Ice Escape

by Beatrice Hale

It’s 1932, the Age of Flight, and twelve year old American boy, John, is flying around the
world in a plane piloted by his father. If they make it, they will be the first family to fly
around the world. But problems beset them, when their plane, a Sikorsky Amphibian, is
forced to crash land on an iceberg off the shores of Greenland. How will they survive. Will
help come in time?
Help is coming, from a Scottish deep sea fishing boat, out on the North Sea, pursuing the
catch. On the boat, is Colin, also twelve, a boy who has had join the crew to support his
family after his own father had died at sea. As the captain steers the boat through the perils
of Iceberg Alley, Colin learns his trade.
This is a story about planes and boats, about boys and families, about life on the high seas
and in the air of the 1930s, a period of adventure and hardship. It is inspired in partby a true
story—the 1932 adventures of the American Hutchinson Family, known as the Flying
Family, whose dream of circumnavigating the world by plane ended when they were forced
to crash land in the icebergs near Greenland. They and their crew were rescued by the crew
of the Scottish fishing vessel, The Lord Talbot.

84 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 18, 2015

Reviews

[Dion Perry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on a true story, Ice Escape is the story of a family who sought to fly around the world in a plane during the 1930s. The plane, unfortunately, crashes, following a bird strike, on the frozen coast of Greenland. There is a desperate rust to rescue them before it is too late.

Although this book was written for a YA audience, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is well written and full of suspense and drama. The point of view is from two twelve-year-old boys, but they were quite mature and not overly dramatic. The book would suit those of all ages who like adventure stories.

[Lexie Conyngham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This adventure is all the more interesting when you know it's based on real events in the aviation world of the 1930s. Good, exciting yarn for 8-12s or thereabouts.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great yarn for intermediate age kids, both boys and girls.There are two narrators John and Colin. Initially I found that a bit disorientating, until I worked out how the second narrator fitted into the story. John and his family (father, mother and sister) are making a flight in a flying boat, one that will set a record. They have another adult on board who's primarily in charge of the radio and so on.
The second narrator is Colin, a young Scottish lad whose fisherman father has recently been drowned at sea. Colin, being the oldest in the family - though he's not very old - has to become the income earner, and when we meet him he's signed up on a large fishing boat which is heading into Scandinavian waters for a long fishing trip.
Things don't go well on the flying adventure, and the subsequent rescue takes up most of the book. The story whizzes along at a great pace, and even though it's full of detail of life on both the plane and the boat, it never gets bogged down in these things.