This Newberry-award winning non-fiction book regarding Shackleton's failed journey to the South Pole in 1914 was gasp-inducing and absolutely riveting. Armstrong does a masterful job of uncovering this forgotten time in history that at it's happening was the headline news of the day. Sir Ernest Shackleton, a seasoned veteran of expeditions, and 27 men boarded the Endurance in a race to cross the continent of Antartica at the start of the first World War. Soon after reaching the continent, their ship became stuck in the ice, and the men spent months living within the stuck ship. After the ship sank, the men lived on the ice floes themselves, constantly fighting off attacking whales and boredom and fear. Shackleton and a few brave others leave 22 men behind to make a journey in a simple wooden boat back to the last land they remembered, without maps, compass, or any true idea where they were going. Nineteen months after they had first shipwrecked Shackleton returned to the ice flow where he had left his men, and all 27 men were rescued. The most heroic rescue and failed mission of it's time, this book is a literal piece of magic.
Armstrong uses journal entries, photos, and newspaper clippings to piece together the story of these brave men. The pictures alone are compelling and riveting, but when Armstrong adds her strong yet heartfelt words you literally feel as if you are stranded on the ice flow yourself with these men. The book is fairly long, but I couldn't put it down, even though I knew that everyone would be saved in the end. This book is vital for any classroom, especially as a non-fiction text that both boys and girls will enjoy and relish every moment of reading. ( )

I read the very good "Endurance" a few years back and became mildly obsessed with the Shackleton story. How I managed to overlook this great piece of YAL is somewhat of a surprise to me. It is as compelling as any of the work I've seen on the story (kind of hard to make this story not compelling) and because of the structure/limits of the medium it move along very rapidly and comes off as a real page-turning suspense story. ( )

Recommended Ages: Gr. 7-10

Plot Summary: True story of Shackleton's adventure when he and his crew get stuck on the ice outside of Antarctica in 1914.

Recurring Themes: survival, leadership, perseverance, boredom, getting along in tight and uncomfortable settings, preparing for a trip, finding food

Controversial Issues: alcohol (pg 18 toast: "To our sweethearts and our wives. May they never meet!"), violence (kill the cat and many dogs), gambling (dog races), profanity (pg 122 "Hell-ephan Island")

Personal Thoughts: While this book had a narrative arc found in fiction stories, it is still a non-fiction book. It is not an easy read, and there are a lot of characters to keep track of, but you keep reading to find out what will happen next. ( )

Describes the events of the 1914 Shackleton Antarctic expedition when, after being trapped in a frozen sea for nine months, their ship, Endurance, was finally crushed, forcing Shackleton and his men to make a very long and perilous journey across ice and stormy seas to reach inhabited land.

BOOK #5 - Best Books for Young Adults List

Armstrong, Jennifer (2000). Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World: The Extraordinary True Story of
Shackleton and the Endurance. New York: Crown Books for Young Readers.
(http://www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/booklist...)
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"Extraordinary" is a tepid adjective to describe the journey of the Endurance, captained by Ernest Shackleton in a journey that lasted from August 8, 1914, as Great Britain and Europe headed toward world war, to August 30, 1916, when the rest of his crew were rescued from Elephant Island. This real-life story represents a main protagonist along with his crew challenging themselves and nature in its most brutal in a struggle for life.

It is a story of perseverance in the face of unbelievable challenge. It is nature at its most sublime and most dangerous. Antarctica was pristeen, unexplored, and this drew Shackleton to it. He was an explorer to the core and daunting challenges were his lifeblood. However, his men always came first, and as Alfred Cheetham, third officer, remarked in Jennifer Armstrong's intense historical work, "Aye, he's a fine leader, he is....He don't run you into any danger if he can help it; but by gum! if there's danger, he goes first."

Shackleton planned to sail the Endurance to a landing onto the Antarctic continent and then cross the land mass at the bottom of the Earth to a waiting ship, the Aurora, on the other side. Shifting, unpredictable ice floes pinned the ship in an unremitting vice and eventually reduced it to kindling. The crew, fairly comfortable onboard the ship with their supplies, now had to strike out for an ocean passage to the nearest island, Elephant.

Armstrong's research is comprehensive and in-depth. Pulling from the many journals kept during this escape from the coldest and driest place on our planet, the author brings an authenticity and feel to the words on the page that truly convey the hardship suffered by the crew. Throughout, Shackleton and his captain, Frank Worsley, work as a team to bring the crew home and their words convey this mission. Though steadfast and unemotional at most times, Shackleton wrote, upon observing the last of the Endurance as she sank beneath the ice on November 21, 1915: "At 5 p.m. she went down by the head: the stern ... was the last to go under water. I cannot write about it."

The book is an inspiring tract to the will of men, who, working together under incredible duress, can survive. Information and details are accurate and the work of expedition photographer Frank Hurley is moving and breathtaking. The photos make one feel the joy (playing soccer on the snow), the cold (icicles on a crewman's moutstache), the imprisoned ship at night (illuminated by no less than 20 light flashes), the wildlife (two elephant seals challenging one another), the terrain (impressive mountains and valleys), the suffering (pulling a boat across the snow), and finally, the triumph (crew waving to the rescue ship on Elephant Island).

Told with the words of the crew, the author establishes a legitimacy that is unerring. This is their story and they are telling it. The real measure of this book is the ability of Armstrong to weave her facts about the voyage and the quotes from the journals. A marvelous achievement as the book reads persuasively and passionately. It is a read you cannot put down, particularly for the young adult reader.

This is history told from the perspective of the participants. You feel the cold, you can see the immense storms of the southern seas, the icebergs that come perilously close to their boats, the crevasses that halt their trek across the continent, but in the end, you feel the exhilaration of getting saved and returning home triumphant to England, still involved in World War I.

"Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World ..." by Jennifer Armstrong is a thrilling account of the most miraculous survival story in the annals of exploration. Its interest, its style, its scope, its photographs, its quotes, and its ringing authenticity make this a compelling and almost must read for the young adult reader interested in history packing a punch.
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