Friday, June 3, 2011

Who Is Frances Rain? by Margaret Buffie (fiction) - family squabbles, Gold Rush ghost

book cover of Who is Frances Rain by Margaret Buffie published by Kids Can Press
Ah, summer vacation season...the change of scenery, the same ol' family. Except when your family suddenly has a new member, like a stepparent.

So, escaping to the island is Lizzie's best way to cope with the rising tensions at Gran's place in Manitoba's gold country. Even if she does start seeing visions...or ghosts...

So "who is Frances Rain" you wonder? Hope you've got plenty of flashlight batteries...

Book info: Who Is Frances Rain? / by Margaret Buffie. Kids Can Press, 2007 [author's website] [publisher site]

Recommendation: Lizzie is sure this summer will be awful - the Canadian gold rush country, all lakes and wilderness, was the kids’ special place with their grandmother, so why did Mom suddenly want to leave her law office and bring their new stepdad here for the summer?

Gran’s old lodge is the same, with board games for everyone and plenty of blueberry pie. Their across-the-lake neighbors are still the same, except 16 year old Alex has grown tall, towering over Lizzie and her big brother Evan. But Evan is awful to their stepdad, Mom’s good mood has vanished, and Gran tells Lizzie to stay away from Rain Island.

Of course, 15 year old Lizzie decides to escape the tension at the lodge and explore Rain Island on her own. When she finds an old pair of glasses that might have belonged to a woman prospector there, she begins to see ghosts or maybe visions of the past.

What are they trying to tell her? Why does she feel this strange connection to the island? When she and Alex start digging into the history of the island and the area’s gold rush days, the mystery becomes stranger than they ever could have imagined.

This great tale of suspense from noted Canadian author Margaret Buffie will have you wondering “who is Frances Rain?” with Lizzie and Alex until the very end. (One of 5,000 books recommended on

1 comment:

  1. Thankyou for your comment, glad you enjoyed the YA rep post and thanks for telling me about my silly browser.

    Many Thanks,

