"You're crazy to think you'll strike it rich. Crazy, crazy, crazy!" Aunt Rachel isn't very happy about 13-year-old Tim and his older brother, Roy, heading off to the Klondike Gold Rush. But times are tough and getting worse. The possibility of discovering riches, however slim, is hard to resist. The trip from Seattle to the Yukon is torturous and filled with dangers. Blinding snowstorms, a hazardous mountain range and raging rapids stand between the prospectors and their chance to hit "paydirt." And of the 30 000 who do make it all the way to Dawson, only a small percentage will ever strike gold. Even so, Roy is determined to come back a rich man.

And Tim, a budding writer, is looking to find the story of a lifetime. Their year in the gold fields is filled with exhausting travel, backbreaking work and bitter feuding. As the two brothers face increasing tensions and hardships, even all the gold in the world may not be enough to save their family. Book jacket.