Young Adult Fiction — Review

A Sky Black with Crows

by Alice Walsh
Red Deer Press, 2006
ISBN 0-88995-368-6
$12.95, 254 pp, ages 12+
www.reddeerpress.com

As this story begins, we are introduced to a young Newfoundlander, Katie Andrews, who is being freighted to Labrador with her family for the summer fishing season. Later, during that summer of 1913, disaster strikes as first her father disappears at sea and then her mother and her sister come down with a fever. Katie and her sister Ruth are cared for by the Grenfell Mission Orphanage when her mother dies, but Katie’s youngest sister, Hannah has supposedly been adopted by a well-to-do photographer and his family. Katie, determined to both find Hannah and follow her dream of becoming a nurse, embarks on a series of adventures to meet her goals.

The book dramatizes this period in the history of Newfoundland and the role played by the Grenfell mission complete with hospital ship and orphanage. As Katie goes to Halifax in Canada to further her education and look for her sister, we witness the confusion accompanying the outbreak of war in Europe. Katie is a fearless heroine—determined, strong and resourceful as she continues to look for her youngest sister despite numerous setbacks. This book is rich in detail about the harsh life in the fishing outposts of Labrador and Newfoundland, and inspires admiration for a heroine who despite many personal losses, puts family first and with determination and spunk, sets out to do what she deems is right.

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