US/EN
Jimmy Bluefeather
Description
Part quest, part rebirth, Heacox's debut novel spins a story of Alaska's Tlingit people and the land, an old man dying, and a young man learning to live. Kirkus Reviews (Starred). Winner: National Outdoor Book Award
Old Keb Wisting is somewhere around ninety-five years old (he lost count awhile ago) and in constant pain and thinks he wants to die. He also thinks he thinks too much. Part Norwegian and part Tlingit Native ("with some Filipino and Portuguese thrown in"), he's the last living canoe carver in the village of Jinkaat, in Southeast Alaska.
When his grandson, James, a promising basketball player, ruins his leg in a logging accident and tells his grandpa that he has nothing left to live for, Old Keb comes alive and finishes his last canoe, with help from his grandson. Together (with a few friends and a crazy but likeable dog named Steve) they embark on a great canoe journey. Suddenly all of Old Keb's senses come into play, so clever and wise in how he reads the currents, tides, and storms. Nobody can find him. He and the others paddle deep into wild Alaska, but mostly into the human heart, in a story of adventure, love, and reconciliation. With its rogue's gallery of colorful, endearing, small-town characters, this book stands as a wonderful blend of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and John Nichols's The Milagro Beanfield War, with dashes of John Steinbeck thrown in.
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About the Author
Kim Heacox is the award-winning author of several books including the acclaimed John Muir and the Ice that Started a Fire and the novel Caribou Crossing. His feature articles have appeared in Audubon, Travel & Leisure, Wilderness, Islands, Orion, and National Geographic Traveler. His editorials, written for the Los Angeles Times, have appeared in many major newspapers across the United States. When not playing the guitar, doing simple carpentry, or writing another novel, he's sea kayaking with his wife, Melanie, or watching a winter wren on the woodpile.
Reviews
"Kim Heacox's love for the land and people of Southeast Alaska shines forth in this character-driven saga, brimming with craft, humor, and deft turn of phrase. Jimmy Bluefeather easily makes the short list for the great Alaska novel." -Nick Jans, author of A Wolf Called Romeo
Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review) - "Part quest, part rebirth, Heacox's debut novel spins a story of Alaska's Tlingit people and the land, an old man dying, and a young man learning to live."
"Every page glistens with authentic genius born from Kim Heacox's wise and deep-rooted sense of place. . . The characters seem like people we've known; they ring true, and feel vivid." --Carl Safina, author of Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel
"A convergence of ocean, land, and spirit as only Kim Heacox can tell it, with wisdom, humor, and grace. A welcome new novel of relationships, forgiveness, and re-inventing oneself." -Deb Vanasse, author of Cold Spell and Under Alaska's Midnight Sun
Booklist "Heacox does a superb job of transcending his characters' unique geography to create a heartwarming, all-American story."
"A superb addition to Alaska--indeed, American--literature" -Nancy Lord, former Alaska State Writer Laureate and author of Early Warming
"The force that drives Jimmy Bluefeather is the figure of Old Keb Wisting, the last canoe carver in his Alaskan Indian village. Keb is a powerfully drawn portrait of an indomitable spirit facing down his own death--with fierce determination, blasting a Tlingit song into the cold wind blowing off the glaciers. This is not just a well-crafted picture of an elder; it is unforgettable, in the direct lineage of The Old Man and the Sea." -Doug Peacock, author of In the Shadow of the Sabertooth; Global Warming, The Origins of the First Americans, and The Terrible Beasts of the Pleistocene
Heacox, a writer and explorer of renown, offers a genuine, funny and tender portrait that is rare in the literature of the 49th state." -Andromeda Romano-Lax, author of The Spanish Bow, The Detour, and Behave
"A masterful work of fiction. . . .A book to be savored." -Bob Osborne, Northern Passages
WINNER, National Outdoor Book Awards: "What makes this story so appealing is the character Old Keb. He is as finely wrought and memorable as any character in contemporary literature and energizes the tale with a humor and warmth that will keep you reading well into the night." -National Outdoor Book Awards
"With humor, passion, and respect, Kim Heacox brings us a voyage of discovery like no other. . . .You'll be torn between packing your bags for Crystal Bay and living more fully in your own storied place." -Maria Mudd Ruth, author of Rare Bird
