Great Northern? by Arthur Ransome

Great Northern?, by Arthur Ransome, is the final book in a long series, none of which I have yet read. I got this last book because it was the only title by this author in my library--I'll catch up with the other books as soon as I get caught up with other reading.

So, I was already supposed to know all the characters and the conventions of the series. These were: (1) children traveling to remote places with minimal adult supervision; (2) a mystery or adventure; (3) an environmental orientation; and (4) lessons woven through the text. Great Northern (I will leave off the question mark from now on) was very much a here and now book. There were mysteries and unknowns, but it was the job of the children to find the actual or "real" source of the unexplained.

Please note that there was no "series cystitis" with this book--I gradually gleaned the conventions of the series--I was not whacked over the head with updates from previous books as is so common with modern mystery series.

This book was quite sweet. Eight children and one adult were on a yachting trip. At least, it seamed like a yacht-sized vessel. It had both sails and an engine--and the children were completely proficient with both technologies from their lifetimes of adventures. The real hero of this book is Dick, one of the younger children who took on the role of ship's naturalist (in the best tradition of Darwin). Dick's obsession was birds. He had a life list and had researched the birds he was likely (and unlikely) to see on this boat trip to the Hebrides off of Scotland. He makes a sighting of a nesting pair of what he thinks (hence the question mark) are great northern divers, which are thought to never nest in the British Isles. The book involves the development of a threat to the birds and the heroic action of the children (and Dick in particular) to save them.

Great Northern started off slow...each of the children was laboriously introduced, as well as the adult chaperon and the boat itself. As the plot unfolded, the book sped up some and although it was still quite a slow read, I found myself engaged in the action and the setting. I felt acutely the threat to the birds and fully appreciated Dick's bravery. Great Northern shows that action need not be destructive to be exciting.

This book is very British, very cheerio and stiff upper lip and noblesse oblige. The children are to be fitted for life through productive activity in an idealized setting. Quaint. The native Scots were pretty well stereotyped as bagpipe playing buffoons.

The success of this book was not in the plotting or the setting or the themes or the characters--it was in the detailed descriptions that led to my feeling that I had been on a vacation too. I have the distinct feeling that I was there, that I rowed to a small island in the dead of night with a camera, that I led the villains on a merry chase away from the birds. I was as sorry as the children in the book when the book ended.

Sidebar: New Resource

The reading list that I have now been working on since late 2009 has gotten a boost from my library's joining with other local libraries to combine their collections electronically if not physically. Now when I search the catalog of my local Herbert Wescoat Memorial Library, I can call up and reserve books from a half dozen or more libraries. So, I have high hopes of actually reading every single book on the Eager Reader's list that I downloaded on June 10, 2009, according to the printout.

Just to review: I work for a youth development organization. We are always challenging the young adults to set lofty goals and then to chip away at them for the long haul. I decided I needed a challenge for myself so I would participate also in this process. I chose the project of reading a 12-page list of books from Eager Readers--their list entitled "The Best of the Best." And most of the books have been great. And I have been greatly enriched. I thought that I might never find some of the books...but now that fear is dissolved. Full speed ahead...