This book is truly bizarre. The premise (and the villain in particular) is utterly unbelieveable, but the book is held together by its unusual narrator. Her voice is odd and stilted, but somehow it turns the slightly ridiculous plot into something better, more surrealistic and dreamlike. The descriptions of the Antarctic tundra are beautiful, as is McCaughrean's writing throughout. I'd be interested to see what she can do with more convincing and absorbing material. ( )

This is one of the most intellectual and well-written amazing teen books I've read in a long while. Sym travels with her Uncle to the South Pole and experiences the drama and madness of the whiteness that is the ice shelf first hand. Truly great writing a story that continually left me astounded with it's brilliance. I just can't say enough. This book was great. ( )

This was a very good book from a literary standpoint. It is however, not a "fun" read. It is a Printz award winner for the best book of the year for young adults, and deservedly so.

It is a tale of a teen from England who gets taken on a surprise trip to Antartica with her uncle. Symone's (Sym) story quickly turns into a survival tale, as she deals with an increasingly manic uncle.

What helps Sym get through is her imaginary relationship with a long dead artic explorer. This character is more real to her than most of the people she is traveling with.

Sym is very naive about what is acutally happening during this trip. She fails to question her "genius" uncle when the spontaneous trip to Paris turns into an Antartic expidition. She blindly accepts all the assurances of her uncle, even as they become more suspect to a reader. On one hand, Sym's cluelessness is irritating. On the other hand, as we learn more about how Sym's uncle has manipulated her all of her life with an increasingly disturbing series of lies, her ignorance and the choices she makes because of it become plausable.

Eventually, pulling on strength she didn't know she had, Sym opens her eyes to her uncle's maniacal plans. She is able to resist him, and more importantly, survive the Antarctic expidition.

In many ways, Sym's uncle is one of the most disturbing characters I've encountered in a long time. Sanity of all the characters is in question throughout the tale. It's a good read, but not one to pick up in a blue mood. ( )

Symone is a shy 14-year-old who is obsessed with the Antarctic and especially Titus Oates, a member of Scott's ill-fated expedition to the South Pole. When her uncle Victor whisks her away on a trip to Antarctica, she is thrilled but also wary of the other tourists. Soon, though, it becomes clear that it is her uncle Victor whom she should be wary of as things begin to go wrong and she finds out why he brought her to Antarctica.

This is a beautifully written novel, full of wonderful imagery and breath-taking adventure. Symone's relationship with Titus Oates (whom she talks with in her head) rings true. In fact, of all the other characters she encounters Titus seems the most "real" and even though Symone has an imaginary friend, she is clearly the sanest person in the story. As frightening as the harsh Antarctic environment is, it is nothing compared to the horror of a madman obsessed with an impossible dream.

Review by Ms. DuVall

gripping story of a young deaf girl who has a love of the Antarctic. She is taken by her uncle there and must fight for her life when he turns out to be mad. ( )

“The transporter room aboard the starship Enterprise is rubbish in comparison with a little child’s imagination.”

Sym’s fourteen now, but she feels the same way about imagination. After her father’s death, her imagination becomes an even more vigorous coping mechanism, and she brings to life in her mind her deceased Antarctic explorer hero, Captain Titus Oates.

When Sym tells her classmates that she’s happy imagining, they label her the mad girl–sad, frigid, and mad. Her response: “So that’s when I sealed myself inside. Laced up the tent, so to speak. Filled the locks with water so that they would freeze. That’s when Titus and I looked at each other and decided we could do without them, as long as we had each other”.

Sym’s got Titus for support but she’s also got her Uncle Victor and her mom. Her Uncle Victor is the one who got Sym hooked on all things Antarctic. When he surprises her with an Antarctic expedition (unbeknownst to her mother), she’s thrilled…at first.

From there, the plot darkens–survival is a constant battle and love and trust are concepts that were left behind in civilization. As Sym puts it, “I felt wiser now. Though sometimes a dose of enlightenment tastes a lot like swallowing bleach.” Sym receives many such doses of enlightenment from the moment she begins traveling with her Uncle, each dose hitting her viscerally and leaving her reeling and feeling utterly alone on the Ice Shelf. The fact that she continues to put one foot in front of the other as the mysteries of her life unravel and lay bear disturbing truths shows admirable strength of character.

The White Darkness stands out as a young adult novel that’s lyrically and inventively written and that crosses multiple genres–adventure, survival, thriller, mystery, psychological fiction, and coming of age. The setting has a prominent role as much of the novel’s action springboards off the physical circumstances. Sym’s internal journey and struggles parallel nicely with the external perils.

