Reviews

Northwind by Gary Paulsen

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raechsreads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Whoa. This style of book isn't usually my first pick, but Northwind pulled me along Leif's journey. I enjoyed the mix of adventure with coming of age and survival. I'm left wondering what could have happened if he had run into other humans.

millyfox's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

snicksnacksnorum's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

amdawson's review against another edition

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adventurous informative sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

A good middle-grade survival story set on the sea.

msgabbythelibrarian's review against another edition

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3.0

So survivalist fiction was a staple of mine growing up. Or rather survivalist movies were. Some days I felt like my mom wanted to abandon everything and go live in the woods. However, after one or two terrifying to a ten year old incidents involving literature set in the wild......let's just say they are not what I gravitate towards.

However, Gary Paulsen has written another book that I think will be enjoyed by fans of the adventure genre. Instead of the mountains, we are instead along the sea. I pictured the Pacific Northwest and Alaska as I read these pages. Leif's encounters with bears, whales, whirlpools....his fishing with a man made spear and gathering berries to survive.....many will enjoy this story. Indeed, it is a love story to the wild.

For me, it is not my favorite genre to read. I also struggled that Leif was the lone character and there was not a bit of dialogue to be found. Indeed, Northwind read like a David Attenborough voiced documentary with Leif's occasional inner dialogue read by Morgan Freeman. LOL So if you want a book with an actual plot (as opposed to just embracing nature and continuing to flee sickness and Man), this isn't it. But will I recommend it to readers looking for adventure tales? Survival tales? You bet!