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The Middle of Everywhere

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

Noah Thorpe is spending the school term in Kangiqsualujjuaq, in Quebec's Far North, where his dad is an English teacher in the Inuit community.

Noah's not too keen about living in the middle of nowhere, but getting away from Montréal has one big advantage: he gets a break from the bully at his old school. But Noah learns that problems have a way of following you—no matter how far you travel. To the Inuit kids, Noah is a qallunaaq—a southerner, someone ignorant of the customs of the North. Noah thinks the Inuit have a strange way of looking at the world, plus they eat raw meat and seal blubber. Most have never left the George River area—and it doesn't even have its own doctor, let alone a McDonald's.

But Noah's views change when he goes winter camping and realizes he will have to learn a few lessons from his Inuit buddies if he wants to make it home.

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  • Reviews

    • School Library Journal

      November 1, 2009
      Gr 6-10-Montreal seems a lifetime away from George River, Quebec, where Noah has come to stay with his divorced father, a high school teacher. The 15-year-old is skeptical about spending an entire school term in this forbidding environment located at the Arctic tree line and accessible only by plane, but is willing to pay the price for some "dad time." Earning disdain from the locals for jogging in below-freezing temperatures and causing his father's beloved dog to be hit by a truck, Noah has a lot to learn about living in Kangiqsualujjuaq. Worried that he has upset his father and unsettled by the suspicion that he may be in a relationship with the town nurse, Noah accepts an invitation to get away for a winter campout with some classmates and teachers. Here, his survival skills are put to the test as he fails to stomach the taste of raw fish and loses six-year-old Etua in a blizzard. After retrieving classmate Joseph's severed finger after an accident and fending off a polar bear, Noah begins to realize the tenuous nature of life and death here, as well as the strength of character needed to become accepted in this close-knit culture. Although the survival-adventure details will engage reluctant readers, the story has elements of romance when Noah strives to impress an Inuit classmate. Less complicated is Noah's relationship with his father, which remains fairly steadfast throughout. Add this to survival/adventure collections."Vicki Reutter, Cazenovia High School, NY"

      Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Booklist

      November 15, 2009
      Grades 7-10 Noah must spend a semester in the far north of Quebec with a father he barely knows who teaches at an Inuit school where Noah is considered an outsider. Trying to fit inand to escape his dads houseNoah agrees to go on a winter camping trip with several of the students. But northern Quebec in the winter is a far cry from downtown Montreal, and Noah is not quite prepared for the challenges that he encounters in the wilderness. In events taking place over the course of just a few days, the harsh living conditions and culture of the Inuit abound. Yet the actions, thoughts, and fears portrayed are of any typical 15-year-old boy who finds himself in an atypical setting. Making friends with a bully, a first kiss, and an eventual reconciliation with his dad are unsurprising plot elements, but the commotion (storms, polar bears, and tragedy at camp) will keep readers attention.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)

Formats

  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • ATOS Level:4.1
  • Lexile® Measure:660
  • Interest Level:6-12(MG+)
  • Text Difficulty:2-3

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