Crusoes of the Frozen North
1901
Three children sail into legend aboard the Valhalla, chasing adventure into waters where few vessels dare venture. Aralia, Pansy, and their cousin Tom have convinced their uncle and a rather peculiar professor to ferry them toward the frozen edges of the world, where polar ice stretches forever and polar bears patrol the shore. What begins as a daring expedition for treasure and thrills becomes a test of nerve when the Valhalla is wrecked and the children find themselves stranded on a remote Arctic island. There, among glaciers and endless night, they must draw on a courage they didn't know they possessed. They build shelters from salvage, battle storms that howl like angry gods, and make an unlikely friend in Flossy, a seal whose loyalty proves that wild creatures sometimes choose human companions. Stables writes with the sure hand of a naval man who has seen real hardship, yet his young heroes never lose their optimism or their faith that brains and pluck can overcome any odds. The book pulses with the peculiar magic of Victorian adventure fiction: danger is real but never fatal, hardship builds character, and the frozen wilderness becomes a playground for the imagination.
