Have You Read? #11

Sally Walker captured my attention in 2005 with the release of Secrets of a Civil War Submarine, an in-depth review of the H.L. Hunley. Almost a year later, that book won the Sibert Medal. In 2009, I eagerly read Written in Bone, an account of the forensic anthropology involved in determining facts about the people of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland. My youngest son and I are intrigued by her latest book, Frozen Secrets: Antarctica Revealed.

Each night as I read aloud, we discover astonishing things about the continent on the bottom of the earth. As often happens with things we learn, another source featured a story about it this week, cementing our knowledge. An NPR story talked about many of the things we have learned! The Robert Scott expedition reached the South Pole a disappointing second (Norwegian Roald Amundsen's expedition got there 35 days earlier) and died just 11 miles from their base camp. That camp is basically preserved just as it was, including all the food. The ice sheets have an average thickness of about 7,300 feet, yet at the thickest point, they are incredibly almost 3 miles deep! Ms. Walker writes of the many facts and accounts in such a manner that we absorb them with ease and appreciation.

As we hope for signs of spring, this book has made us grateful for our weather. This week in Antarctica, it has been around -75 degrees! We often see squirrels entering and leaving our treehouse, causing us to wonder if there are secrets to be revealed when we can climb up for a visit again. Will we find a well-preserved stash of acorns?