William Durbin, autore e insegnante, risiede ai margini della Boundary Waters Wilderness del Minnesota. La sua prolifica opera per giovani lettori ha ottenuto prestigiosi riconoscimenti, tra cui il Great Lakes Book Award e il Minnesota Book Award. Oltre ai suoi contributi alla letteratura per l'infanzia, Durbin ha esplorato anche la poesia e i saggi, dimostrando una vasta padronanza dell'espressione letteraria. La sua influenza si estende alla ricerca educativa, avendo supervisionato progetti di scrittura per istituzioni di rilievo.
In 1905, fifteen-year-old Otto describes in his journal how he travels from Finland to America, joining his father in a dreary iron mining community in Minnesota and becoming involved in a union fight for better working conditions.
Set in 1800, the story follows thirteen-year-old Pierre LaPage, who aspires to be a voyageur despite his youth and inexperience. After his father's accident forces him to join the North West Company, Pierre faces the harsh realities of life on the fur trade route. Battling treacherous rapids, physical exhaustion, and the ridicule of older crew members, he embarks on a grueling 1,000-mile journey from Montreal to Grand Portage, testing his resilience and determination to support his family through the winter.