A Suffragist's Guide to the Antarctic

November 6, 2023
Lai paints a brutal portrait of Antarctica’s unforgiving landscape via the detailed journal entries of a white-cued 18-year-old from Pennsylvania who longs to prove that she is as capable as any man in this insightful 1914-set historical debut. Determined not to end up married to a controlling man like her mother, Clara Ketterling-Dunbar joins the suffragist movement in London. When WWI puts their fight on the back burner, Clara lies about her age, nationality, and past to impulsively enlist in an ill-fated, all-male expedition to Antarctica. After their ship sinks, leaving the crew of 28 stranded on ice floes, Clara resolves to show that she can do more for their survival efforts than sew and cut hair—even if it means making enemies. Alongside her keen observations, Clara provides historical and scientific introspection into how to survive not just in Antarctica, but as an independent woman in the early 20th century. Though her observations about men (“A man will fill any dead space, if only just to hear themselves talk out loud”) are ironically similar to the female stereotypes addressed in the text that she hopes to disprove, Clara is a defiant and resilient heroine who immediately endears herself to both the reader and her motley crew. As tension mounts and survival becomes uncertain, Lai neatly underscores the courage it took—and still takes—to be a woman in a male-dominated world. Ages 12–up.

Starred review from December 1, 2023
A young suffragist writes a real-time log of her adventures in Antarctica. Lai takes Sir Ernest Shackleton's famous 1914 expedition to Antarctica and adds a twist: How would adding a woman to the crew have affected the story? In her version, 18-year-old white American girl Clara Ketterling-Dunbar claims to be 21 and Canadian, since the Brits aren't happy that America hasn't yet joined the Great War. As Clara begins her story, their ship, the Resolute, has sunk after being crushed by pack ice. The 28 stranded crew members need to work together harmoniously in order to have any chance of survival. With her heart still tied to the women's suffrage movement she fought for, Clara bristles at being asked to make biscuits and mend clothing. But while she abandoned her mother as well as her American and British pro-suffrage colleagues for falling short of her ideals, she can't abandon her crewmates. When one she refers to as the Villain attempts to rape her, Clara fights him off, badly injuring him and causing a rift in the party. And yet they must try to survive. As a character, Clara feels modern but not anachronistic; she's wrestling with social issues that continue to resonate today, and her strong voice propels readers through an adventure as compelling as Shackleton's own to a heartfelt, realistic conclusion. Polar exploration transforms a young woman in unexpected and interesting ways in this original, evocative tale. (maps, author's note) (Historical fiction. 12-18)

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February 1, 2024

Gr 9 Up-Eighteen-year-old American suffragist Clara Ketterling-Dunbar is on the adventure of a lifetime on an Antarctic Expedition in 1914. As the only woman on a crew of 28 members of The Resolute, she has to work as hard or harder than the men to prove her place on board. The crew of the British ship believes her to be a 21-year-old Canadian (she pretends because British sentiment isn't favorable of America's lack of women's suffrage and wartime assistance), and her adventure changes into a challenge when The Resolute is crushed by ice and sunk in the sea. The expedition becomes a survival situation as the crew camp in tents, stranded on ice floes. Clara has had lots of adventure in her lifetime. Growing up in the early 1900s she had the opportunity to learn about the outdoors, riding, and hunting with her mother. She also has recently traveled overseas to fight with the Women's Social and Political Union in London. When World War I broke out, she signed up for an Antarctic trip, keeping a journal for readers to learn about her adventures. VERDICT A great historical adventure for young adults, told in journal entries. This book would appeal to readers looking for a strong female role model and would be a welcome libraries serving teens.-Nancy Hawkins

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