Northwind

Long known for his contribution to the canon of survivalist literature, Gary Paulsen always adds a bit of himself to his novels. His last novel is no exception. In Northwind, Paulsen weds his love of ocean sailing with fond childhood memories of living with his Norwegian grandmother in a remote cook camp in Minnesota. The author’s note for the novel describes Paulsen’s experience of going to live with his grandmother when he was only three years old. Each night before bed, she would tell him stories from what he calls “the Old Country.” Captivated by these tales of heroism and adventure near the North Sea, Paulsen developed a fascination with Norse culture along with a curiosity for seafaring. He explains how his grandmother’s legacy emerges in this novel in particular, given the woman’s unique connection to the sea: “in Norway she said you are either of the land or of the sea and much, perhaps all of her knowledge, all that she heard or was told in her stories, from her childhood, was of the sea” (234). When his family later crossed the Pacific Ocean in a steamship, Paulsen’s love for the ocean and nautical life only deepened.