Publishers Weekly
★ 12/06/2021
Inspired by the late Paulsen’s lifelong love of the sea and his own journey up the Pacific coast, this captivating saga of survival and self-discovery, his final novel, centers a steadfast and levelheaded child in an apparently Nordic archipelago landscape. After growing up on fishing boats, orphan Leif is abandoned at a fish camp; when the camp’s men become infected with cholera, its leader instructs the 12-year-old to head north to safety in a canoe. Finding himself alone with few supplies in early summer, Leif struggles to survive along shorelines and inlets that teem with bears and whales, all described with Paulsen’s characteristic attention to detail. As the solitary child travels via canoe, carving his experiences into a piece of wood and dreaming of a mother he never met, he realizes that though “all his life... had not been a safe place,” the vast world is his to explore. Spare, survival-oriented prose keeps the reader immersed in scenes difficult and wondrous, offering a glimpse of the sheer awesomeness of nature, showcasing the beauty of the sea and its inhabitants, and regaling readers with a timeless and irresistible adventure that has resilience at its heart. Ages 10–14. (Jan.)
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“Paulsen . . . was not only a master storyteller, but also a master world-builder . . . Wondrous . . . A grand and worthy journey.” —Neal Shusterman, The New York Times Book Review
“A voyage both singular and universal, marked by sharply felt risks and rewards and deep waters beneath.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“Spare, survival-oriented prose keeps the reader immersed in scenes difficult and wondrous, offering a glimpse of the sheer awesomeness of nature, showcasing the beauty of the sea and its inhabitants, and regaling readers with a timeless and irresistible adventure that has resilience at its heart.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Call this posthumously published novel The Young Man and the Sea . . . [A] splendid story . . . Beautifully written, it’s classic Paulsen at his best.” —Booklist, starred review
“[A] mesmerizing modern-day epic . . . The tale of man versus nature is as old as time, but Paulsen, who died in 2021, goes beyond the genre by exploring the complex perspectives of animals . . . Narrative devices like kennings and repetitious phrasing hark back to epic sagas such as Beowulf and the Poetic Eddas: tides become moon-currents, silence becomes non-sound and memories become thought-pictures. But possibly the most compelling aspect of the work is the lesson Leif learns along his journey: ‘Don't go to a place. Go to be. Just to be.’” —Shelf Awareness, starred review
“What a gem . . . This accessible, captivating adventure story is destined to become another Paulsen classic . . . An essential purchase for libraries serving middle grade and YA readers.” —School Library Journal, starred review
School Library Journal
★ 02/04/2022
Gr 4–6—The illustrious Paulsen, who wrote more than 200 books for children and adults, passed away October 2021. Northwind is his final novel, and what a gem it is. This accessible, captivating adventure story is destined to become another Paulsen classic: a lightly historical fiction sea story, set on the Coast of Norway, and inspired by his impressive sailing adventures in the Pacific Northwest. Leif, an orphan, is sent off north in a cedar canoe with basic survival supplies after his village comes down with cholera. With hints of Nordic mythology, the story follows Leif as he survives the sickness, learns how to catch fish, and finds blackberries while staying clear of bears. He witnesses the power and beauty of inlets, the ocean, orcas, dolphins, whales, and icebergs. The language is simple but rhythmically captivating; some paragraphs are a sentence long and some words or phrases are repeated to dig deeper into a concept. Chapters are 10–15 pages long and episodic, an important authorial choice that will draw in more than just avid readers. VERDICT An essential purchase for libraries serving middle grade and YA readers. Kids will be captivated by Leif's inner monologue as he makes life-and-death decisions and reflects on the lure of the north, and the power of the sea.—Jamie Winchell
MARCH 2022 - AudioFile
Narrator JD Jackson takes listeners to an unidentified Nordic region in Paulsen's last survival story. When a strange illness kills everyone in his fishing village, 12-year-old Leif follows Old Carl's advice to head north. There, he uses his wits to build a new life. At the book’s opening, a dulcimer intro sets a tone of gravitas as Jackson recites the origin tale of the village. His warm bass voice projects a feeling of folklore as Leif's story follows. Listeners will smell the stench of death, cringe when the boy faces danger, and cheer when he escapes certain death. Voices are consistent throughout, and repeated phrases and lists are particularly strong. This story of survival among Scandinavia’s cold fjords will linger in listeners’ memories. S.D.B. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2021-10-13
A solitary young traveler paddles through an archipelago of natural, often dangerous, wonders, learning as he goes.
Though the metaphorical layer lies barely beneath the surface in this short novel, Paulsen’s spare prose and legendary knowledge of the challenges and techniques of wilderness survival make the journey through a landscape that evokes historical Scandinavia compelling reading. Sole survivor—and that just barely—of the gruesomely depicted cholera that sweeps through his camp, 12-year-old Leif comes away with a dugout canoe, a few basic outdoor skills, and the command from a dying, respected elder to head north. Subsisting largely on blackberries and salmon, he travels a winding route through fjords and a seemingly endless string of islets and inlets where he finds both danger and delight in searching for food and shelter, literally coming face to face with bears and whales, struggling to survive a deadly tidal whirlpool, and coming to understand the importance of seeing and learning from the ways and rhythms of “this place and all places that will come to me.” Calling on memories, Paulsen writes in an autobiographical afterword of his Norwegian immigrant grandmother’s tales. References to Odin and whalers give the setting a timelessly folkloric feeling. Final art not seen.
A voyage both singular and universal, marked by sharply felt risks and rewards and deep waters beneath. (Historical adventure. 9-13)
