Drum Dance

**Drum Dance** is Literary-Historical fiction filled with adventure, paranormal intrigue, and danger in Canada's Central Arctic, where Sir John Franklin and his crew froze to death searching for the Northwest Passage. In the late 1930s, 17-year-old Canadian David Jansson agrees to spend two years at an isolated fur-trading post with his estranged father, Per Jansson, manager for the Hudson's Bay Company ... and almost lives to regret it. (Teens - Adults)

"Billed as a young-adult, coming-of-age story, Bonnie Turner’s novel deals with some pretty mature adult themes. . . . A companion volume to Turner’s earlier children’s novel, Spirit Lights, the well-researched Drum Dance cleverly interweaves just enough Arctic history, place names, and Inuit language to evoke the culture of the north, the traditions of Eskimo storytelling, and the hardships of Arctic living, especially during 1938 and 1939. For that two-year span David pledges with his estranged father to leave the Peace River home he shares with his maternal aunt and uncle and to come live with his dad in Gjoa Haven, where Per manages the Hudson's Bay Company trading post. Here the Netsilik stories of explorers Roald Amundsen and Sir John Franklin abound, and the festivities of the drum dances for occasions, including the arrival of the supply ship, relieve the tedium of time and the ravages of weather. As the two become reacquainted, David’s favorable boyhood memories of his dad are shattered as Per, fueled by contraband whiskey and rum, becomes increasingly abusive to his son." (M.Wayne Cunningham, ForeWord Clarion Reviews)

"Booksellers, librarians and readers are always saying they're looking for something original to read. Well, they need look no further than Drum Dance, a refreshing YA novel with an accomplished voice and a strong sense of place." -Lauren Baratz-Logsted, author of The Twin's Daughter

NOTE: Drum Dance was a quarter-finalist in the 2011 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards contest.