Max Brand 
Sixteen in Nome 

In Sixteen in Nome, a desperate youth named Joe May must help Hugh Massey without realizing he is the bait for Hugh’s trap against his infamous rival Calmont. Excerpt: ‘Once a hardy old-timer in a mangy parka said to me: ‘I’d rather be barefoot in the desert than sixteen in Nome.’ The point was that I was sixteen, and in Nome at that moment, and without needing the slightest time for consideration, I agreed with him.’