The Winterkeeper

THE WINTERKEEPER a YA novel by Jo Horne 100k words w/ Discussion questions + excerpt from next novel The Winterkeeper's multifaceted blend of history, mystery, psychological journeys and coming of age story makes for a fast-paced, evocative read. It should reach beyond young adults to attract adult readers interested in stories of justice, truth, and power struggles as characters challenges their assumptions and trajectory in life. The Winterkeeper is a vivid story that proves hard to put down. MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW March 1933--Gardiner MT; north entrance to Yellowstone National Park At fourteen MILLIE CHASE finds herself orphaned with no immediate extended family, few friends and fewer choices. Destined to live with a stepfather she barely knows and one she suspects wants to take over her inheritance for his own business ventures, Millie soon realizes she has to find a way out. Recealling a recent holiday card to her mother from "Ginny" in Yellowstone National Park, Millie sets out to find her late mother's friend. GINNY BAKER has problems of her own. After her brother-in-law, an attorney and keeper of her family's fortune, commits suicide out of guilt at having lost the fortune, Ginny hurries back to her sister's home in Chicago. She is also worried about her own future. Her husband works for the Park and rhis age plus recent lay-offs and cutbacks have taken their toll. Before she was secure in knowing they had her inheritance, but now.... On top of everything else, Ginny who has not been able to have children and has just turned forty-four, realizes she is pregnant. NATE BAKER is a simple man who treasures the simple life he and Ginny have built together working and living in Yellowstone. He especially loves the winters when the park shuts down and he can work in relative solitude. His job as 'winterkeeper' involves maintainin g the hotel and other buildings at the north end of the park. He travels by snowshoes or skiis to and from his work. He and Ginny live in a cabin deep in the wilderness of the park. While their marriage has been happy, lately Ginny seems restless and talks a lot about what they might do when Nate can no longer manage the heavy physical toll his job takes. Three lives running on different paths until those paths converge the day Nate discovers Millie half-frozen and decides to take--rather than turn--her in.