Race to the Frozen North
The Matthew Henson Story
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- $99.00
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- $99.00
Descripción editorial
A thrilling fictionalised account of the life of Matthew Henson, the first African-American man to travel to the North Pole, from the Carnegie nominated author Catherine Johnson.
Matthew Henson was simply an ordinary man. That was, until Commander Robert E. Peary entered his life, and offered him a chance at true adventure. Henson would become navigator, craftsman, translator, and right-hand man on a treacherous journey to the North Pole. Defying the odds and the many prejudices that faced him to become a true pioneer. This is his incredible and often untold story. Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant or dyslexic readers aged 8+
Reviews
"Catherine Johnson is the master of historical fiction for children; her prose is warm and wise and utterly gripping" – Katherine Rundell
"If it doesn't make you angry you haven't read it properly" – Fleur Hitchcock
"Matthew Henson's life plays out like a story … This book really highlights our ignorance in not recognising sooner his incredible plight in defying the odds, breaking boundaries, fighting prejudice and becoming a true black pioneer" – Scott Evans, The Reader Teacher
"Wonderful … Uncovering the forgotten and hidden histories of those who have been marginalised is a serious and necessary undertaking and this book is a great addition to that genre" – The Letterpress Project
About the author
Catherine Johnson is a screenwriter and bestselling author of several books for children and young adults. Shortlisted for the 2020 UKLA Book Awards, Race to the Frozen North is a perennial bestseller with sales of over 40,000 to date. Her acclaimed novel Sawbones won the Young Quills Award for Historical Fiction, and The Curious Tale of the Lady Caraboo was nominated for the CILIP Carnegie Medal and the YA Book Prize. Catherine is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
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Katie is a freelance illustrator recently graduated from Falmouth University. Having grown up in Cornwall, and also in the middle-east, Katie takes inspiration from her travels and surroundings to create her illustrations. Her work deals with both narrative and information and often combines the two.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Though he was the first American to reach the North Pole during a 1909 expedition, Black explorer Matthew Henson (1866–1955) was largely excluded from accounts of the journey, a reality that Johnson (A Nest of Vipers) endeavors to rectify in this exciting introduction to a national hero. In brief first-person chapters, Johnson chronicles how 11-year-old Henson, born to sharecropper parents, fled from his abusive household seeking a better life. Plainspoken prose details physical altercations with his stepmother, who beat him with a stick that was "harder than hell and had sharp points that cut into my skin." After arriving in Washington, D.C., Henson ran errands for a café owner before signing on as a cabin boy aboard the Katie Hines. Henson is 15 when he's employed on the SS Kite, a steamship bound for the Arctic. While credit—and a presidential medal—was awarded to Naval officer Robert Edwin Peary Sr. (1856–1920) and company, it was Henson and Ikwah, the crew's "Inuit guide," who initially set foot at their destination. Johnson chronicles Henson's adventures with the breakneck speed of an action film; smudged charcoal drawings by Hickey (The Christmas Doll) depict these experiences throughout. Ages 8–12.
