Resilient, Brave, & Determined
by Marcella Macalalag
Who is Ivan and September Crane?
Ivan and September are siblings who are usually left alone in their cabin while their dad is away. Ivan is a 12 year old who is addicted to playing video games and doesn't like to do work. Ivan's love for video games causes him to accidentally fry their radios which is their only source of contacting their dad. September is 13 years old and is more responsible than Ivan. Sometimes she's insecure about herself whenever shes goes to town knowing that people call them "bush rats". While their dad is on his fishing trip, she's usually the one in charge of the house. Both Ivan and September are more cautious than those in the town because they had experience with the storm that killed their mother. They are also very brave and adventourous
Williwaw
A williwaw is a storm that usually comes in the month of September. Their mother had died in a williwaw, leaving their father to take care of Ivan and September all on his own. They had experienced the Williwaw while trying to bring the radios back to their cabin before their dad comes home. "'Williwaw? It happens when a storm gets bottled up behind those mountain.' Harry pointed in the general direction of the range of white peas behind the town 'Pretty soon it spills over the narrow little glacier valleys an' such and it's like punchin' a hole in a tire...'" (p130)
Ocean
Ivan and September live in a cove which is surrounded by an ocean in Alaska. It separates them and the town which gives them the convenience to give names like "townies" and "bush rats" to each other. The ocean is their place of transportation and food. Its the location of where their mother died and where the williwaw strikes. This affects them because their dads job is fishing and he does it everyday leaving his children alone. "'North winds are nothin' to fool with this time of year. You keep an eye on the weather and your ear to that radio before you go messin' out on the water, ya hear?'" (p5)
Orca
Each time a williwaw comes, an orca would come by the cove which doesn't come by very often. After their mother died in the williwaw, Ivan and September believed that she would come back to life as an animal. "'Did you see the orca in the cove that day?' September asked while Ivan gathered up the extra blankets from under the bunk. Harry smiled with his eyes closed. 'You remember that, do ya, Little Miss? I s'pose we all do. Three it swam by the dock and give a blow every time. One for each of you, an' off it went.'" (p134)