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Royal Ransom
Eric Walters's unforgettable romp through Canada's wilderness is now in mass market paperback Jamie, a 13-year-old Cree boy, is surprised when his cousin asks him to help out with a trip he's escorting through Canada's North. His surprise turns to astonishment when he discovers the group includes the young Princess Victoria and Prince Andrew, who are next in line for the British throne! When kidnappers strike, taking the grownups in the group hostage, Jamie and the rest of the children are forced to battle their way back to civilization alone. Encounters with bears, rapids and the menacing kidnappers threaten to stop them at every turn, but thanks to Jamie's level headedness and Victoria's quick thinking, the children outwit their pursuers ... but they're not out of danger yet!
- GenresAdventureYoung Adult
224 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2003
2 people are currently reading
48 people want to read
About the author
Eric Walters
163 books916 followersEric was born in Toronto in 1957, which makes him "real old". But, as Eric says, "Just because I have to grow old doesn't mean that I have to grow up!" In his many roles as parent, teacher, social worker, youth sports coach and writer he is in constant contact with children and young adults. He draws from these experiences and feels that this helps him to capture the realistic interaction between young people—the conflicts, tensions, stresses and interests that make up their lives.
Eric began his writing as a teacher. He taught in classes from kindergarten up and his stories often reflect the curriculum that he was teaching. He always read stories—picture books and novels—to his students and this helped him to understand what children liked, responded to, and were inspired by. He enjoys the enthusiasm of his students and often looks at them to provide him with the inspiration to pursue a particular topic in both the classroom and in his writing.
Eric tries to write every day. When he has a story idea he starts with research. This could involve reading books, watching a documentary, or trying to experience the things that his characters are going to go through. This could include rock climbing or riding white water (for Stars), spending time in a wheelchair (Rebound), playing and walking with tigers (Tiger by the Tail), hanging around a tough biker bar (Diamonds in the Rough), standing out in his backyard in a blizzard wearing a T-shirt and shorts (Trapped in Ice), or traveling to Africa (Alexandria of Africa).
"The most important thing anybody ever told me about writing was to write what you know . . . and the only way to get to know things is to do your homework and research before you write," Eric stated.
Once the writing begins the story is always playing around in his head. He takes any opportunity, even if it's just a few minutes between presentations, to put things down, either with pen and paper or on his laptop.
Prior to entering teaching and writing Eric was a social worker (B.S.W., M.S.W., B.A.Hons—specialized major psychology). He worked in a variety of settings including child welfare, private practice, a mental health centre, and, for twenty years on a part-time basis as a Crisis Social Worker in an emergency department. He stopped teaching 4 years ago and left the ER only last year.
The majority of Eric's time is spent in the company of his wife, children and dogs (Lola a big standard poodle and a little white dog named Winnie the Poodle).
Eric began his writing as a teacher. He taught in classes from kindergarten up and his stories often reflect the curriculum that he was teaching. He always read stories—picture books and novels—to his students and this helped him to understand what children liked, responded to, and were inspired by. He enjoys the enthusiasm of his students and often looks at them to provide him with the inspiration to pursue a particular topic in both the classroom and in his writing.
Eric tries to write every day. When he has a story idea he starts with research. This could involve reading books, watching a documentary, or trying to experience the things that his characters are going to go through. This could include rock climbing or riding white water (for Stars), spending time in a wheelchair (Rebound), playing and walking with tigers (Tiger by the Tail), hanging around a tough biker bar (Diamonds in the Rough), standing out in his backyard in a blizzard wearing a T-shirt and shorts (Trapped in Ice), or traveling to Africa (Alexandria of Africa).
"The most important thing anybody ever told me about writing was to write what you know . . . and the only way to get to know things is to do your homework and research before you write," Eric stated.
Once the writing begins the story is always playing around in his head. He takes any opportunity, even if it's just a few minutes between presentations, to put things down, either with pen and paper or on his laptop.
Prior to entering teaching and writing Eric was a social worker (B.S.W., M.S.W., B.A.Hons—specialized major psychology). He worked in a variety of settings including child welfare, private practice, a mental health centre, and, for twenty years on a part-time basis as a Crisis Social Worker in an emergency department. He stopped teaching 4 years ago and left the ER only last year.
The majority of Eric's time is spent in the company of his wife, children and dogs (Lola a big standard poodle and a little white dog named Winnie the Poodle).
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 28, 2025
Be careful entering this book as you're in for a wild ride in an alternate universe to ours.
Walters once again captures the spirit of a small village Cree boy interacting with people normally deemed uptight. Jamie is a wilderness survivor who was able to keep royalty safe through the rough wilderness of Northern Manitoba. He makes wise decisions and knows how to deceive and remain brave even though killers are chasing you. This story was simple in nature and easy to follow, but you got to read it solely for the character evolution.
The bad. i simply struggled with the fact that this royal family was not correct to what the family looked like at the time of writing this book. It threw me off more than once, and I felt the same story voulfld have been told with the accurate representation of the royal family at the time.
Walters once again captures the spirit of a small village Cree boy interacting with people normally deemed uptight. Jamie is a wilderness survivor who was able to keep royalty safe through the rough wilderness of Northern Manitoba. He makes wise decisions and knows how to deceive and remain brave even though killers are chasing you. This story was simple in nature and easy to follow, but you got to read it solely for the character evolution.
The bad. i simply struggled with the fact that this royal family was not correct to what the family looked like at the time of writing this book. It threw me off more than once, and I felt the same story voulfld have been told with the accurate representation of the royal family at the time.
April 10, 2009
"Jamie Ransom, a thirteen-year-old Cree boy, is surprised when his cousin asks him to help escort some people through Canada's North. His surprise turns to astonishment when he discovers that the group includes the young Prince Andrew and his older sister, Victoria, who are next in line for the British throne.
Despite the fact that the children's royal identity has been discovered, the trip goes ahead - after all, they'll be travelling through the wilderness, hundreds of kilometres from the nearest town. How could they possibly be in any danger?
But it isn't long before kidnappers strike and all the grown-ups in the group are taken hostage. Now the children are stranded and must battle their way back to civilization. In the menacing northern landscape, Jamie, Victoria and Andrew find themselves on the run - from bears, white-water rapids and the nefarious villains. But Victoria's smarts more than make up for her brother's whining, and Jamie finds that only by working together can they finally reach safety."
Despite the fact that the children's royal identity has been discovered, the trip goes ahead - after all, they'll be travelling through the wilderness, hundreds of kilometres from the nearest town. How could they possibly be in any danger?
But it isn't long before kidnappers strike and all the grown-ups in the group are taken hostage. Now the children are stranded and must battle their way back to civilization. In the menacing northern landscape, Jamie, Victoria and Andrew find themselves on the run - from bears, white-water rapids and the nefarious villains. But Victoria's smarts more than make up for her brother's whining, and Jamie finds that only by working together can they finally reach safety."
November 21, 2014
This was an amazing book. I was absolutely hooked on it, and found that I couldn't stop myself from reading. It is a thrilling adventure on every page, and the suspense never stops. Constantly, as soon as something looks to be better for the characters, you think, but, what about that? I really recommend reading this AMAZING book.
February 19, 2008
my grade five teacher read this to us (and i am older and is still love it, probably one of my favorite books)
May 19, 2010
It's really a "royal ransom".
June 23, 2017
I actually enjoyed this book despite my general belief that Eric Walters couldn't write to save his life.
November 30, 2013
A good little story. Lots of action. Not my favourite one by Walters but not bad.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews