ARC REVIEW: The High Climber of Dark Water Bay by Caroline Arden

*Spoilers Ahead*

**Huge thanks to Turner Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read this novel early**

  ***The High Climber of Dark Water Bay by Caroline Arden will be hitting your local bookshelves June 5, 2018, ***

This novel takes place in Seattle in the 1920’s. Times are hard after the war, and it’s no different for twelve-year-old Elizabeth “Lizzie” Parker. Her parents have died and now lives with her sister and her fiance and her newborn nephew.

As Lizzie’s sister’s fiance can’t find a job, Lizzie finds herself on a trip to Dark Water Bay. Her rich uncle has invested in the small logging camp and offered Lizzie to come and tutor her younger cousins for $100. Money that Lizzie’s family desperately needs.

As soon as she reaches Vancouver, things start to go wrong. Her uncle had left the camp months ago, and the owner of the logging camp is not as nice as he seems. How will Lizzie survive in the wilderness with no means to escape?

**Spoilers Ahead**

This book is classified as a book for children in middle school. However, I think it’s for more of the older middle schoolers. There are gambling and a few curse words mentioned in this book. So maybe a PG-13 rating.

I don’t read kids books that often, however, this one did not disappoint. This had me entertained and enthralled throughout. The action was good, and the descriptions of the scenery made me want to take a trip to Dark Water Bay and see the sights for myself.

Lizzie is a very relatable character. She comes from a prim and proper lifestyle and is thrust into a world where sweat and grease are the lifestyles. Seeing her change as the story went on felt practical. She is a dynamic character and changes throughout her adventure.

I loved the uniqueness of each logger. I especially loved Red. He was like a father-figure to Lizzie and gave her advice, and helped her overcome her challenges. All the loggers were more or less caring and supportive towards Lizzie as she discovered her place in the camp.

Overall this was a pretty good book. The characters were realistic and believable. The atmosphere was fantastic. This was an enjoyable read. I would recommend this for upper middle school and above.

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