The Root Cellar. 2nd ed. Janet Lunn. Illustrated by Scott Cameron. Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1994. 231pp, hardcover, $24.95. ISBN 1-895555-39-6. CIP. Subject Headings: Space and time--Fiction. Orphans--Fiction. Farm life--Fiction. Canada--Fiction. Grades 3 - 9 / Ages 8 - 14. Review by John D. Crawford.

excerpt:

It had rained in the night, and the morning sun shined up the cobbles on the street and made the iron knobs of the hitching posts that stood in a row in front of the depot look like polished ebony sticks.

Janet Lunn's The Root Cellar needs no review. It is a well-established novel for young teenagers which has won many awards. This attractive second edition, published thirteen years after the book first appeared, is distinguished from its predecessor chiefly by the illustrations. Scott Cameron's work is impressive and provides the reader with a sense of times past and a picture of the characters of the story.