It’s a gripping story that includes some historical (mainly about former expeditions to the South Pole) and factual detail (did you know that penguins stink?) along the way. McCaughrean’s remarkable story was recently recognized as such when it won the 2008 Michael L. Printz Award.

Quote to ponder:

“It’s true: Everyone needs a reason to stay alive–someone who justifies your existence. Someone who loves you. Not beyond all reason. Just loves you. Even just shows an interest. Even someone who doesn’t exist, or isn’t yours. No, no! They don’t even have to love you! They just have to be there to love! Target for your arrows. Magnetic Pole to drag on your compass needle and stop it spinning and spinning and tell you where you’re heading and…someone to soak up all the yearning. That’s what I think. That’s what I deduce.”

For readers who enjoy survival stories a few other books to try include the following:

Nonfiction:

* The Coldest March: Scott’s Fatal Antarctic Expedition by Susan Solomon
* The Endurance: Shackleton’s Legendary Antarctic Expedition by Caroline Alexander
* Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer
* Left for Dead: A Young Man’s Search for Justice for the USS Indianapolis by Pete Nelson
* Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why by Laurence Gonzales; Fire Fighters: Stories of Survival from the Front Lines of Firefighting by Clint Willis
* In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick
* Survive: Stories of Castaways and Cannibals by Nate Hardcastle (includes fiction and non-fiction)

Fiction:

* Blizzard’s Wake by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
* Overboard by Elizabeth Fama
* Storm Catchers by Tim Bowler
* My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
* Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Alden Carter
* The Shark Callers by Eric Campbell
* A Girl Named Disaster by Nancy Farmer
* Wild Man Island by Will Hobbs (and other works by Hobbs)
* The Wreckers by Iain Lawrence (and other works by Lawrence)
* Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen
* Tomorrow When the War Began by John Marsden
* Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
* Hatchet by Gary Paulsen (and other works by Paulsen)
* Holes by Louis Sachar
* The Road by Cormac McCarthy (post-apocalyptic adult fiction) ( )

in a sentence or so: Sym is a bit socially awkward. that could be because she has an imaginary boyfriend that's been dead for 90 years. or that her main hobby/interest in life is all things Antarctica related. so when her uncle offers her an all expenses paid (and quite suspicious) trip to Antarctica - she's game.

Sym, short for Symone, is a 14 year old who is known by her classmates for her hearing aids and her imaginary boyfriend, Titus Oates. not exactly a social butterfly. often looking inward to hang out with Titus or to reflect with her own thoughts, her efforts to talk to others often involve awkward exchanges and incomplete sentences. Titus hasn't always been a part of Sym's life though. it wasn't until after her father's growing madness and eventual death that Titus became the most real person in her life. that's not to say her mom doesn't love her (she does) or that her Uncle Victor doesn't take care of them (he helps pay the bills).

Uncle Victor (not a real uncle, but the friends-of-the-parents type of uncle) is to be credited for Sym's obsession with Antarctica. it is his life goal to go to The Ice and to take Sym, his right hand girl. so when presented with the opportunity to travel to Antarctica, even though she suspects some weird things are going on, she becomes his traveling companion willingly and enthusiastically. their journey brings them into The Ice with several other travelers, including a Norwegian father and son combo that intrigues Uncle Victor. after mere days of being on The Ice, Sym is resisting suspcisions that Uncle Victor has alternative intentions for their time there. suspicions that turn out to be true.

knowing this was a Printz Award Winner, i had high expectations. i was not disappointed. the plot - past and present, is revealed one layer at a time. some revelations are confirmed suspicions, some were shocks to me. also, the deceit runs thick with these characters. pretty much every character has something to hide - including Sym and her imaginary friend. despite the surface description of Sym, she really grew on me. i viewed her less and less like a weirdo and more like a normal teen as i read on. one of the things i liked the most about Sym was her take on Sigurd, the son of the Norwegian father and son combo. there was no romantic pining, no girlish giggling, no gushy-ness. i really appreciated the refreshing look on relationships and how Sym handled the affections of her constant companion.

this book is bursting with archetypes. most notable are the epic journey through the arctic wilderness, the good natured hero we find in Sym, the deceit running rampant, and how this is most of all a coming of age story. we begin to see Sym more clearly as she sees herself and others more clearly. sometimes that clarity brings pain, sometimes it feels rewarding. overall, a really great read. the descriptions of the arctic were great, the emotions were real, and the writing was solid.

fave quotes: "I like to do my daydreaming when I'm awake; but I didn't say so because that would sound loony. Some nights I don't sleep at all - not from midnight til morning because I'm with Titus and I've got such good imagining going, and, the next day, flashes of delight go through my stomach like electricity - as if something real and marvelous has happened and I've just remembered. But if I admitted to that, Uncle Victor would say that's why I'm so slow witted - because I waste my time and energy daydreaming." (44)

