Book Review: The Polar Bear Explorers' Club by Alex Bell

This children’s fiction is mix of both genre adventure and fantasy. The story is staged against the freezing, snowy landscapes of Iceland. Well, the story indicates that the time is modern, however what time runs parallel or in the background isn’t clear.

The plot revolves around a girl called Stella. When she was a toddler she was picked up by Felix from the unexplored territory of a snowscape. He raised her, and now she is brave and loyal girl of twelve. Felix is a fairyologist and belongs to The Polar Bear Explorers’ Club but he has not gone on an expedition for over ten years. The reason behind it – he was raising her.

Felix is pink and Stella is as white as mountain snow. Because of her skin complexion, she looks different in her school. It becomes clear that her family roots are different than of her present community. Felix is not her real father. Where does she come from? Felix talks to fairies; through these fairies he chose the name for Stella. Stella wishes to be an explorer. She believes that people with three names (Stella Starflake Pearl) are destined to be explorer. She is now twelve; hence, she must go on an expedition. She insists to go on an expedition with her father who is about to go soon. As per the Club’s rule girls or women aren’t allowed. On the other hand, boys as young as eleven or twelve are going on expeditions without restrictions.

After much insistence, Felix takes her with him. She and a couple of more friends of her join the expedition. After sometime Stella and her friends cut off from the rest of the expedition. At this point their real adventure and exploration kick off. As they being lost advance, the novel begins offering non-stop adventure and high-value imagination. Their encounter with fantasy creatures like pygmy dinosaurs and carnivorous cabbages and unicorns make this book tightly packed with adventure and thrill. Will they manage to track down the other members of the expedition? Will Stella reach out to a place to find out origins?

Over all, The Polar Bear Explorers' Club is a tale of adventure, exploration, and friendship set in the coldest snowscapes of Iceland with Stella Starflake Pearl as a lead character. Readers will like the story of the fact that the protagonist is a brave, go-getter little girl Stella who is not a normal little girl after all, and there are fantasy elements to keep the pace maintained.

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