Can you imagine yourself as a light keeper? Could you live full-time on an isolated coast? Your job is to keep a light shining out to sea, guiding ships to land, warning them of jagged shoreline, and maybe even assisting with a rescue in the case of a shipwreck.

Even though there are 750 lighthouses across North America, only 51 light keepers actively live and work in one in Canada, and just 1 keeper remains in the United States. In the newest installment of Nimbus’s popular Compass series, Christine Welldon takes readers past the postcard-perfect image and depicts a day in the life of 11 modern light keepers. From Cape Beale, British Columbia, to Puffin Island, Newfoundland, learn about the grit, intelligence, and quick thinking that helps keep our coastlines safe. Expertly weaving the historical with the modern, Welldon shows us how light keepers are still bound by an age-old mission: “Keep the light shining. Be ever watchful. Help those in trouble on the sea.”

Includes over 50 full-colour photos, illustrations, and maps, as well as a glossary, index, and historical timeline.

Christine Welldon
Christine Welldon is the author of nine children's books, including Reporter in Disguise, The Children of Africville, and Lifelines: The Lanier Phillips Story. She has been nominated for the Golden Oak Award, the Amelia Bloomer Award for recommended feminist literature for children, and twice nominated for the Hackmatack Children's Choice Award. She divides her time between Lunenburg and Toronto.