The Cruise of the Arctic Star

by Scott O'Dell

Take a voyage up the length of the California coast in a cruiser named Arctic Star !

Along the way, the author relates the colorful narratives of California's history through the stories of men and women like Cabrillo, Viscaino, Junipero Serra, Kate Sessions, Kit Carson, Jedediah Smith and many more. Drawing from journals of other notable visitors like Richard Henry Dana, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Sir Francis Drake, readers are given a window into life in California hundreds of years ago.

O'Dell offers readers dramatic incidents seldom featured in text books on California history - like the worst peacetime disaster in the history of the United States Navy that occurred in the treacherous Jaws of the Devil near Point Conception. Readers will delight in the story of Jedediah Strong Smith's wrestling with a grizzly and the wilderness friend who stitched his ear and face back together - with no anesthesia, of course!

Pirates have to play a part in a land so rich in coastline - and they do, with buried treasure on a Southern California isle known as Dead Man's Island. The stories of the discoverers, explorers and settlers of California have never been drawn so delightfully as they are here. With his love of his native state, his knowledge of the landscape, sea life, and historical past of this region, O'Dells work continues to stand as an important contribution to the rich literature of the Golden State.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Travel, Childrens, Adventure

224 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1973

About the author

Scott O'Dell was an American author celebrated for his historical fiction, especially novels for young readers. He is best known for Island of the Blue Dolphins, a classic that earned the Newbery Medal and has been translated into many languages and adapted for film. Over his career he wrote more than two dozen novels for young people, as well as works of nonfiction and adult fiction, often drawing on the history and landscapes of California and Mexico. His books, including The King’s Fifth, The Black Pearl, and Sing Down the Moon, earned him multiple Newbery Honors and a wide readership. O'Dell received numerous awards for his contribution to children’s literature, among them the Hans Christian Andersen Award and the Regina Medal. In 1984, he established the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction to encourage outstanding works in the genre.

Reviews

[Emily M · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow, this was painful. We read this aloud as part of the Beautiful Feet CA state history package, but the writing was erratic (a slightly modified journal, with random bits of history stuck in) and had to be heavily edited (my kids don't need to hear about his pilot's romantic entanglements at every port). Very little of the wonderful prose that won O'Dell a Newbery Award. I like the idea of this book--vignettes of California history told as a famous writer travels by boat up the coast of the state--but it seemed like a half-baked project told by a rambling, senile man past his prime. The kids hated it. It took us two months to finish, even with me skimming and skipping all the random parts describing his own little boat and random conversations with the crew.

This thing was reprinted by Beautiful Feet, which means a whole bunch of homeschool kids are suffering through a book that justly went out of print for a reason. We've really enjoyed the other selections in this state history packet, but this dud really makes me question Rea Berg's taste and discernment.

[Gwen Testa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some good CA history but too much environmentalism
Liked references to Richard Henry Dana’s “Two Years Before The Mast”
Jedediah Smith, the greatest of mountain men pg. 70
Father Serra history was good pg. 12-14, pg. 141
Worst peacetime disaster in the history of the United Staes Navy on 9/8/23 at Point Conception pg. 123
Robert Louis Stevenson once lived in Monterey-he thought “so little of ‘Treasure Island’ that he published the story under a borrowed name...in fact, he criticized England’s Prime Minister (William Gladstone) for reading it”. Pg.146
Mizrael—“the archangel who sees that inferiors obey their superiors. He’s one of the seventy-two angels bearing the name of God Shemhamphorae”. Pg. 182

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a book I found in the "free" box at the library. I chose it because after living in So. CA for many years, the book had history and maps of many places I had visited on land. I actually read it in 2 days and found it an easy read and not riddled with foul language and hype! Yea the Captain was a crum-bumb but otherwise it was informational. Have never read anything by Scott O'Dell so was new author for me.

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really great information about the first California explorers. I liked how we were "traveling" with the author and explorers up the coast. The book was a bit dry and somewhat heavy with an environmental agenda. Some personal details shared regarding the author's boat crew were inappropriate for children.

[Monique · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book on learning about California geography and history for 4th grade.

[Jayden · Rating 1 out of 5]

dialogue was drier than the sahara desert

[Eva · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Scott O'Dell's writing. Sadly, I listened to this one on audio and I didn't care for the reader's style w/ little or no voice inflection for the different characters. It was thereby a little confusing as he jumped between present day and reading narratives from other works. That aside, I loved how it switches back & forth between the story and historical narratives of characters we had read in our history book.

[Kendra Fletcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the few Scott O'Dell books I hadn't yet read. I really enjoyed this story, but I am a native Californian and found all of the place references and history really interesting. My kids were ambivalent and often bored.

[AJones]

Ok, Beautiful Feet curriculum, we got through this one and learned a bit about CA history and geography along the way, but it was pretty rough. I hope other BF books aren't this dry.

[Sarah]

I read this one aloud to my daughter as part of her 4th grade California History lessons. It had some interesting bits of info about CA history and introduced some of the people that we will be learning more about later. It also was fun to track their progress up the coast on a map and look up information on the different animals he describes in the book. There were parts that were kinda boring to her but on the whole she and I both liked it.