By: Theodore Taylor Publisher: Harcourt Paperbacks Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Harcourt Paperbacks Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 240 Publication Date: March 01, 2006 Reading Level: Ages 9-12
The year is 1868, and fourteen-year-old Alika and his younger brother, Sulu, are hunting for seals on an ice floe attached to their island in the Arctic. Suddenly they hear the terrible sound of the floe breaking free from land. The boys watch with horror as they start drifting south--away from their home, their family, and everything they've ever known.
Throughout their six-month-long journey down the Greenland Strait, the boys face bitter cold, starvation, and vicious polar bears. And yet, in this moving testament to the bond between brothers, Alika and Sulu remain hopeful that one day they'll be rescued .
Includes a map, a glossary of Inuit words and phrases, and an author's note.
*HIGH ADVENTURE SERVED UP WITH RAW MEAT* Theodore Taylor, author of gripping adventure stories ("The Cay" - #044022912X) has written a tale filled with familial warmth and cultural nuggets, "ICE DRIFT." It centers on life among the Inuit in settlements north of Baffin Island. Their living arrangements & diet are of particular interest. Foods such as 'blood pudding' are mentioned, and also the unusual talent of 'throat singing'.
As the niece of an Antarctic explorer who died in an igloo while doing climate studies for the government in 1950s, I am curious to know why a Horn Book reviewer described Theodore Taylor's book as "a routine survival story"! That has to be an oxymoron? Some tales of discovery may suffer from excess 'embroidery' but Taylor has authored a winner that will reach an audience far wider than the targeted middle graders. (In a different way Andrew Revkin's book "The North Pole Was Here" - #0753461382 - shows how global warming has caused drastic changes in the Arctic Circle).
Two young boys find themselves adrift on a narrow floe in the Greenland Strait after an iceberg breaks loose. Just staying alive is their aim but to somehow draw attention of rescuers competes for top attention. Ten year old Sulu peppers his older brother Alika, asking anxiously about what their parents might be doing at that moment, or, questioning how long it will take before someone sees them float by. Taylor's descriptions of the brothers show them deeply anxious for each other's welfare; Alika, who becomes fifteen during the long ordeal, is especially sensitive to Sulu's different personality and interests.
Decades later we are asking how these people & their culture have survived arrogance and power grabs, as well as all the environmental mistakes that have been made, primarily by governments and corporations. Taylor's book "ICE DRIFT" is not about a government's inhumanity (as described in Melanie McGrath's "The Long Exile" - #0007157975) but is a tale of boys adapting to the worst circumstances imaginable with courage and fortitude, drawing faith from what their Shaman has taught.
In Capatin Thierry Mallett's book ("Plain Tales of the North - #B00008639AE, published in 1925 & 1925) a similar quandary is faced by two even younger brothers. Both stories may have been inspired by an incident recorded in 1868. Moving at a fast momentum these tales will grip your interest and propel readers to satisfying conclusions. This reader/reviewer gives each high marks and will soon be recommending more books, and films, on the exciting subject of "poles apart".
5th grade book review by Nails
In my wildest dreams I can not imagine living on an ice floe for 7 days let alone 7 months. Well that is what Ice Drift is about. It was written by a very talented author named Theodore Taylor. This adventure book is about two brothers and their dog that are stranded on an ice floe. What will happen? The main characters in this book are 14 year old Alika, 10 year old Sulu, and their dog Jamka. Alika is strong, courageous, and skillful. Jamka is helpful and protective, and Sulu is understanding, meek, and full of questions. The adventure starts when the chunk of ice Alika, Sulu and Jamka are standing upon breaks off and drifts away while Alika is hunting seals. The big question in their minds is will we survive? A big problem and event in this story is survival. Alika, Sulu, and Jamka needed shelter, food, and protection. For shelter they built a big igloo out of chuncks of ice. The igloo takes a whole day to build. For food they stood at seal holes picked out by Jamka. Alika and Sulu stood for hours sometimes without catching anything, but most of the time they did. Lastly, they needed protection from predators, especially naunk (polar bears). Their hard work finally paid off when they got rescued by hunters. It was a good thing too, because Sulu fell in the water near the end of their adventure on the ice floe. He got sick, but he got the care he needed when they got rescued. They all made it! My favorite scene in the book was when Alika, Sulu, and Jamka's homecoming. To me, this was a symbol of the courage and strength it took to overcome their challenges and live to tell the story. My favorite character in Ice Drift was Alika because at night when Sulu would ask questions about their home village of Nunatak, he would always try to answer them in the most positive way. What really stood out for me was how the author put lots of work making the characters so interesting, and how every minute of the book was so good you didn't want to put it down. I would highly recommend this book because it has a lot of adventure, survival, and the characters are fun. I would rate this book a nine for the same reasons. Ice Drift is a great book!
Ice Drift What if you were stranded on a huge ice floe for six months, fighting starvation and polar bears? Inuit brothers, Alika and Sulu, had this happen to them. They were hunting for seals when suddenly the ice started to shake, and then cracked. The ice floe was breaking free from land! The only thing they could do was watch themselves drifting away from everything they've ever know, toward the Greenland strait. They built a shelter quickly, but the hunt for seals, their main food, toke longer then they expected. Polar bears come and go, and energy was running out. Jamka, their lead sled dog that stayed faithfully with his owners, did all he could to keep the brothers safe. The sled that was once full of supplies had run out and was stripped to only a few scraps of wood. Then, when the sun came out, the ice floe began to shrink. Will they survive? I really enjoyed this book because it leaves suspense at the end of every chapter. My favorite part of the story is when the polar bear is about to attack Sulu, and Alika...well, you'll have to read the story to see what happens. Theodore Taylor writes so realistically that it's almost like you're on the ice floe with the brothers. I recommend this book for kids who like to read about survival and the strength between two brothers.
Ice Drift book Review online
I think ice drift would interest people that like non- fiction books because it is a book with lots of things that happen in real life. I also think it would interest people that like books with hunting or takes place in the Arctic because the book takes place in the Arctic and there is lots of hunting. I also think it is a good book for people who like adventures because Alika and Sulu get to have an adventure that some people don't even imagine having.
Theodore Taylor (the writer of ice drift) has written over fifty books and has won twenty three medals. The first book he wrote was The Magnificent Mitscher.
Ice drift is about two Inuit brothers Alika who is 14 and his brother Sulu who is 10. One day when they were seal hunting together a big chunk of ice they were on broke off and they started floating away. Alika and Sulu sent their dogs to get help. While they drifted south they caught seals and ran into bears. After Kussu, Alika and Sulks dad, broke his leg Maja, their mom, went to find Alika and Sulu by herself.
ICE DRIFT! "Ice Drift" is a story of two Inuit brothers who drift south on an ice floe. Many dangerous adventures happen to them like being attacked by a polar bear, worrying about their melting ice floe, falling in the water, and hunting for food. When the brothers go missing, their parents become very worried, so their mother goes looking for her sons. This book, "Ice Drift", is about family and survival.
Theodore Taylor, the author of "Ice Drift", has a great way of creating an awesome story that is inspired by another person's life experience. "Ice Drift" is detailed and exciting, especially the part when Alika had to climb the iceberg.
I think that "Ice Drift" is a great book because it teaches you to cooperate with each other, especially during hard times. If you can't cooperate with each other, you won't be able accomplish many things, or it can take you a long time to solve problems. In "Ice Drift", Sulu and Alika get stranded on an ice floe. They need to cooperate to survive. So if you would like to read a book about survival and cooperation, "Ice Drift" is the perfect book.
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