Trial By Ice Author:K. M. Kostyal Grade 5-8-One of several recent titles about the explorer and his ill-fated expedition to Antarctica, this generously illustrated volume focuses on the man rather than the expedition. Shackleton's life is traced from his early childhood to his death en route to another Antarctic voyage. Readers learn how he went to sea at an early age, and how h... more »is hunger for adventure and interest in exploring developed. It is not surprising that the author devotes a great deal of attention to Shackleton's Endurance expedition. Unfortunately, that amazing story has already been told several times in more compelling narratives, most notably in Jennifer Armstrong's Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World (Crown, 1998). The stunning, archival black-and-white photographs are this book's strength, but there is little new information here. Libraries already owning other books on Shackleton and the Endurance may also want to have this one as a starting place for readers. It tells enough about the man and his adventures to whet the appetite for deeper reading on the subject.
Edward Sullivan, New York Public Library
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