A Yukon man has written a children's adventure novel loosely based on his grandmother's tale of moving from Montreal to Whitehorse and traversing the dangerous Chilkoot Trail.

Keith Halliday's book, Aurore of the Yukon, A Girl's Adventure in the Klondike Gold Rush, employed 'the Forrest Gump principle' to have Aurore, the strong lead character, bump into a long list of colourfulYukon characters and have a string of raucous adventures.

'It's a book kids will love and adults will find interesting,' Patricia Cunning, of the MacBride Museum, said during a press conference this morning. 'It brings history alive for the kids.'

The book has been test-marketed with a group of nine-year-old girls from Toronto and London, England, and it's been all thumbs-up.

'We're really excited at the museum,' said Cunning, adding the book helps the museum bring the cultural history of the Yukon people to life in a way they never could before.

As Aurore travels from Montreal to Whitehorse, she meets historical figures like Soapy Smith, Jack London and Maj. Percey Brown, a.k.a. 'Piccadilly dude' in Robert Service's The Ballad of the Ice-Worm Cocktail.

Along the way, Aurora inspires writers, turns the tides in a gun fight and faces adventure and hardship like the 'heroine of Skagway,' as she becomes known early in the book.

Halliday said his daughter, Aline, gave him the idea for the book when the pair was hiking the Chilkoot Trail just like their grandmother (greatgrandmother to Aline) did so many years ago.

'I was being an over-functional father at the time,' recalled Halliday of the trip and the historical tales he was relaying to his daughter.

Eventually, Aline suggested he should write a story about the things he was telling her, and the book was born.

'I think people are interested in history and a fun story,' said Halliday.

Cunning said the museum sees the book as a way to raise the institution's profile and bring in some extra revenue. The book is available at Amazon.ca and can even be purchased by people in Japan.

Halliday is planning to turn the book into the first of a series of similarly-themed historical adventure stories that will follow Aurore as she and her friends grow older, much like Harry Potter books.

The next book in the series will have a lot more intrigue as it deals with the Alaska-Yukon boundary dispute.

The MacBride Museum has planned its annual summer camp around the book with activities pulled right from Aurore's adventures.

Kids will go to Skagway, check out the Chilkoot Trail, meet the Mounties, and get in a gunfight with Soapy Smith.

The gunfight will be part of a play the kids will put on and have filmed during the Longest Day Street Fair in downtown Whitehorse. The museum is still looking for a local celebrity to play Soapy.

The would-be villain should be prepared to be shot several times, said program director Tracey Anderson.

The official launch of the historical page-turner is at the MacBride Museum from 6:00 to 7:30 this evening.

Attendees can meet Keith and Aline Halliday and buy an autographed copy of the book. Posters, coffee and desserts will also be available.