Washington Avalanche, 1910

Historical Disasters #4

by Cameron Dokey

When Ginny catches a train to Seattle, she meets another young woman desperate to escape her life; she doesn't want to marry a man she's never met as her father's deathbed wish requires. On impulse, the similar-looking pair swap identifies and soon Ginny is meeting "her" fiance, who has since boarded the train. To her surprise, she finds him very attractive, but as a mountain of snow roars down to engulf the train, the limits of human endurance, loyalty, and love are tested.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Romance, Young Adult, Historical, Historical Romance, Fiction, Teen

Library Binding

First published March 1, 2000

About the author

Cameron Dokey is an American author living in Seattle, Washington. She has a collection of over 50 old sci-fi and horror films. Cameron was born in the Central Valley of California. Cameron grew up reading classical literature and mythology, perhaps due to her father, Richard, being a teacher of Philosophy, Creative Writing, and Western Literature.

Cameron has one husband and three cats, and is the author of over a dozen young adult novels. Her favorite read is J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy, "The Lord of the Rings." Her favorite TV show is "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

When she's not writing, Cameron likes to work in the garden and is learning to quilt.

Reviews

[Mari · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad book considering the dramatic (bizarre) turn the story took towards the end.

Things I did not like:

The main character "beds" her lover of less than a week to "make memories." And oopsie she forgot that she could get pregnant!

The evil twin concept.

The facts of the avalanche were not in the author's voice.

The heroine truly believes that she is in love after (not even) one day.

The language did not often fit the time period, as if it was dumbed down
for our young modern readers.

And the cover is just weird, I think it is the double chin that freaks me out.

It started out to be a romantic and suspenseful Dokey book, but sadly it was a little too dramatic and unbelievable for my taste by the end. But despite the flaws I enjoyed reading it.

[Sandra Strange]

Again, good historical material on the disaster and how people managed to survive it, etc., BUT terribly cheap, predictable love story with girl going to the boy’s pullman bunk to seduce him. Not explicit, but not moral, and NOT typical of a gently raised girl in 1910, but then again, maybe I’m naive about gently raised girls in 1910. It seems like this whole series had guidelines for what had to be included: lots of explicit feelings when he first touches her, when they dance together. Really corny sensuality. I wouldn’t recommend this book.

[Paige Cuthbertson| Turning_Every_Paige · Rating 1 out of 5]

Frankly, this book was a waste of time. Over dramatic, predictable, weak characters making foolish decisions, a souped up version of love... The only good thing I have to say about this book is that it eventually ended.

[Tara Chevrestt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Loved it first..but then... click on the link to read full review.

http://wwwbookbabe.blogspot.com/2010/...

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll be the first to admit that my rating may be based on nostalgia more than anything else-despite the fact that I had never read this book before, as soon as I started it I had the overwhelming sense that I was back in middle school, reading the kinds of historical fiction books I plucked off of the school library shelves or from the Scholastic catalog. It's hard to explain but it just has that 90s feel. For the most part I think it's very well-written, though. The "solution" to the main problem posed by the two Virginias switching places felt a bit predictable to me, but at least I felt that Dokey handled that plot point well and explored the emotional reactions of the characters involved to their full extent. I was also just very excited to read about an event in history that I knew nothing about-kudos to Dokey for all of the research she must have done to bring it to life!

[Kathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this for a historical fiction challenge. A train bound for Seattle, Washington is delayed several times by very heavy snow on the tracks. An avalanche destroys an entire train station hours after the train was able to move on a little bit. Two girls on this train are seeking to change their lives, and they decide to change identities to do so. What happens to the train and the girls, and will they get caught in their charade?

[Lynda · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an interesting fictionalized account about an event I have never heard about, so it was very good in that regard. I liked the story for it's storyline and the characters were very intriguing in the beginning, but upon reflection after finishing the story, I doubt that the events could have happened as they did -- I know it fiction, but I like believable fiction. Anyway, it had its great edge-of-the-seat moments and that's why I liked it, but certainly not memorable.

[Lauren Stacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this book as a teenager, and it's what sparked my love of historical romance. Reading it again 20 years later reminded me why this used to be one of my favorite books. I love the simple, pure love of the two main characters. I love the catastrophic background that only brings them closer. It honestly is just such a great read.

[Lindsey Schultz · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Washington Avalanche of 1910 was something I didn't know about. It was an ok book, but there were things that seemed unrealistic. I don't think it would be fitting for elementary students. Not even sure if I would use with ms or hs students.

[DD · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first read this book when it was released almost 20 years ago. At the time, I adored it. As an adult, the plot holes are a bit much. One thing remains the same though, I’d love to have some cook shack flapjacks.

