The Gold Rush Diary of Harriet Palmer
Overland to the Cariboo, 1862
by Barbara Haworth-Attard
ISBN: 0-439-97405-4 Hardcover
176 pages
Ages 9 to 12
5 ½" x 7 5/8"
Harriet Palmer's mother has just died, and if that isn't bad enough, the children's caregiver is talking about taking her brother away. Harriet decides that she must disguise herself as a boy and travel overland to the Cariboo gold fields to find her father and reunite what remains of her family. But will her disguise hold out?
An Excerpt from Harriet's Diary
July 12, 1862
Spent all day in camp. I am wet through and through. And also covered in mud! All because of John. It looked like the weather would break, so we set off from the fort, but soon stopped, due to more rain and thick fog hiding the trail. For two days it has stormed with great winds and silver sheets of water. As I was climbing up a muddy incline yesterday, John suddenly appeared out of the rain and kicked my feet out from under me. I went tumbling backwards, right beneath the hooves of a horse. Somehow I managed to roll away before they came down on me, but I landed in a marshy area that the rain had turned to a huge mud lake! Joe fished me out and set me on my feet. I am so cold now my teeth chatter without stop, but it is too wet for a fire.
Wolves follow us day and night and howl unceasingly, sending shivers up my spine and making everyone sharp-tongued from lack of sleep. Why did I think I could make it to the gold fields? I miss Luella and William. I do not think I am adequate to this task. Cannot write anymore as the rain is dripping on my page and making the ink run!
From Dear Canada: A Trail of Broken Dreams, text copyright © 2004 by Barbara Haworth-Attard.
"The beginning caught me, and I did not put the book down till I was done. This book is amazing, and I thought a Gold Rush diary would be boring — boy was I wrong!"
Selina M., Age 13, Ontario, Rating: 10
"I thought that this book was really good."
Kirsten L., Age 11, Saskatchewan, Rating: 10
"This is a wonderful book. This was Howarth-Attard's first book I read and now I hope she makes more of her Dear Canada stories! It was also cool because at the beginning there was a picture of the shopping list, and that included Harriet's diary."
Julia B., Age 9, Ontario, Rating: 10
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