Northwind by Gary Paulsen

 256 pages, 3 hrs, 58 mins

"The story of a young person's battle to stay alive against the odds, where the high seas meet a coastal wilderness.

"When a deadly plague reaches the small fish camp where he lives, an orphan named Leif is forced to take to the water in a cedar canoe. He flees northward, following a wild, fjord-riven shore, navigating from one danger to the next, unsure of his destination. But the deeper into his journey he paddles, the closer he comes to his truest self as he connects to 'the heartbeat of the ocean . . . the pulse of the sea.'" --from the publisher

The story is a kind of journey of the soul, which is hauntingly beautiful considering it is Mr. Paulsen's last book. I give it three out of five stars.