School Library Journal

(Gr. 7 Up) -- When gold was discovered in Alaska's Klondike region, one in ten of the adventurers who stormed the territory was female. Although women were central to the commerce and social life of this rugged frontier, their pioneering roles have been downplayed or ignored for over a century. These 23 short biographies reveal the depth and variety of their experiences. Native women Kate Carmack (Tagish) and Jennie Alexander (Athabaskan) participated in the first discoveries of gold and taught vital survival skills to the white settlers. Sisters Belinda and Margaret Mulrooney established the Dome City Bank. Ethel Berry panned gold by lantern light to become one of the first Klondike millionaires. Lucille Hunter, the first African-American woman in the territory, gave birth to a daughter on the rugged trail to Dawson. These stories of triumph, tragedy, hard work, and hard luck create a vibrant and multilayered picture of early Alaskan and of American society in the 1890s. Lavish use of period pictures helps tell the story, as do boxed insets on subjects from sourdough cooking to Native life. The authors do not gloss over the realities of the time, including the effects of racism, gender roles, and sexual exploitation. Nonetheless, these portraits show what women of the era did accomplish, given the freedom of the frontier and their own abundant determination. --Carolyn Lehman, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA