Skip to main content

The Iceberg Hermit

Image
By Lauren
The Iceberg Hermit
By Arthur Roth
Scholastic, c1974. 219 pages. Fiction.

Iceberg Hermit is about Allan, who is an apprentice aboard an Arctic whaling ship in the 1700's. The ship wrecks on an iceberg, and the boy is the only one to survive. He manages to make shelter, find food, and live off the (ice)land for over a year. He also befriends and raises a baby polar bear. Eventually, Allan sets out to cross the ice in hopes of finding others. He finds some natives and they help him find a returning whaling ship to get him home from Scotland. Ignore the horrendous cover, and let's pretend there's a better title...like, "Hatchet on Ice!" This gem of fiction was suggested to us by a patron. I loved it, and found it to be a very close readalike to Gary Paulsen's Hatchet, as far as the writing style and story elements.There's something for everyone: survival, history, and realism.
Labels:

Comments

curlyq said…
So is this like "Disney on Ice?" Sounds amazing! ( ;
March 15, 2012 at 2:51 PM
Ms. Yingling said…
My daughter's 4th grade teacher did this as a class novel for about 30 years, but she liked it because HE liked it so much. Have you read Phleger's Pilot Down, Presumed Dead? It's like Hatchet in the Desert!
March 16, 2012 at 4:34 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

If You Like...KPop Demon Hunters

By
KPop Demon Hunters has been one of the most talked-about movies of the summer. If you loved this movie as much as I did, you don't want the magic (or the music) to stop. Try reading these books that touch on some of the same topics and themes as the animated hit! Brick Dust and Bones By M. R. Fournet New York: Feiwel and Friends, 2023. Fiction. 247 pages. Orphaned Marius works in the family business--as their cemetery's ghost caretaker. However, Marius also moonlights as a monster hunter in order to earn the costly Mystic currency he needs to bring his mother back from the dead. As the window to bring his mother back begins to close, Marius's exploits get more and more dangerous, and he may have set his sights on a monster too big to handle on his own. Like Mira, Marius longs for familial connection, and his work as a monster hunter will satisfy the thrill of demon hunting for fans the movie. Where's Halmoni? By Julie J. Kim Seattle, WA: Little Bigfoot, 2017. Comics. W...
Post a Comment
Read more

If You Like... Folktales

By Suzanne
Folktales have long carried the wisdom, imagination, and traditions of cultures around the world by passing stories from one generation to the next. They often weave together important life lessons with magical creatures or daring adventures. Books, like the ones on this list, bring these age-old tales to life for today’s readers. Each story is rooted in its own cultural heritage and offers a glimpse into the values of the people who first told them. They remind us that storytelling is a powerful way to connect us across time and place. The Three-Year Tumble By Dayeon Auh New York: NorthSouth Books, 2025. Picture Book. Based on a beloved Korean folktale, a superstitious grandfather and his thoughtful granddaughter turn the legend of Misfortune Mountain on its head. According to the myth, anyone who falls down the mountain has only 3 years left to live! Together, this family learns how changing your mindset can make a positive impact on your life. The Salt Princess By Anoosha Syed New Y...
1 comment
Read more

Five Faves: Comics about Indigenous Peoples

By
I love comics and graphic novels! This format has such a cool ability to draw in an audience by being able to show emotion on character's faces, give extra details to non-fiction stories, and add in extra vocabulary while showing what the word means. These qualities of comics are really helpful in telling stories about people from diverse cultures. These five comics all tell stories about people from different indigenous nations and how their culture affects how they live. The Ribbon Skirt By Cameron Mukwa New York: Graphix, an Imprint of Scholastic Inc., 2024. Comic. 175 pages. Anang, an Ojibwe tween wants to make a ribbon skirt—a traditional Anishinaabe clothing piece worn by women—to wear to an upcoming powwow, but Anang is worried about what the kids from school will think of them. Anang's classmates see them as a boy, when they are two-spirit and don't identify as a boy or a girl. They ask their grandparents for advice, who advise them to ask the spirits of animals and...
Post a Comment
Read more