So what’s in order is another feel-good installment in this series in which parents leave their adolescent offspring more or less unattended for a period of time allowing them to spend their school holidays faffing around on boats. But, plot twist, this time it is winter! The original six, the Swallows and Amazons, are once again joined by the D and D from the previous volume (alas, they do not have a team name yet, since they do not have a boat).
So all the children are boarded up for the holidays, while the parents have gone off doing parent things, with a pair of farm families who are located at either side of the lake. First order of business, of course, is to teach the newbies both Morse Code and semaphore signals, which of course the children learn in a flash second. Now they can signal across the lake to each other to arrange the activities for the day! Who needs telephones. The ultimate goal this time it to take the North Pole (a vacation house at the far end of the lake with a prominent pole). But it is not a matter of just sailing there, as in this exceptionally cold winter, the lake is freezing over, so sleds are prepared, and D and D, who live near a pond that frequently freezes over, teach the rest of the lot how to skate.
But just as the final preparations are put in place, fate strikes. Captain Nancy, the leader of the pack, is stricken with the mumps. Not only is she laid up in bed, she is in strict quarantine, and the rest are on a watch list. Holiday extentions for all! Now they can plan for a major expedition.
I love how, although they may be children, there is nothing childish about their adventures. They honest to God challenge the elements and all other dangers. And each participant has their own strength and part to play.
