Sally Isaacs

Helen Thayer is a real person who wanted to be the first woman to travel alone to the Magnetic North Pole. She was convinced to take a dog, Charlie, but besides that she was alone. She trained herself by climbing various mountains and racing on skis, luge and kayaks. She braved freezing cold, polar bears, brutal winds, ice storms, and various injuries, but gritted her teeth and soldiered on. Charlie was her guard-dog and companion. He knew when it was too dangerous to travel and stayed tucked into the tent and protected her from a polar bear attack. This is a gripping adventure tale, loaded with situations and incidents, that never strays from its "you can do anything you set your mind to" message.

The book is very well written for the target audience. How many female centred, non-fiction, adventure tales for young readers can you name? It is brisk and direct, and nicely paced with scenes of danger broken up by scenes of wonder. It is easy to read but the vocabulary and writing style are sophisticated enough that this isn't a "kiddie" book. This is a great middle grade book, which just goes to show that picture books are not just for young children. The book is short and to the point, but it gets across the story and the message with style. The illustrations are a wonderful complement to the text to give just that much more realism and description.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.… (más)