Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World

Armstrong tells the story of Ernest Shackleton and his ill-fated Antarctic expedition during 1814-16. After their ship, Endurance, is unexpectedly locked into an ice field, the crew must survive temperatures as low as -100 F while stranded in the Antarctic through the winter. Despite unbelievable odds, Shackleton managed to get all of his men out alive.

I've always been firmly anchored to the sci-fi/fantasy community in the YA world, so was a bit apprehensive about reading any non-fiction (ie boring, boring, and more boring). This book, however, was as gripping as any fantasy epic I've read, with high stakes, fascinating characters, and a story so fantastic you'd be hard pressed to make it up–and yet it's all real! I read the entire thing from cover to cover in one sitting, flipping back and forth to the maps as the story unfolded just as I'd do for any fantasy novel. Armstrong's writing style is highly engaging, and the details she shares (not simply events, names and dates) give depth to a cast of extraordinary characters and the equally extraordinary conditions that they endured during their nearly two-year sojourn in the Antarctic Circle. Highly recommended.