Becky Citra l Childrens Book l Danger at the Landings

The Story

We lay on our stomachs and watched the ice skim by almost at our faces. I took a quick glance at the snowy shore. There was no one to see our great adventure, no one. By then we were almost in front of the gristmill. . . Then Red screamed, “Look!” A strip of dark water! We were heading straight towards it! An icy wave of fear washed over me. “Stop the boat!” “Can’t,” said Red. “Don’t know how!”

Eight year old Max lives with his sister Ellie and father on a homestead in the Canadian wilderness in the 1830’s. He longs for adventure, but is expected to be an obedient son and a helpful younger brother. When his pig, Hambone, is slaughtered, Max runs away to the nearby logging camp where he finds out that life isn’t as glorious as he thought. Then his father is called to fight in the rebellion in lower Canada, and Max thinks that at last this is his chance for a real adventure. To his dismay, instead of accompanying his father to the rebellion, he is sent to live with his stern and strict uncle, a miller at The Landings. There, Max meets a daring young boy called Red and finds himself in the middle of all kinds of adventures, including a daring ride on an ice boat and a fire at the gristmill.