The Only OutcastA moving story set in the twilight of childhood. In the year 1904, Fred Dickinson teeters on the brink of manhood. He is spending the last summer of his childhood at his grandfather’s family cottage on Rideau Lake, the only place he feels truly alive. Shy and stuttering, Fred’s ambition is to make his living on the water, mapping the lake for hidden shoals. His father however, has other plans. Believing Fred to lack character, his father is arranging for him to work in the city to toughen him up. Fred’s summer is one of love, adventure, and mystery. He falls in love and suffers heartache, discovers a long-buried secret about a rumoured murderer, and defies his father for the first time. Although he started the summer as an outcast, Fred eventually succeeds in finding his own place among his family and friends. Using as a backdrop the actual 1904 diary of a young man, Julie Johnston invents a captivating tale of discovery, youthful passion, and intrigue, recapturing the atmosphere of a time less hectic, less sophisticated. |
Contents
The Seventh Wonder of the World of Freaks | 1 |
Reading Between the Lines | 17 |
The Hoofprint of the Devil | 30 |
Copyright | |
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Adams anyway arms asked Auntie Ede Auntie Lizzie Auntie Min Bessie boat birch beer boathouse boys breath cabin called catch close cottage dance deck door Edna engine Ernie and Harold Ettie Ettie's eyes face father feel feet felt fish Freddie girl glanced grabbed gramophone needle Grandpa guess hair hand hard Harold and Ernie head hear heard icepick inside Jumbo knew lake lantern laughing leaned lips lock looked Maberly mind mouth never Newboro night nodded Nora Nora's oars Oliver's Papa Perth pretty pulled pushed raft Rideau Canal Rideau Ferry Rideau Lake sail shore side sitting skiff smiled Smiths Falls someone square dance staring started stood stopped Sunnybank supper swim talking Tay Canal tell tent There's thing thought took trees trying turned Uncle veranda voice waiting walked watch waves What's Wilf yelled