The woman, of course, is Emily Carr (whom Lee has just learned about at school), who assumes Lee is a homesteader girl living up the mountain and wanting art lessons, and so she gives her paints and tells her to get on with creating, to "dig into her story". This experience plus Lee's encounter with the family of squatters up the mountain who cut trees illegally because they had been evicted from their Prairie farm give Lee a sense of perspective on her own problems, as well as some coping strategies which stay with her when, inevitably, she trips over another root and catapults back to her own time.

      This book is attempting to be painlessly instructive, and, in large part, it succeeds. It is also attempting to be a thrilling adventure story, and a "problem" novel, with somewhat less success. Lee, in particular, while a sympathetic character, hasn't much depth, and it is hard to believe that she would not have felt more resentment over the sale of her paints and, therefore, relief at her father's departure, given the degree of artistic talent she is described as having. And the children's adventures are more interesting than gripping. The cover is a reproduction of Carr's "Above the trees", a dark and brooding sky that makes a very attractive looking book.

      There are, however, fine opportunities to tell the reader something about Emily Carr, about the Depression on the Prairies, and about the evils of clear-cut logging. These educational, and admittedly interesting, sidelights are, in fact, highlights of the teachers' guide, along with ideas for how the book can be used as a jumping-off point for language-arts and other projects. The guide, which includes some archival photographs of Emily Carr and her elephant and other pets, comes free with the purchase of a class set (20 copies) of the novel. The location of a web site where more information can be gleaned and an extensive bibliography are also included in the guide.

Recommended.