In this riveting adventure set in the 13thcentury, 12-year-old Arthur –in hopes of claiming an inheritance in Wales -sets out from Norway on a ship bringing a polar bear as a gift from Norwegian King Haakon to England’s King Henry. Though the bear terrorizes the crew, Arthur forms a bond with it. A wonderful coming-of-age story based on the true tale of a polar bear who lived in London’s Tower Menagerie.
I really liked this book. I liked it because it plunges us right into the action at the beginning and then backed up a little. Very few books do that and this book did it particularly well. It’s a historical fiction book that I think younger readers will love because it is about a very little known bit of history.