Endurance

June 1, 2002
Gr 4-6-The author begins with the most important fact of this story-28 men were shipwrecked on a sea of ice, more than 800 miles away from help. The story of Ernest Shackleton and his crew is exciting and extraordinary, and no one has told it better than Jennifer Armstrong in Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World (Crown, 1998). Like Armstrong, White uses Frank Hurley's photographs, taken while the events were unfolding, but he never makes that clear. He also leaves out one of the most daring aspects of the crew's recovery: Shackleton, Captain Frank Worsley, and Second Officer Thomas Crean sliding down a mountain on South Georgia Island like tobogganers with no toboggan. Also, the shooting of the dogs is oversimplified. Caroline Alexander in The Endurance (Knopf, 1998) points out that the canines were shot over a period of time, at first to conserve food rations and later because they would not fit into the boats launched in hopes of sailing to South Georgia Island. This title serves as an introduction to an exciting story but should by no means be considered a full telling. Students would be better served by Armstrong's or Alexander's books, which tell the whole story.-Edith Ching, St. Albans School, Mt. St. Alban, Washington, DC

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