Iceberg Hermit by Arthur Roth  ISBN:  0590441124

We're currently reading this book together.  It's an interesting tale based on a true story. 

Allen Gordon (still in his teens) left Aberdeen, Scotland, on a whaling ship.  His boat ran into an iceberg, and he alone was the sole survivor.  Somehow, the boat goes down and is pushed up onto an ice ledge upside down.  At first Allen is despondent, but soon comes around and realizes that he can survive this ordeal.  He lives in the upside down boat eating whale meat, old biscuits, and rum.  He manages to kill a polar bear that is attacking him and then is adopted by the mother bear's cub.  This cub catches fish for the both of them.  During the summer after the wreck, he searches the horizon for the sails of a whaling ship, hoping for rescue.  Then he prepares for another lonely winter with his memories of his family and his girlfriend back in Aberdeen for company--not to mention his polar bear. 

That's all the farther we've gotten.  A big, old male polar bear has just shown up!  That's what we'll be reading about today.  Watch here for an update. 

Iceberg Hermit could probably read by a student in the 4th or 5th grade and up.  And it would be good to go along with a unit on the Arctic or whaling.  If you read this aloud, keep a globe or atlas handy since this book contains plenty of chances for North Atlantic geography lessons.  Of course, it would be a good story just for pleasure reading also. 

UPDATE:  We finished it!  My son couldn't stand to not read ahead!  Allan survives the polar bear attack.  He runs into a group of people living in the Arctic and lives with them for sometime.  He does make it back to Aberdeen, but I won't tell you how or what he finds out when he returns.  The book includes a chapter at the end discussing whether or not the story could be true since some folks back home couldn't believe the story.

You can buy your own copy of this book from Amazon.com at a discount!  There's also a few reviews for you to read at this link by others who have read The Iceberg Hermit.