Peter Griffin is a ship's boy on the "Fox", searching for the missing expedition captained by his uncle, John Franklin, who was mapping the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic. He is only 12 years old and is thrilled to have been asked. The book is his journal. He writes about the daily life on the ship, especially all the work he does as a ship's boy. He talks about illnesses, particularly scurvy and what they believed about it at the time (1857). Travelling with them is Anton, an Inuit man from Greenland. He teaches Peter the language and some of the Inuit beliefs. We follow Peter and his friend Anton as they use the dog sleds, hunt seals for fresh meat, and try to trace the missing ships. The reader gets a feel of what it is like in the Arctic from from the "small" iceberg, only 65 feet high, to thawing ink on the cooking stove, the dismal long winters and the lifting of spirits when the sun next appears.

The mysteries (What happened to Franklin's ships? Did they run out of food? Did they remain trapped in the ice? Were they sick?) are somewhat solved by the end with theories and possible explanations woven into the story.

This is a great book for children to learn more about the Arctic, the history of the Northwest Passage trips and the mystery of the disappearance. The story is easy to read, but very interesting.

I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )