How do you go to the bathroom while camping in Antarctica? Very quickly! In a fascinating volume, author Lucy Jane Bledsoe shares her experiences and adventures as a visitor with the Antarctic Artists and Writers Program. Bledsoe addresses readers as if they are preparing for their own Antarctic expedition. Her enthusiastic narrative combines information about the continent’s geography, wildlife, and human inhabitants (scientists and researchers and those in support jobs at the research stations where they are based ) with her own personal experiences and brief, boxed facts that highlight more about the history of the continent and the challenges of survival there. These three distinctive elements of the narrative are distinguished from one another by typeface and design, and are accompanied by occasional black-and-white line drawings and photographs. Bledsoe’s excitement for and appreciation of Antarctica infuses her writing, but so, too, does her respect for the power of nature in that place. (Ages 9–14)

During her exploratory sojourns to Antarctica, Lucy Jane Bledsoe witnessed many amazing sights, such as mummified seals, and picked up more than a few survival tactics; for example, if you should find yourself in danger of falling into a cravasse, you should stretch out your body to avoid dropping farther. Part memoir, part survival tips, part curiosities. Lucy Jane Bledsoe's book lets readers vicariously experince the author's adventures while on exploration in Antarctica.