"When the White Darkness sets in, it's such a kindness. All shadows disappear - the sky, the ground - leaving nothing but a milky, trembling nothingness. It's a sweet light, a pleasant light, like lying under a sheet on a summer morning: the presence of light without any of the usual complications - like being able to see. Perfect ignorance was like this, I remember: a feeling of enlightenment without ever quite grasping what was going on. They call it the White Darkness." (305)

fix er up: i felt like it ended a bit abruptly when compared with the journey-tone of the rest of the book. ( )

McCaughrean, G. (2007). The White Darkness. New York: HarperTempest.

ISBN: 0060890355

This Printz award winner was first published in England in 2005 by British author Geraldine McCaughrean. This beautiful and challenging read takes readers and fourteen-year-old Simone on an unexpected and arduous odyssey to Antarctica. The 373 page novel features wonderful characterizations, from the masterfully depicted insanity of one character, to the betrayal of a love interest and then to the well-researched portrayal of the historic figure of Captain Oates as an imagined friend and coping mechanism.

The novel features references to Greek myths, historic facts and some works of literature that McCaughrean has delved into before in her previous writings.

This book is challenging not only due to its use of vocabulary, but also because of the dangerous quest naïve Simone is recruited to make. About midway through my reading of the book, I found myself asking, “Is it over yet? Please let this end.” but at the same time, I did not want it to end.

Activities to do with the book:

Research projects on Antarctica, Antarctic explorers, paranoia, coping mechanisms, antibiotics, pollution, Symmes’s Theory etc.

Dramatic inquiry with visiting the Antarctic.

Favorite Quotes:

“I have been in love with Titus Oates for quote a while now—which is ridiculous, since he’s been dead for ninety years. But look at it this way. In ninety years I’ll be dead, too, and then the age difference won’t matter” (p. 1).

“I’m planning on being older in a year or two” (p. 363).

For more of my reviews, visit sjkessel.blogspot.com.

The plot of this book is too fantastic, and I hated all the characters. ( )

This had some beautiful descriptions of the Antarctic wilderness and would appeal to fans of both Gary Paulsen type survivor stories, and ordinary young adult readers. Sym was a delightful, unique protagonist and Titus Oates, her imaginary friend, was a fully developed character in his own right. I will definitely read more by this author. ( )

The White Darkness.(Young adult review)(Brief article)(Book review). Jan 22, 2007 v254 i4 p185(1)Publishers Weekly, 254, 4. p.185(1).

This book, recommended by many, was a slog for me, despite its being a young adult novel & therefore presumably an "easy" read. I was of two minds about it, probably because it often seemed like two different books with two different narrators. I liked and disliked elements of the ending - oddly, I found the unbelievable supernatural-type events more believable than the unbelievable mundane-type events. Perhaps this was because I could chalk them to to "unreliable narrator"-type things. The other unbelievable events were just too convenient.

The main character is a nerdy, almost autistic-seeming British 14-year-old girl named Symone (Sym for short) with a tragic family history, a bizarre pseudo-uncle, and a serious obsession with the Antarctic and the doomed men who attempted to explore it. In particular, Lawrence Oates, who is perhaps most famous for his last words, uttered as he crawled out of his tent to die, telling his comrades: "I am just going outside and may be some time." I believe Anne Fadiman wrote of him in an essay in Ex Libris on her obsession with polar explorers. For Sym, Oates is more real and more of a presence in her life than any living, breathing person. This creates an interesting sort of side story, in which Sym and Oates recall snippets of his life & of the polar expedition that led to his death. This portion of the book, along with the amazing & vivid descriptions of the Antarctic landscape, were engrossing and highly readable.

The second portion of the book, which consists of the actual plot of the book - in which Sym's crazy uncle spirits her off to Antarctica to fulfill some bizarre fantasy of his & the ensuing tale of their expedition - was considerably less engaging & seemed like it was narrated by a different person, even though Sym is the narrator throughout. There were secrets & twists throughout and a fair amount of adventure, but the thing that frustrated me most was Sym as a character. Although she ostensibly worships her uncle & thinks he's an inspired genius, I just couldn't understand how she was so blind to his totally inappropriate behavior. Very early on, it seems obvious to the reader that he is a rather sinister individual & based on what she discovers, Sym should at least be somewhat anxious even before they reach the Ice. But she is all too content to let things slide in a way that really did not strike me as believable. Perhaps this is attributable to her being young, shy, socially awkward, etc. but she's not supposed to be an idiot. It seemed to me like wilfull mis-perception being forced on her by the author to further the plot.

