Common Sense Media Review
By Mary Eisenhart
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Pure beauty, raw gore, Nordic myth in intense survival tale.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 11+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
What's the Story?
NORTHWIND is the story of 12-year-old seafaring orphan Leif, the only survivor when a plague spread by a ghostly ship kills all his companions in medieval Norway. His dying protector puts him in a canoe and tells him to head north to escape the disease -- not soon enough to keep him from nearly dying of the plague himself. But having barely survived and finding himself alive, he sets forth on his long journey, often accompanied by migrating whales. It's a constant struggle against hunger, with frequent killing, gutting, and eating of salmon, and the elements, as dangers from treacherous currents to calving icebergs emerge often and unexpectedly. It's also a constant immersion in stunning beauty that makes Leif seek his own place as part of it.
Is It Any Good?
Gary Paulsen's survival tale, published after his death, finds a 12-year-old seafaring orphan in medieval Norway heading northward through the fjords in the wake of a plague that wipes out his companions. Northwind is a raw, often gruesome struggle against starvation, the elements, and unexpected dangers -- amid stunning natural beauty that contrasts sharply with the filth and squalor of the shipboard life young Leif is all too happy to escape. Vivid descriptions and Joe Wilson's plentiful black-and-white illustrations put the reader in the midst of the adventure and the quest to find a place to belong. Here, Leif has a moment with an orca:
"There had been this ... this thing, this moment when the whale knew him and saw him and understood that Leif meant no harm and he, the boy, had seen that the whale meant him no harm as well and they were just there.
"The two of them. Right there alongside each other, knowing that about themselves, that they meant no harm to each other.
"It was a kind of talk. There was that. Some kind of talking.
"Not words, not songs, but an open knowing had passed between them, and Leif knew that he would never lose that, never forget the knowing, for the rest of his life and hoped it would be the same for the whale."
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about wilderness survival stories like Northwind. It's not just a frequent theme with the late Gary Paulsen; survival stories been popular with generations of readers. What do you think is the ongoing appeal? Do you have any favorites? What do you like about them?
Leif bonds with an orca whale. Have you ever felt a bond with an animal in the wild? Or one closer to home?
Do you think you'd like to go on a wilderness adventure of your own, or do you prefer staying a bit closer to civilization?
Book Details
- Author :
- Illustrator : Joe Wilson
- Genre : Adventure
- Topics : Adventures , Animals ( Ocean Creatures , Wild Animals )
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Farrar, Straus and Giroux
- Publication date : January 11, 2022
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 10 - 14
- Number of pages : 256
- Available on : Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Apple Books
- Last updated : September 29, 2025
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