Book Info
Cameron's Crossing
A youth’s courage is questioned when he fails to help his stricken sister in a mill accident in Scotland. Full of self-doubt, and bullied to the point of retaliation, he loses his job and leaves home.
He endures a six-month crossing to the colony of Vancouver Island where the frontier life of 1851 offers opportunities for redemption. Relationships with fur traders, coal miners, and members of the First Nations, invoke conflict in varying degrees, but the ultimate challenge comes when a native slave girl to whom he owes his own life, is herself in peril, and Governor Douglas’s orders are implicit: ‘No freeing of slaves through coercion’.
The World Heritage Site at New Lanark, the voyage of the Tory, Fort Victoria, Fort Rupert and Nanaimo provide the backdrop for the youth’s literal and emotional journey.
Exerpt from the Novel
…Rarely had she seen him so excited. Always he worried, suffering some ordeal or another; always something back of his mind he felt unable to resolve that left him unfulfilled and unsmiling. He was at ease now, satisfied somehow, confident that he knew what had to be done and how he would do it. He was racing toward something he needed to have today, some perfection, and appeared very close to it.
The only thing he needed was a haircut, she thought, and smiled again at his impatience, though truthfully, he didn’t look out of place in this rugged land, this glorious spot, and she told him so again – ever so faintly.
Reviews
Pettit has had a longstanding interest in Canadian history and now, with book five, he has come back to Nanaimo with Cameron’s Crossing. A great deal of research is evident in this work. Fictional characters interact with historical figures with relative ease.
Lynn Welburn, Harbour City Star (2005)
Armed with a degree in Canadian Nationalism, Pettit again attempts to bring a knowledgeable affection for Canada to young Canadians.
Nanaimo News Bulletin. (2005)
Cameron’s Crossing is awfully good, the hero being both fugitive and adventurer. The writing and setting are quite vivid. Dialogue is something Pettit does well.
Ursula Vaira (editor) (2005)
I didn’t want this book to end. Cameron’s dark cloud reminded me of the loneliness of The Weilmoringle Kid. I could totally relate to the crazy dreams.
Romaine Dorman. (2005)
