From this review:

"Thrown upon ever-wet and cold circumstances, Jane must shed her properly-clothed image for Chinook skins and ways to survive. She soon becomes confused: Is she proper Miss Jane or fearless Boston Jane, a name given by the Chinook? And what must she do to get rid of Mary who keeps appearing, corpselike and dripping?"

Boston Jane: An Adventure is a compelling historical novel for ages ten and up. Its author is Newberry Honor winner Jennifer Holm. This particular book of hers won these awards: Parent’s Guide to Children’s Media Award, ALA Best Book for Young Adults, and Book Sense 76 Pick. It should come as no surprise this book can be enjoyed at any age.

The plot involves sixteen year-old, ladylike Jane Peck and her friend Mary, who journey by sea to Washington’s un-chartered territory. Jane is going to wed the businesslike William Baldt, a young doctor formerly in residence with her physician-father. Mary aims to start her own boarding business. But aboard ship, vermin bites and unsafe conditions kill Mary. Broken and weak on arrival, Jane is unprepared for the scene: groups of Chinook “savages,” wretched living conditions and a missing fiancée. Worse, the dead Mary is making her posthumous self known by appearing to Jane everywhere – and she is not happy.

Thrown upon ever-wet and cold circumstances, Jane must shed her properly-clothed image for Chinook skins and wild ways, to survive. She soon becomes confused: Is she proper Miss Jane or fearless Boston Jane, a name given by the Chinook? And what must she do to get rid of Mary who keeps appearing, corpselike and dripping?

Washington Parent says of “Boston Jane”: “The fascinating details and humor herein are sure to hit home with fans of historical fiction.” I say it is the first book I have read in which not one page is wasted! At book’s end, Holm lets the reader in on who in the book is real and the various accurate resources she used to assure the plot’s painstaking elements. Further, her character of Jane grows spiritually, from a vulnerable girl offended by tobacco-spitting men into a strong, vital woman.