Maata has spent her life on the Arctic tundra, in a world of snow and ice. Her people, the Inuit, live a blissfully nomadic life, carrying all of their possessions on sleds, traveling with the seasons and the game. But one day a huge ship steams into their bay and forces her people onto it. They are taken to a Canadian government settlement camp, where there are incredible electric boats and houses with glass windows...and also alcohol and violence of a kind the Inuit have never known. Though her brother rebels and runs away, Maata realizes that in order to thrive in this new world, she must adapt to this new way of life. As she learns to read and write in English, she begins to keep a journal as she struggles to retain her traditional ways. However, when she is chosen to join a mapping expedition to her beloved homeland, she finds that all of her skills -- both from her Inuit and western educations -- become equally invaluable when tragedy strikes.
In this remarkable story of courage, survival, and the power of language, Paul Sullivan brings the breathtakingly harsh Arctic landscape, and a breathtakingly determined girl, to life.