Rover by Jackie French

I admit that the cover totally put me off. It looks like a boring historical fiction story about a young girl and her dog. The cover doesn't do justice to the spunk, determination, forthrightness, or curiosity of Hekja - her iceberg-smelling dog (Rover) is pretty great too. Readers will experience some of the humiliation and riling against conquest that a slave might feel. The historical details feel accurate (although I have little actual knowledge to judge this by beyond a vague recollection of Viking history and a visit to Norway's exhibit at Epcot). Freydis is a complex character, and the author references two sources from which she drew to create the fictionalized version of this unusual female - a Viking leader. The contact among different tribes and people lends insight to how some events might have transpired during exploration and conquests. I give it a surprised YAY.