Roman Acleaf

The Tundra Diary: a Didactic Alaskan Novel Roman Acleaf

Publisher Marketing: Ken Shosatori is tired of teaching in his overcrowded and underfunded suburban Seattle school district. As a deeply intellectual Afghanistan veteran and admirer of Thoreau, he heads north to Alaska and chases the promised teasures of a smaller class size, higher salary, once-in-a-lifetime adventure, and frontier mystique. He expects that his greatest challenges will be the geographic isolation and the icy climate, for everything he has been told about the tundra is that it is filled with hearty and caring people who live close to and in harmony with the land and one another as part of their traditional heritage. Three plane rides and a few memorable observations later he arrives on the shores of the Arctic Ocean and, so far, everything is as promised and according to plan. Then the truth comes out. He soon experiences first-hand, the things that weren't in the brochure. He applies the lessons he has learned over his lifetime as an athlete, outdoorsman, Marine, educator, amateur musician, avid reader, and critical thinker to innovate and adapt a new strategy with which to decipher and negotiate the all-encompassing morass that is compounded by the cold, dark, and remote landscape. With the support and advice of an Alaska State Trooper, an Inupiat Elder, and a few dedicated coworkers he learns about and reflects on the challenges faced by the Native population, as well as himself.