Two Logs Crossing: John Haskell's Story

by Walter D. Edmonds, Tibor Gergely (Illustrator)

This is an absorbing and deeply moving adventure story of a young boy who went fur trapping with an Indian, in the northern woods of New York State, to pay back his father's debt and support his widowed mother and younger brothers and sisters. But it is more than that. Walter D. Edmonds tells how and why John Haskell grew up as he did.
"It is a very simple story and is concerned partly with what other people did for John, but mostly with what John did for himself. And it is also a true story, for, though John Haskell is an imaginary name, there was a boy named Thomas Fortain who learned about crossing his stream in just this way. As a matter of fact, every man who has ever made anything of his life has had to learn to use two logs where two logs are needed. There is no trick and easy way to dependence, either for a man or a country.
"To be able to do for oneself in one's own way was the dream which first brought some men to this land. There are a few people who confuse it with becoming rich, but money is not the American Dream and never has been. Money can be made of anything you choose, but a man's life is made of the courage, independence, decency and self-respect he learns to use. That was what the Judge, in his own peculiar way, taught John Haskell. And he also taught him that being independent does not mean looking out solely for one's own interest. A man can only be free if his neighbors are also."

Genres: Historical Fiction, Audiobook, Childrens

83 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1943

About the author

Walter Dumaux Edmonds has been a National Book Award winner and recipient of the Newbery Medal. He is the author of Bert Breen’s Barn, The Boyds of Black River, In the Hands of the Senecas, Mostly Canallers, Rome Haul, Time to Go House, and most recently the autobiographical Tales My Father Never Told, all available from Syracuse University Press.

Reviews

[Charlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A kids' book based upon a true story. I really liked this book because it emphasized the value of hard work, honestly, friendship and family. It also taught the value of learning from your mistakes and not giving up. An excellent book that I recommend!

[Bo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Based on a true story, it emphasized good character qualities, such as working hard and honoring your obligations. But it was also an engaging story with some adventure, along with some twists and turns. I appreciated that it showed that people are not always as we think them to be, based on our assumptions and characterizations of people, but underneath there are often good qualities that we may not see on the surface. (There are a few references to drinking alcohol and chewing tobacco.)

(I enjoyed it so much, that I read it to my grandchildren a couple days after my initial reading.)

[Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book by Edmonds. It reminds me of the trapping my great grandfather did as youth in the Adirondacks.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Someone else borrowed this from our library and liked it so much they wanted to buy our copy, so I ended up reading it and liking it as well. A coming of age story set in the frontier period.