NorthwindNorthwind

When sickness decimates his fishing camp, an orphan named Leif flees north in a cedar canoe, journeying along a brutal but beautiful coastline.
"Set along a rugged coastline centuries ago, Northwind does for the sea what Hatchet--which has sold more than thirteen million copies worldwide-- does for the woods, as it relates the story of a young person's battle to stay alive against the odds. 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 dugout canoe. He flees northward, following a wild, fjord-riven shore, thrown from one danger to the next, unsure of his destination. Yet the deeper into his journey he paddles, the closer Leif comes to his truest self as he connects to 'the heartbeat of the ocean...the pulse of the sea.' With hints of Nordic mythology and an irresistible narrative pull, Northwind--completed shortly before the author's death--is Gary Paulsen at his captivating, adventuresome best." -- Book jacket