I Am Still Alive

Jess initially believes that she is going to live in Alaska, but she ends up in an even more remote place: the territory of Yukon, Canada. In the Yukon territory, temperatures in winter can reach -81 degrees Fahrenheit at their coldest. The terrain is a subarctic plateau and part of the massive Boreal Forest, an essential region that produces about five percent of the world’s total oxygen supply. The area is rich with all sorts of wildlife, including moose, deer, elk, foxes, rabbits, wolves, and lynxes, many of which Jess encounters during her time there. Jess has never experienced the harsh climate of the Yukon, but she does know that fall is short, and this spurs her to prepare for winter as best she can. Jess also experiences the midnight sun in the summertime and the almost complete lack of daylight in the winter: a result of being so close to the Arctic Circle. The Yukon territory has more than 30 major lakes, any of which may have been Jess’s home. Fourteen different Indigenous tribes call the Yukon territory home, and the province has a total population of 41,148 people. Given that the Yukon is larger than California, Jess’s extreme is a realistic detail. Ultimately, Marshall chose to set the novel in the Yukon because of its harsh environment, and because this type of environment is not as well-known to the average reader, which imbues the setting with an element of mystique and danger.