Book Brief - Far North

Far North

Will Hobbs

HarperTeen (April 13, 2004)

Fifteen year old Gabe, a Texan, enrolls in a boarding school in the Northwest Territories of Canada to be closer to his father, an oil field worker. Gabe soon finds the “wilderness” of Texas is nothing compared to the wilderness, and weather, of the far north. Gabe, his peer Raymond, who is a Dene Indian of the Northwest, and a Dene elder are soon fighting the bitter cold, starvation, and various animals, including bear, to survive.

“Now I could see the bear, huge and silver, soundlessly crossing the river ice, more like a ghost bear than a flesh-and-blood creature. I recognized the big hump over the shoulders, yet this apparition looked nothing like my conception of a grizzly. This bear looked as if it had been carved from crystal. Then I realized that its fur was entirely armored in ice, giving it this ghostlike appearance. The bear had gotten into open water and now its fur was draped with hundreds of daggers of ice. My heart was in my throat as it paused, lifting its nose, taking the scent of the frozen moose meat and maybe of me.”

Laced with Indian mysticism, this tale of survival is nevertheless, a well paced and exciting adventure story that will grab you from beginning to end.

Rating: Borrow