“Rat Island,” by William Stozenburg
“Rat Island,” a mass of volcanic rock covered with tundra located midway between Alaska and Siberia, was once a remote sanctuary for enormous flocks of seabirds. It gained a new name when shipwrecked rats colonized the island, savaging the nesting birds by the thousands.
Now, on this and hundreds of other remote islands around the world, a massive-and massively controversial-wildlife rescue mission is under way. ”Rat Island” reveals a little-known and much-debated side of today’s conservation movement, founded on a cruel-to-be-
“Raven and River,” by Nancy White Carlstrom, Jon Van Zyle
“Raven and River” leads young readers on a fantastical journey with a raven across the icy Alaska landscape on the verge of spring. Along the way, the raven’s sonorous cry wakes a cast of sleeping woodland creatures, including a bear, a beaver, a hare, and a squirrel—all of whom join him in imploring the still-frozen river to melt and thereby initiate the change of seasons.
“The Clara Nevada: Gold, Greed, Murder and Alaska’s Inside Passage,” by Steven C. Levi
The Clara Nevada, the Klondike Gold Rush-era steamer, sank on February 5, 1898 in the Inside Passage under mysterious circumstances resulting in a tragic loss of life (death toll estimates range from 65 to 165). Some historians believe it was loaded with a treasure trove of gold at the time. Author Levi explores the circumstances behind the steamer’s sinking and what might have happened to its sunken treasure.
