Lost in the Stacks: North of Ordinary

Could you, at 12 years old, survive alone in a crude camp in the Alaskan wilderness? This isn’t a retelling of Julie of the Wolves, but a true story that happened to Sue Aikens. Her mother, an occasionally cruel and emotionally distant woman, abruptly took Aikens from their Chicago home and abandoned her in the wilderness. As shocking as this is, what may be even more surprising is that Aikens came to love not only Alaska’s beauty but also the solitude and freedom she found there.

After many years of a soul-crushing existence in the lower 48, Aikens longed to return to the freedom she once felt in the Alaskan wilderness. Leaving her family behind, she became the owner of the remote, dilapidated Kavik River Camp located smack dab in the Arctic tundra. It was a toss-up whether predators or weather would kill her first.

At the camp Aikens maintained all the infrastructure (think water lines and generators), kept the airstrip clear, fed guests and kept constant vigilance against unwelcome wildlife. Speaking of unwelcome wildlife, there is a scene with a grizzly bear so harrowing it’s like a horror movie come to life.

The beginning of Aikens’s memoir North of Ordinary may leave readers with more questions than answers. For example, how exactly does a 12-year-old raised in the suburbs of Chicago survive an Alaskan winter in a tent? But fans of the reality series Life Below Zero will love reading her compelling story about living life on her own terms. Readers who enjoy books set in Alaska or woman versus nature tales will also find a lot to appreciate in this vividly detailed adventure memoir.

If you'd like more nonfiction books that read like novels, sign up for our monthly nonfiction email newsletter. You'll find my picks of 12 fascinating books you might have missed.