Adrift in Time

by John Wilson

Set in the present day, John Wilson's young adult novel Adrift in Time explores the tensions in family life between parents and children. It also demonstrates how the new generation's knowledge of the family's past can ease those tensions. The novel opens with lan, a teenager, finding that he no longer enjoys spending his summer holidays at the family cottage on Mayne Island in BC. He misses the fun of being with his friends in the city. Arguments with his father grow more and more frequent, and lan feels that his dad refuses to see his point of view, always going on about the old days and long-dead relatives. After one nasty argument, lan takes off in his boat to assert his independence by rowing to the next island. But things go seriously wrong as the current sweeps lan out to the open water of Georgia Strait. When night falls and rain begins to pelt down, lan recognizes that hypothermia is setting in. But even as hope fades, ghosts suddenly begin appearing. Led by Emily, lan's great grandmother, a succession of long-dead ancestors and local characters appear on the boat telling him their stories - the stories of pioneer life on the Gulf Islands - bringing understanding of his family and inspiring lan to persevere until dawn brings rescue.

136 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2003

About the author

John Wilson, an ex-geologist and frustrated historian, is the award-winning author of fifty novels and non-fiction books for adults and teens. His passion for history informs everything he writes, from the recreated journal of an officer on Sir John Franklin’s doomed Arctic expedition to young soldiers experiencing the horrors of the First and Second World Wars and a memoir of his own history. John researches and writes in Lantzville on Vancouver Island. There are many more details in his memoir, Lands of Lost Content, https://www.amazon.com/Lands-Lost-Con...

Reviews

[Shawn Bird · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book that introduces the stories of assorted pioneers to a spoiled teen boy. Ian is visited by a series of ghosts (mostly his relations) as he floats out to the Georgia Strait in a leaky row boat. A high interest low vocab book by Ronsdale Press.