold rushes of the 1860s, but it's also a moral lesson about greed, gambling and the pursuit of riches. Is it worth it?
Here are examples of pages from the book...
Ruth Dallas' way of writing is wonderful. She writes simply but with emotion and description. Although it is a children's book, you are very much drawn into the story and characters. Ruth is first and foremost a poet. I love this description of the scenery and Johnie and Tatey secretly make their way to a new claim.
"Rocks had become the main feature of the landscape, some standing in clusters as though meeting to discuss the intrusion of two fly-like human beings on their territory. Some were in long ridges, like petrified railway carriages. Some had mats of tussock on their heads like wigs. It was desert country, steep country, a mad kind of country, only fit for madmen in search of gold."
I highly recommend this story from 10 years old. It is a must-read if you're studying New Zealand history, especially around the mid-19th Century.
Content considerations: Johnie finds a dead person in a tent, Tatey likes to gamble and the word 'bitch' is used once.