[Clara Senatus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even if the story was predictable and the characters were questionable, this was an easy ready for me and the story itself was quite enjoyable and entertaining. I liked it and the ending was satisfying.

[Nancy Bielski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, this holds up as far as teen historical romance goes.

[Rebecca Grous · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was wonderful at the beginning, and then the main plot began and it just went downhill from there.
The whole story hinges on the coincidence that two girls happen to look almost exactly the same, share the same first name, and board the same train. If this weren’t unrealistic enough the main character falls in love within a day and less than a week later compromises her virtue in the name of ‘memories’.
The characters are completely flat. Ginny, the main character, is shallow and can think of nothing but her own happiness; Nicholas, the hero, has almost no personality; and Virginia, the last piece of the love triangle, embraces her victim status and the only purpose she serves in the novel is to drive a wedge between the two lovers.
Overall, this book felt like the immature prattle of a flighty adolescent girl.

[LizthePrude · Rating 3 out of 5]

I honestly don't know how to rate this one. If I was going to rate it for how realistic it is, then about a 4. If I was going to rate it on a happy ending, I would give it a 2.5. So, we'll call it a 3. She does an excellent job keeping you reading. She always ends the chapters in a way that you feel you need to keep on reading. There's one part of the story where there's a question if something immoral has happened, then it's later confirmed. Glad the details were left out, but still probably would've been just as good a book without it.

[Yvonne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have to classify this as catasrophy-romance fiction. I was surpised to learn that this is not the only book in this classifacation. There are at least three others. There may be more.

I learned about the disaster on the Great Northwest Railroad of 1910 for the first time. So I broadened my knowledge about disasters and what people can learn from them.

The happy ending for some of the characters kep the being the really bad downer it might have other wise been.

[Alice · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is by far the most irritating, depressing, and cliche book I've Ever read. Irritating because of the truly infuriating choices of the protagonist. Depressing because SHE didn't die- but the characters I actually liked did! And cliche because the romance was just so...well, cliche! "My heart always knew that you would come- only my fear made me doubt." Seriously?! NO! Gosh I hate books like this.

[Dawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like Cameron Dokey and I love historical fiction, but this was not a favorite of her books. The premise was unique and interesting, but the characters motives didn't really make sense. I think it could have been done better with more honesty among characters and more building of relationships. The instant friendships were hard to take without some evidence to back it up beside physical similarities or attractions. It just felt strange.

[Kazia · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was rather suspenseful actually, ever since the beginning, especially when the facade was starting to show very large holes in it, mainly when it came to Virginia's disadvantage. The story had two prominent stories that went side by side, the story of Ginny and her new found friend, Virginia, and the facade they had kept up when it came to Nicholas (and Stephen as well) and the second story was that of the 1910 avalanche in the mountains on the Great Northern Railway tracks.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though the entire basis behind this book is unbelievable and dumb (the switcheroo. it's awful.) I still liked it. If you can ignore the catalyst for the plot, it's actually very sweet. And VERY unexpected. You wonder and wonder how it's going to get resolved, and then, quite suddenly it's WHOA!!! I totally didn't expect THAT!

[Tristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

For some reason I thought that this book was going to be a light read and a nice romance story. I should have known by the title that it was anything but that. I really liked to book until the last 50 to 75 pages. So much happens and you are left feeling so sad. You see this book was based off of true events so you can't help but feel for these people.

[Dananna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish I could read all of Dokey's books. But my library doesn't have them all. This was a romance set in a historical event. I enjoyed studying about the real event and seeing the facts brought out in the story. I was not truly convinced by the ending, as well as disappointed by some immoral choices. Gratefully they were not described with detail. Good story though.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was somewhat fascinating from a historical point of view. It made me want to go find out more about that avalanche that happened so long ago. Overall the storyline was kind of interesting...it had potential. But the writing just didn't live up to what it could've been.

[Breanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the book overall. I really enjoyed the beginning, but I didn't like certain parts towards the end. There were several points in the story where I wanted to reach in the book, shake the main character, and tell her, "TELL HIM ALREADY!"

[Juliet Gilchrist · Rating 2 out of 5]

I understand this is a book for young adults, but are they young adults with no imagination? The There were parts of the book that were enjoyable, and some of the characters are absolutely wonderful, But the heroine just seems unthinking and kind of stupid. I was irked, to say the least.

[Georgia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't care much for this book. I liked the beginning, but the conflict resolution was weak, in my opinion. I wouldn't recommend it.

[Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked this book when I read it in high school.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a good fictional story about a historical event. Should a lot about overcoming trials and also, gave you a lot to think about Honesty is essential to a relationship.

[Liza · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! I was soooo romantic. You could really feel what the characters were feeling.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the story but didn't like the main character's deception.

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ahhh... I enjoyed this book.