In Search of a Sandhill Crane

by Keith Robertson, Richard Cuffari (Illustrator)

Link Keller was sure his summer in the Michigan wilderness was going to be the loneliest, dullest time of his life. he couldn’t wait to get back to New Jersey, back to baseball and TV and the comforting glare of street lights in the night. His uncle Albert had lent him a set of expensive cameras on the condition that Link bring back some pictures of sandhill cranes.
That would be his way out, Link reassured himself. He’d stay just long enough to get the pictures. Then nothing could keep him there.
But deep in the woods Link begins to discover that to be still and silent is not necessarily to be bored. Through his aunt Harriet and an Indian named Charley Horse he learns that friendship transcends the distinctions of age, race, and background. Slowly he comes to know the frightening power, the drama, the fragile beauty of nature. And in doing so, he comes to know himself.

Genres: Fiction

201 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Keith Robertson was born on May 9, 1914 in Dows, Iowa. He joined the Navy in 1931, and served as a radioman on a destroyer. Later, he attended the United States Naval Academy, graduating with a B.S. degree. He attributed his initial decision to study at the Academy to a "fanatical aversion to washing dishes." He said, "When I discovered that midshipmen at the United States Naval Academy did not wash dishes but were gentlemen by act of Congress, I promptly applied for entrance." Robertson served in World War II as captain of a destroyer. He was awarded five battle stars. He retired from the service as a captain in the United States Naval Reserve.

Robertson published his first book, Ticktock and Jim, in 1948. His writing career spanned 40 years. As a member of the Rutgers University Council on Children's Literature, he was active in encouraging aspiring authors.

He was married to Elizabeth Woodburn Robertson, a rare-book dealer, and had four children. He died of cancer at his home in Hopewell, New Jersey on September 23, 1991, aged 77.

Reviews

[Henry Reed]

I first read IN SEARCH OF A SANDHILL CRANE when I was 9 or 10 years old, after finding a copy at a library book sale for 25¢. I already knew Keith Robertson from the Henry Reed books, so recognizing his name on the spine was enough to add it to my stack. I had no idea I was picking up what would eventually become my favorite novel by my favorite author.

I’ve reread it several times since, at different ages, and I get more from it each time.

As a kid, I identified completely with Link Keller. The book opens with him alone on an airplane, headed unwillingly toward a summer in Michigan, and that immediately felt adventurous to me. Here was a boy not much older than I was, away from home and gradually discovering that he could handle himself pretty well.

As an adult, I’m much more aware of how skillfully Robertson makes that transformation happen. Aunt Harriet is one of my favorite characters largely because she never needs to announce she’s teaching Link independence. She simply treats him as capable. She trusts him with real responsibilities, assumes he can do things until proven otherwise, and gives him enough freedom to discover his own competence. Robertson lets Link grow without putting a spotlight on the lesson.

The out-of-doors writing is equally good. The Upper Peninsula forests, wildlife, canoe trips, abandoned logging country, and long waits for the elusive cranes create a remarkably vivid sense of place. Robertson also paces the central quest beautifully: The sandhill cranes themselves don’t appear until the midpoint of this nine-chapter novel, after both Link and the reader have had time to become invested in finding them.

There’s also a strong conservation message here—much more obvious to me now than it was when I was 10. Robertson writes about extinction, habitat destruction, pollution, and our responsibility toward wildlife, but he rarely makes the story feel like a lecture. As a kid, I mostly thought I was reading a great outdoor adventure. Looking back, I can see that the book also helped shape some of my own thinking about nature and conservation.

And I appreciate the smaller things more with every rereading: Robertson’s dry humor, the wonderfully dated-but-fascinating world of mostly manual photography, and Richard Cuffari’s illustrations, which add to the experience with their carefully accurate translation of Robertson's descriptions.

Some childhood favorites survive because they remind us of being children. IN SEARCH OF A SANDHILL CRANE has done something better for me: It has continued to become a richer book as I’ve gotten older.

[Catherine Horton]

This was such a pleasant read. The subject matter concerning birds and the outdoors very much interested me, and, as a birdwatcher, I really appreciated the the author took the time to research animals and provide the reader with facts about them and their plight for survival, complete with a simple yet intriguing story.

"In Search of a Sandhill Crane" will fascinate nature lovers regardless of age. The story is told in a docile, caring manner, and it is also very informative at times. Really cared for the main characters, especially Link and his growing curiosity with nature.

A lovely book. Bird and nature lovers, check this one out. You won't regret it.

[Cws]

JWAW-Rob