Wanted: Books From North of the 60th Parallel

Growing up, I was fascinated by the idea of the Arctic. I can remember trying out some of the strange place names of the North—Whitehorse and Yellowknife, Great Slave Lake, Tuktoyaktuk—and reading Jack London or reciting The Cremation of Sam McGee in school.

Now, finally, I’m headed “north of 60” (that is, beyond the 60th parallel that divides Canada’s provinces from our northern territories) to spend part of the summer in the Yukon, and it occurs to me: I know almost nothing about the North in the present day.

I’ve read some of the old classics, early tales of the frontier days and the Klondike gold rush and the odd, more modern book, too—I shared a few of my favorites in this post a while back. But whether through my own history-geek tendencies or an overwhelming publishing emphasis on the North’s early days, I realize that I’ve never read anything that deals purely (or even primarily) with the contemporary North.

So how about it? Anyone have a killer book recommendation for me, fiction or non, dealing with any aspect of life in Alaska or the Canadian North in the past couple of decades?

What’s your favorite Northern read?

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