Slave Girl by Jackie French, (HarperCollins 2005)
Whilst writing an eCPD course on historical fiction for the Historical Association I came across this story by an Australian author. First published in 2005 it was published here in the UK in 2011. It adds to the number of good stories set in the Viking period that would make a great basis for genre study, perhaps in Year 6?
This is the story of Hekja, a Scottish child captured and enslaved by Viking raiders and taken to Vinland viaGreenland. She is accompanied by her dog, Snarf. Here the Viking voyagers encounter icebergs for the first time.
Something loomed beside them, tall as a hill and gleaming, even though there was no sun to light it. The men scrambled to their rowlocks and heaved with their whole bodies at the oars.
It was as though the iceberg breathed out cold. The air about it was thick with cold. The hair on Hekja’s neck rose at its strangeness, gliding so silently through the water.
To read more visit the publishers web site at http://www.harpercollins.co.uk/Titles/66224/slave-girl-jackie-french-9780007216598 (accessed 6/1/2012)
