Race to the Frozen North: The Matthew Henson Story: 1

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Nevertheless Catherine Johnson packs a real punch in describing the beauty and danger of the landscape, the culture and friendship of the Inuit people and the hardship experienced by a Black American at this time. This is a really accessible text and it highlights the benefits of being kind to local people can be (in this case with the Inuits who went on to help Matthew as they taught him everything he knew and accompanied on the expedition). Race to the Frozen North is divided into three parts, detailing the important aspects of Matthew Henson's life leading up to the Arctic expedition in 1908.

Significant Explorers: Who Was Matthew Henson? KS1 History: Significant Explorers: Who Was Matthew Henson? KS1

To get everyone excited about the book club, you could share the video below of author Catherine Johnson reading an extract from the book. A little luck and a lot of hard work led to a life of adventure on the high seas and in the Arctic, but back home in America his achievements were ignored due to the colour of his skin. One star indicates the simplest version of this resource, and three stars indicates the most complex version of the resource.The book was very compelling and gripping which encouraged me to read further to find out what was next. The book explores difficult subjects almost dispassionately so for me, the emotional climax of the book is the moment of joy when he realises they have reached their goal: "My legs were so cold and worn out that I couldn't dance for joy but I was grinning and laughing and hugging Ootah. Her acclaimed novel Sawbones won the Young Quills Award for Historical Fiction, and her most recent book The Curious Tale of the Lady Caraboo, was nominated for the CILIP Carnegie Medal and the YA Book Prize. And over the space of a few days, Louise learns a lot – about what she wants in life and where she might fit in.

Authors Live Extra: Race to the Frozen North - The Matthew

Until Iestyn himself has his new job to worry about – and until, more unexpectedly, someone moves in on his feelings with such force that his world is turned upside down. This is a gripping tale of the life and adventures of the American explorer, Matthew Henson, of whom I'd never heard of before. Matthew is best known for being an early explorer and he is thought to have been the first person to reach the North Pole. A fantastic historical story about an ignored black US explorer Matthew Henson, who because of his race, didn't get the glory and medals for reaching the North Pole with Robert Peary.Catherine Johnson celebrates a hero of Arctic discovery whose story had been forgotten for many years largely because of the colour of his skin in this exciting telling of an important true story. A fascinating and thrilling fictionalised account of the life of Matthew Henson, the first African-American man to travel to the North Pole, from the Carnegie nominated author Catherine Johnson. I liked the characters and thought it had an excellent plot, with a sad and meaningful story behind it; the inequality shown towards black people in the USA in the early 1900s. Hero’s father has been taken away to be sent back to the slave plantation, and Hero has been forced to move in with her mother’s family in the East End of London. So when she decides to escape and rescue him, she’s ready to take on anyone who gets in her way…’Hero packs a punch!

Race to the Frozen North by Catherine Johnson, Katie Hickey

Matthew was a young black boy living just after slavery had been abolished but America still treated black people very badly and with very little respect because of the colour of their skin, from a very young age Matthew endured very bad treatments from his step mother, then when he ran away to New York, he was also treated very badly because he was black. The book has been designed to be suitable for readers aged 8 and above, but it may be necessary for you to review the content before recommending it to students if you think that the subject matter might be distressing. I would recommend this book to people slightly younger than me who wanted to know more about the severity of racism and how it affected people in the 19 th and 20 th century. When there’s an appropriate time to pause (for example, at the end of a sentence or paragraph) everyone else should help explain the answers to the questions. Catherine Johnson is doing an excellent job of breathing life into the lost stories of should-be-famous black people.She has also written for TV including Rough Crossings for BBC2 with Simon Schama and popular continuing drama Holby City on BBC1. Race to the Frozen North tells the tale of Matthew Henson - a young black child - who runs away from his violent stepmother and ends up becoming the first man to reach the North Pole. Join our community to get personalised book suggestions, extracts straight to your inbox, 10% off RRPs, and to change children’s lives. My story is based on the true life cobbler’s daughter from Devon who fooled the British Establishment in the early 19th century.