Gr. 7-12. Given the upcoming exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History showcasing Sir Ernest Shackleton's 1914 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, this is certainly a timely book. And what a heroic story it tells. With a crew of scientists and sailors, the renowned British explorer set sail on the Endurance, hoping to land on Antarctica, then cross it by foot "from sea to sea." But fate cruelly intervened, with Shackleton and his men becoming trapped in the frozen Antarctic wasteland for 19 months. Using text filled with details about daily life, quotes (unfortunately not sourced), fascinating archival photos by one of the members of the expedition, and insight into elements of science with important bearing on the story (navigation techniques, different kinds of ice), Armstrong paints a vivid picture of the ordeal. The circumstances are riveting--extreme cold, dangerous ice, a horrific 800-mile open-boat journey--yet not a single man was lost. This crosses much of the same territory covered by Caroline Alexander's recent and more extensive adult book The Endurance , which is also accessible to a high-school audience. Although Armstrong's presentation is less visceral than Alexander's and gives less sense of personalities involved, it provides a more compact, somewhat clearer understanding of the sequence of events. Bibliography. (Reviewed December 1, 1998)¾: Stephanie Zvirin.