Paddlenorth

"A page-turner of an adventure in the Far North, at turns bone-chilling, mind-blowing, and exultant. …This is travel-writing at its best. ” –Janisse Ray, author of Ecology of a Cracker Childhood

A voyage of self-discovery and regeneration across one of the planet’s wildest and most rugged landscapes.

Paddlenorth tells the riveting story of Jennifer Kingsley’s fifty-four-day paddling adventure in the northern wilderness as she and her five companions battle raging winds, impenetrable sea ice, and treacherous rapids. Woven through this spellbinding narrative are the harrowing accounts of earlier explorers whose traces along the river warn us against romantic notions of the wild. Paddlenorth paints an indelible portrait of the spectacular northern landscape and eloquently explores what wilderness means to us.

Published in Partnership with the David Suzuki Institute.

Jennifer Kingsley holds a degree in biology and a Master of Fine Arts in Writing and has worked as a guide and naturalist for more than a decade. Her writing and radio stories have been featured nationally and internationally.

"There's a lot to like in this book--and a lot to be learned. If you're dreaming of mounting your own arctic river expedition, you'll be taking notes." -Jo Deurbrouck, author of Anything Worth Doing: A True Story of Adventure, Friendship and Tragedy on the Last of the West's Great Rivers

"A perilous journey through an unforgiving landscape. A wild adventure that sweeps you up in its wake. Jennifer Kingsley is a wicked paddler and a beautiful writer." -Andrew Westoll

"In the tradition of great exploration literature, Jennifer Kingsley examines both the wilderness she paddles through and the wilderness within. An engrossing story that illuminates the north and the nature of friendship." -Don Gillmor

"Kingsley goes in search of a place where she feels 'both small and strong,' and comes back with a fast-paced story of risk, reward and raw emotion. For fans of adventure literature, here is a wilder Wild." -J.B. MacKinnon

"A page-turner of an adventure in the Far North, at turns bone-chilling, mind-blowing, and exultant. This is travel-writing at its best." -Janisse Ray, author of Ecology of a Cracker Childhood

"The book is an emotional read, a sense of longing or yearning running throughout. Kingsley is a fine and vulnerable writer … She writes that she came north to feel 'both small and strong' and the cold sweeping plains of Nunavut do that for her." -Jill Frayne, Literary Review of Canada

"Transporting readers on a 52 day paddling trip up the Black River…Pack your long johns." -Mark Medley and Domini Clark, The Globe and Mail Travel Section

"Through raging winds, rapids and ice, Kingsley and five others test their physical endurance in an exploration unlike any before ." -Marie Waine, Ottawa Life Magazine

"In Paddlenorth, Kingsley reveals her aptitude in natural history interpretation as well as wilderness philosophy…Her prose is lean, raw and inspiring - the hallmarks of great travel writing." -Canoe and Kayak

"Words often fail when it comes to describing the grandeur of the Canadian Arctic, but Ottawa-based writer Kingsley succeeds beautifully in her ruminative memoir about a 54-day rowing trip through Nunavut that featured caribou, grizzlies, and treacherous rapids." -Backpacker Magazine

"The physical and emotional rawness of the trip is keenly felt in Kingsley's prose, leaving the reader to ponder the incredible toll such a journey would take.” -Shelf Awareness

"As Kingsley reflects upon her experience, she also explores contemporary dependence on communication technology and writes about wilderness as a reprieve from modernity.” -Quill and Quire

"Paddlenorth takes the reader on a journey that paints the Arctic as both spectacular and wild, tracing some of the pathways of earlier explorers.” -Above and Beyond, Canada's Arctic Journal

"A beautiful book.” -Alison Pick, 49th Shelf

"...constant danger from frigid, white water, hypothermia and the loss of a canoe, food stores or essential supplies…and Kingsley’s fine prose make for a gripping story.” -OTTAWA CITIZEN

"Kingsley, a Cottage Life contributor (and a wicked paddler—good to know!), describes her at-times perilous 54-day trip along Canada’s wild Back River." -Cottage Life

"This account of danger, hardship and triumph...makes for compulsive reading, aided by Kingsley's easy style." -Thestar.com

"Kingsley’s work really shines, capturing the human dynamics, the give and take, and the concessions each person needs to make to reach the journey’s end." -National Outdoor Book Awards