Far North
From the window of the small floatplane, fifteen-year-old Gabe Rogers is getting his first look at Canada's magnificent Northwest Territories with Raymond Providence, his roommate from boarding school. Below is the spectacular Nahanni River—wall-to-wall whitewater racing between sheer cliffs and plunging over Virginia Falls. The pilot sets the plane down on the lake-like surface of the upper river for a closer look at the thundering falls. Suddenly the engine quits. The only sound is a dull roar downstream, as the Cessna drifts helplessly toward the falls ...
With the brutal subarctic winter fast approaching, Gabe and Raymond soon find themselves stranded in Deadmen Valley. Trapped in a frozen world of moose, wolves, and bears, two boys from vastly different cultures come to depend on each other for their very survival.
After an airplane accident, fifteen-year-old Gabe, his Dene Indian boarding-school roommate Raymond, and the elderly Indian Johnny Raven are left stranded in the Canadian wilderness. The wise old man calls on his deeply rooted knowledge of the land to keep the tiny group alive, leaving the boys to battle nature alone when he dies. "Hobbs delivers breathless action and an inspiring sense of Canada's vast landscape."—Publishers Weekly.00-01 Land of Enchantment Book Award Masterlist (Gr. 6-9)
About the Author
Will Hobbs is the author of fourteen novels for upper elementary, middle school
and young adult readers, as well as two picture book stories. Seven of his
novels, Bearstone, Downriver, The Big Wander, Beardance,
Far North, The Maze, and Jason's Gold were named Best
Booksfor Young Adults by the American Library Association. Far North was
selected by the ALA as one of the "Top Ten" young adult books of 1996,
and Ghost Canoe received the Edgar Allan Poe Award in 1998 for Best Young
Adult Mystery.
Will's books have won many other awards, including the California Young Reader Medal, the Western Writers of America Spur Award, the Mountains and Plains Booksellers Award, the Colorado Book Award, and nominations to state award lists in over thirty states. A graduate of Stanford University and former reading and language arts teacher, Will has been a full-time writer since 1990. He lives with his wife, Jean, in Durango, Colorado.
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Sample pages from the novel study guide:
Vocabulary:
Chapter 12 scanning, encircled, utterly, exhausted, snowshoes, stowing, crescent,
silhouette, iridescent, materialized, Aurora Borealis, dazzling, searchlights,
apparition, cues, miraculous, rawhide, cache, predicted, alternate, seesawed,
browsing, willow, thickets, cranberries, intricate, lacing, marten, illegal,
prominent, smirk, hibernating, retreat, bundled, accustomed, tambourine,
hypnotic, spectacle, squawking, scientific Chapter 13 plunged, headwaters, sheath, woodpeckers, splashed, waterline, commotion,
decisively, jubilant, enormity, cremation, pyre, shredded, birchbark, brilliant,
intense, warriors Chapter 14 approximation, medicine, disappear, language, knowledge, future
Comprehension Questions:
Chapter 4 1. How fast was daylight falling off in the Northwest Territories? 2. Why had some of the kids dropped out of school and gone home? 3. How did Gabe plan to help Raymond? 4. Why did he nickname Raymond " The Great One"? 5. Why did Clint tell Gabe to wear all the warm clothes he had when he went
flying? 6. What did Clint say they were doing with the plane after this trip? Why? 7. What kind of plane were they flying? 8. Why were they flying to Nahanni Butte? 9. Who was the school kid who was flying home? Chapter 5 1. What was Raymond’s reason for going home? 2. What was in the ammo boxes on the plane? Why? 3. When did Clint say they were not allowed to talk to him? Why? 4. Why did they have to put down in Fort Simpson? 5. What did Clint say he was giving his passengers they would never forget?
Creative Writing:
Creative Writing Activity 5 Write a letter to Will Hobbs and discuss your reaction to the novel Far North. Tell him what you thought of the novel and ask any questions you might like him to answer. Send the letter in care of the publisher. If you receive a reply, share it with your class.