Children's Fiction Survival Stories
The Last Goin' Off
- Publisher
- Nevermore Press, Ltd.
- Initial publish date
- Sep 2020
- Category
- Survival Stories, Adolescence
-
Paperback / softback
- ISBN
- 9781775371779
- Publish Date
- Sep 2020
- List Price
- $12.95
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Where to buy it
Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels
- Age: 12 to 16
- Grade: 12
Description
When his father and older brother are lost at sea, fourteen-year-old Aaron Conrad, finds himself the reluctant ‘head of the household’ and family breadwinner. His dream to continue his education beyond what is available at the Lunenburg Academy is now in peril. Aaron is forced to pursue the life of a fisherman aboard the very boat that claimed the lives of his family members. Set in Blue Rocks at the turn of the twentieth century, The Last Goin’ Off is a story of sacrifice and discovery.
About the author
Rhian Calcott was born in Charlottetown, PEI and moved with her family to Berwick, Nova Scotia when she was seven. She has a degree in English literature from Mount Allison University and a Bachelor of Laws degree from Dalhousie University. She practiced law for ten years with the Nova Scotia Legal Aid, leaving to stay at home and raise her four children. Her short stories have appeared in The Vagrant Revue of New Fiction (2007) and A Maritime Christmas (2008). Nevermore Press published her first novel, The Last Goin' Off, in the fall of 2020.
Excerpt: The Last Goin' Off (by (author) Rhian Calcott)
Urban’s got a blanket and he wraps Father in it like he’s a baby. He lifts Father under the arms, and I take ahold of his legs and we start on up to the house with Ruth trailing behind us, crying all soft like. We don’t go hardly any distance at all when Sidney Knickle and Hermie Rafuse appear and I’m right some glad to give up my place at Father’s feet. The ground’s been moving up and down around me and my stomach’s starting to feel bad. There’s a muscle jumping in my leg and next thing I’m stumbling like I’m staving drunk and my feet look real far away. I know what’s coming and I wave to Ruth to keep on going. I haven’t had a spell since last summer and I was starting to think that maybe they were gone for good. The doctor said they might stop as I got older, but it doesn’t look like that time’s come yet. The next thing I know my arms and legs are starting to twitch something fierce, the rocks are rushing up to meet me and the world’s going dark.