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Let me start by saying that I listened to this book on tape while I was driving, so I may have rated it higher if I read it.
The first line grabbed me with "Even the dead tell stories." I was quickly sucked into Sig's world (1910, one hundred miles north of the Arctic Circle) where there is peace, silence, and desolation. When Sig's father falls through the ice, he is left alone with his step-mother and sister. But even the dead tell stories, and Sig quickly realize that his father may have been ...more
The first line grabbed me with "Even the dead tell stories." I was quickly sucked into Sig's world (1910, one hundred miles north of the Arctic Circle) where there is peace, silence, and desolation. When Sig's father falls through the ice, he is left alone with his step-mother and sister. But even the dead tell stories, and Sig quickly realize that his father may have been ...more
I received this book through the Goodreads First reads program.
Sig’s father is dead – frozen to death after falling through a weak spot on the frozen lake he had to cross in order to get back to the family’s cabin in the Arctic wilderness. Sig is alone in the cabin with the corpse. The ground is frozen solid, so Sig is unable to dig a grave. His sister and step mother have gone into town to get help. Then there is a knock at the door and a terrible situation becomes even worse. Sig opens the doo ...more
Sig’s father is dead – frozen to death after falling through a weak spot on the frozen lake he had to cross in order to get back to the family’s cabin in the Arctic wilderness. Sig is alone in the cabin with the corpse. The ground is frozen solid, so Sig is unable to dig a grave. His sister and step mother have gone into town to get help. Then there is a knock at the door and a terrible situation becomes even worse. Sig opens the doo ...more
In Sedgwick’s grim, chilling story set in the Arctic Circle, Sig finds his father’s frozen corpse as human predator Wolff arrives seeking retribution and a hidden Gold Rush treasure.
This adventure novel, set in the frozen tundra, will remind you of Jack London and Cormac McCarthy, with its plot centering on survival against an implacable foe named Wolff. It is full of nail biting action, and tautly written without a wasted sentence. But it is more than an adventure story. The author introduces c ...more
This adventure novel, set in the frozen tundra, will remind you of Jack London and Cormac McCarthy, with its plot centering on survival against an implacable foe named Wolff. It is full of nail biting action, and tautly written without a wasted sentence. But it is more than an adventure story. The author introduces c ...more
Terrific suspenseful character study. Set in 1910 Alaskan wilderness, where fourteen year old Sig is alone in his family's cabin with his dead father, who's just fallen through the icy pond to his death. When who should appear at the door of this godforsaken frozen wilderness but a bear of a man, a stranger to Sig who claims a past with his father and demands he give up his father's gold. What gold? Sig doesn't know anything about any gold! The tension escalates when Sig's sister arrives home, a
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This is one of those books where not a lot happens, but there is an incredible amount of tension and suspense to keep you reading.
The narrator of the audio book has a great voice for the character Wolff - very menacing.
The narrator of the audio book has a great voice for the character Wolff - very menacing.
A 4.5 for quality of writing, a 2.5 for my personal enjoyment. Read for Mock Printz.
Tight and spare - the kind of book with no padding or wasted words. The plot drives the story, which switches back and forth in time to create suspense. The epilogue felt like it told too much, but otherwise recommended.
The only Printz Honor for 2011 that I hadn't heard much about. Excellent work, Printz committee!!! I didn't even realize that this wasn't a fantasy, since Sedgwick writes mostly fantasy.
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Jan 11, 2011
Kris Springer
marked it as to-read
Jan 26, 2011
Ann
marked it as to-read
Jan 23, 2012
Amanda
marked it as to-read
