In 1842, Christopher Robertson's family lives a difficult life as "crofters," farmers and fishermen so in debt to the landowner that they have no hope of ever breaking free. To make matters worse, Christopher also lives under the thumb of his morally questionable father and devious brother. When his brother frames him for the theft of their father's secret bag of coins, Christopher must leave his home and embark on a journey across the island to return the coins and clear his name. It's a journey that takes twists and turns, including stops in prison, on a smuggler's ship, and at the house of a beautiful girl-and it ends with him escaping to a new life in America, which has dangers of its own.

 

There are 320 pages in this book. This book was published 2015 by Abrams .

Years ago, Emilie Burack discovered a set of brittle cassette recordings in a shoebox at the back of her father's closet on which her late grandfather had recorded his family's history. When she learned her ancestor came from the islands "where they had little ponies with long hair," she had to know more. She has travelled to the Shetland Islands and spent the last four years researching its history and unique Norse-Scots culture. This is her first book. Jack and Holman Wang are twin brothers who grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia, where Holman still lives. As well as being the creators of the Star Wars Epic Yarns board books, Jack is a professor of writing at Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York, and Holman, a former middle school teacher, is an artist and author.