Perilous Passage

by B.J. Bayle

After a shipwreck in 1809, Peter finds himself the victim of amnesia. The sea captain who finds the teenager gives him the only name he knows, while others derisively dub him Peter No-Name. Eventually, Peter finds employment in a Montreal tavern where he meets a French voyageur called Boulard who changes his life irrevocably.

Boulard works for fur trader David Thompson, soon to become one of the world's most famous explorers and mapmakers...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1550026895
• ISBN13: 9781550026894
• Release Date: December 2007
• Publisher: Dundurn Press
• Length: 184 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.3" x 8.3"
• Age Range: 12 to 15 years
• Grade Range: Grades 7 to 10

Customer Reviews

Take a Perilous Passage to Adventure

Perilous Passage by B.J. Bayle I was hooked from the first sentence. Who was this boy and why was he being constantly taunted and harrassed by his employer's young sons? As the sory of "Peter No-Name" unfolds, we learn of his recent rescue from a north Atlantic shipwreck that had left him badly injured and with no knowledge of who he was or where he had come from. Taken on as an innkeeper's almost slave in the bustling new settlement of Montreal his future looks very bleak until Boulard, a well-known voyageur, witnesses Peter's ill treatment and takes him to the home of a voyageur friend,. When Boulard finds that Peter can read and write and do sums, he takes Peter to meet with David Thompson, the famous explorer and mapmaker who is heading an expedition to find a "northwest" passage to the Pacific. Thompson agrees to take Peter on as a clerk and the adventures begin. Bayle makes the characters in Perilous Passage come vividly alive: David Thompson, those who work for and with him (good and bad), the First Nations leaders they encounter, the staffs at the various trading posts. I cared about these people and wanted to know more. Subtly, as the story unfolds, Peter sees glimpses of the past life he has forgotten as he acquires more and more skills. The `passage' itself is indeed perilous, but Thompson is undaunted by the daily challenges and carries on. I should have had a map at hand as I read of the expedition tracing and retracing areas in the heart of what is now British Columbia. Perilous Passage is an engrocssing and rewarding read with a most satisfactory conclusion. I recommend it highly. George Molnar 4 stars