SERIOUS SPOILERS FOLLOW - YOU'VE BEEN WARNED

Even when her uncle is unmasked as basically the source of all evil in the world (he bankrupted Sym's family to further his bizarre fantasies, murdered her father when her father refused to go along with his schemes, caused Sym's partial deafness by poisoning her with massive doses of antibiotics when she was a child in order to make her germ-free so that she would not contaminate the hidden world he thought lay underneath the polar ice, kidnapped Sym, poisoned multiple people on the polar expedition in order to search for this hidden world, etc, etc....), Sym still doesn't really seem to get it.

I liked aspects of the ending series of events, especially as they related to Sym and Oates, even though the deus ex machina rescue was rather unbelievable. I didn't expect Sym to survive and part of me didn't want her to. It just seemed too convenient, but perhaps ending a young adult novel with the death of the main character in the frozen Antarctic would have been a bit too much. In her essay on polar explorers, Anne Fadiman wrote something along the lines of "Americans admire success; the English admire heroic failure." Perhaps I was hoping for an "English" ending. ( )

I wavered over whether to choose "I really liked it" or "It was amazing" for this one, but I went with the four stars in the end because it's such a dark book in so many ways that I'm not sure I'd want to read it again. On the other hand, I might just to pick up on all the details I'd missed.The gorgeous yet narrator-appropriate language in this book, the amount of research that must have gone into it about Antarctica, just staggers me. It is possibly the weirdest book I have read all year, and I'm quite sure it has a large number of people who hate it with a rabid passion just because of that, but I didn't find Symone difficult to care about or sympathize with even when she seemed almost impossibly strange and naive, and I definitely wanted to know what Uncle Victor was up to (the author does a very good job, I think, of giving you an ominous squirming feeling right from the beginning that something is Not Quite Right with this whole scenario), so I kept reading.Oh, yeah, and of course I was shipping Symone/Titus. If you don't buy into Titus then you are not going to like this book, but I could readily believe that Symone could retreat into her own head to the degree that Titus became real to her, and yet be intelligent and aware enough not to deep down TRULY believe in his existence (and there are ample clues to that throughout the book -- she really does know better).One possible flaw is that the circumstances in which Symone finds herself, and the characters who surround her, are almost too wildly eccentric to seem real -- and yet it seems like such a quintessentially British approach to storytelling, and I've seen it done so many times even with real people (Gerald Durrell's MY FAMILY AND OTHER ANIMALS comes to mind, or the works of James Herriot) that after a little while I gave up being skeptical and went with it. Your mileage may vary.Anyway, it's weird and brilliant and drives me to total despair when I think of my own attempt at writing a psychologically complex novel with an emotionally repressed heroine, so I have to say I admire it. ( )

Uris PZ7.M1286 W4 2005

Excellently written. This books may only have limited appeal to high school students. Partially because it is written with British idioms, but also because it takes place under unusual circumstances. Well-read students looking for a challenging book will appreciate this one.

Personally, I really appreciated how the author uncovered little pieces of the back story as the novel went on as the narrator herself discovered these things. And for some reason, I really got the whole Titus-in-her head thing. ( )

Susan says : White Darkness won the Printz award for 2007, and I definitely agree with this choice. Sym is 14 years old, and lives with her mother and her Uncle Victor, really her dead father’s business partner. Her Uncle decides to take them both to Paris, but when they go to get on the train, her mother’s passport has disappeared. The mother doesn’t go, beginning a whole string of events which lead to Sym and Victor on a trip to Anarctica, where Victor is searching for Symmes’ Hole – an opening to another underground world. This book is long, but very absorbing. This adventure is told through Sym’s eyes, so there is a lot that readers must read into the book at first – such as that the uncle is really crazy and a megalomaniac. The book has some kissing and touching, but it is pretty short and Sym is pretty detached from it. Her most beloved person is a voice in her ear – an explorer, Titus, who died in Antarctica. The scope of Victor’s plan, once it is exposed, really takes your breath away. I spent a lot of time reading books to guess the Printz this year, and I am pleased this is the one that won. ( )

It will take a certain kind of reader to enjoy this strange tale of a girl obsessed with Captain Oates, a member of a party that tried and failed to be the first to reach the South Pole. Through trickery by a trusted family friend, she ends up repeating his journey with near disastrous results. Compelling but odd. ( )

I wanted to like this book--at times it was fascinating--but for long periods of time it was just strange. It had the feeling of being set in an earlier time; yet, there are satellite phones and other modern conveniences. Sym is just so naive; I couldn't like her. Uncle Victor's obcession was so complete! So, OK, it's a Printz award winner--I bet when the book is discarded in 5 years it won't have been read 4 times. ( )

