It was tough for Leif from day one, with his father unknown and his mum gone in having him. Dock workers around him took him in, wrapping him in rags, and feeding him goat’s milk and fish oil. After a life growing up in hulls of ships criss-crossing roaring oceans, mending nets, cooking for sailors and all other kinds of menial tasks, Leif is a part of a thriving camp crew. They are waiting for their ship to return from a journey.

Then, with a strange fog came not their ship, but another, wreaked in stink and disaster, which  leaks out into their camp causing more grief and despair. Not yet 10, Leif is soon alone again, with nothing to help him survive but his wits and all that he’d been taught by kind men.

With only a dugout canoe, and minimal supplies and tools, he sets forth into the world of islands, currents, bears, whales and more – always heading North.

Like Gary Paulsen’s multi-award winning novel Hatchet, this is a story of survival. The difference is Leif has already lived a life of struggle, work and life on the ocean. When setting out on his journey North, he only just survives his first obstacle – disease, before constantly moving through channels and inlets to an unknown destination.

Northwind is not a rip-roaring read, but an authentic journey through possible perils of nature, whether it be killer whales, brown bears or the ocean itself. Leif’s connection with Nature and all that surrounds him is a gradual process and its lessons often simple and aiding his survival.

It is written in the author’s signature way, a sparse, storyteller style, but full in the emotions that Nature inspires. Lovers of Nature, Hunting, or the outdoors in general will enjoy this novel. 

This is Gary Paulsen’s last novel as he passed away in October 2021. His personal note in the rear of the book explains where Northwind came from – his connection with his Nordic roots and the sea.

Author – Gary Paulsen

Age – 10+

(2022, Macmillan, Action, Adventure, Historical, Cholera, Disease, Hunting, Fishing, Nature, Outdoors, Canoe, Ocean, Killer Whales, Bears, Salmon, Islands, Currents, Moving North, Paddling, Connection with nature, Alone, Iceberg, Survival)