Poor Sym. She is a “sad weirdo who runs on nerd power.” Obsessed with Antarctica, she has a hard time relating to her peers. So when a family trip that was supposed to take them on a short jaunt through Paris turns into the adventure of a lifetime, Sym jumps at the chance and is off to The Ice. But things aren’t working out like they were supposed to. People are getting sick, and the plane meant to bring them home explodes… somehow. Soon, Sym is seeing more than she ever expected she would of Antarctica, whether or not she wanted to.
So many novels start out this way. With the weirdo kid who doesn’t fit in and then has a trial or adventure that forces them to change their outlook and “come of age.” Still, the rubric for this sort of book works and Sym kind of reminds me of Charlie from The Perks of Being a Wallflower, seeming to be slightly autistic in that speaking to others is awkward and uncomfortable but in her head, she is quite bright. Her inner monologue with a ghost is interesting and revealing of her personality. I saw a lot of the plot twists coming (the lying uncle, the con men, the “interested” cute boy), but perhaps after reading Dr. Franklin’s Island, maybe I was ruined for all suspense afterwards. ( )

My favourite character is Titus, the imaginary boyfriend. Although boyfriend isn't quite the right word. Mocked at school, detested by her now dead father, Sym's only sources of affection are her brilliant but flakey uncle and an Antarctic explorer she imagines to keep her company. And when her uncle takes her to Paris for the weekend, she needs that company more than she ever expected.
Actually, I'm wrong. My favourite character is the Antarctic - she is so wonderfully described that I could see the blues, and feel the sharp hooks in the ice.
Sym is an interesting girl, and her gradual understanding of what's going on, as well as the truth behind her life in the past captured my imagination.
I'd give this books to someone looking for a thriller, or interested in the history of Antarctic exploration. ( )

14-year-old Symone is awkward, partially deaf, obsessed with Antarctica, and converses with a long-dead Arctic explorer whom she has recreated as her imaginary friend. When Sym's "Uncle" Victor tricks her into accompanying him on a 3-week expedition to the Arctic, she has some misgivings, but they are very few and shortly overpowered by her immense desire to see the one place she has always wanted to go. She and Victor join up with the Pengwings tour group, comprised of pengiun lovers, bird watchers, adventurers, journalists, and con-artists. Sym even meets a boy, Sigurd, and while she is inhibited by her lack of communication skills, especially where members of the opposite sex are concered, they seem to get along right well, especially since Victor and Sigurd's father, Manfred, are always pushing them together. Soon, though, the happy vacation turns into a nigtmare, and Sym must combine her knowledge of the Ice with the courage she has never had much practice in using in order to survive the frozen wilderness.

This is a Printz Award winner for literary excellence, and while I agree that this book does exemplify YA literary excellence, it was not a favorite of mine. Someone else commented that reading it felt like slogging through Antarctica, and I couldn't agree more. I also felt frustration at Sym's naivety where Victor is concerned; even after she realizes what he is up to, she still blindly follows him, refusing to accept his betrayal or the obvious downward spiral his madness is leading to - and even when she accepts all that he is, she still defends him.

I do think this would be a good book to read in a class, where discussions could take place. I don't think this is a pleasure read, and highly doubtful I will ever read again - but I'm not sorry I read it, by any means.

Great read for young adults and adults. ( )

This one is a stunner. 14-year-old partly deaf, awkward Sym is taken by her "uncle" Victor on a sudden journey to Antarctica, a place that has always held fascination for both Sym and Victor. In fact, Sym's rather vivid "imaginary friend" is Titus Oates, who accompanied Scott's ill-fated expedition to the South Pole and who died there at age 32. But there are signs from the beginning that this trip is not exactly on the up-and-up - Sym is aware of this but never seems to get up the energy or gumption to question her uncle too intently. As Victor's mania becomes more and more evident and their adventure becomes more extreme and dangerous, Sym reluctantly rises to the occasion (with the help of Titus), showing all the pluck and ingenuity she never thought she'd possess. The reader lives in her head the whole way (along with Titus), and it's a tribute to the author that it's a remarkable voyage all the way. ( )

A compelling mix of history, mystery and imagination. 14yo Symone goes on holiday with her uncle, and ends up in Antarctica. Her only trusted friend is an imaginary one--the ghost of explorer Laurence "Titus" Oates who died on Scott's mission 90 years ago. Things go from bad to worse as Symone is forced to contront ugly truths about her past and her present danger. Well written, exciting, and informative. ( )