Black Whitness: Admiral Byrd Alone in the Antarctic

A seasoned writer, Robert Burleigh's interpretation of Admiral Byrd's confrontation with the Antarctic night is outstanding for its intended audience of 9-12 year olds, & for others including adults. The illustrations by Walter Krudop give strong suggestions of the abyssmal 'aloneness' & greatly enhance the story-telling. There must also have been an especially clever editor. Admiral Byrd is delivered to the prepared outpost & lowers himself to a shack buried in the snow. This is reminiscent of native Americans going down a ladder into a kiva. Byrd's cave also will become a sanctuary of ritual. Byrd is soon writing poetically of his surroundings. Do his writings speak of those who labored to build & equip the space now containing tons of food & fuel? Outside there are weather instruments set up, from which to gather scientific information, justifying (perhaps) Byrd's personal experiment. Byrd fights against a blizzard that takes him unawares, and against carbon monoxide fumes that sicken him almost to death. He comes to the point of being unable to stand, and crawls, still struggling to manage his contact by hand-cranked radio. Does he hope that the men at Little America will perceive his illness & depression? The narrative is interspersed with brief journal entries: The cold is so intense & terrible that outdoors he can hear his breath freeze as he exhales! "20 days colder than -60 degrees." March drags on into August. He fashions a kite, douses the tail with gasoline & watches as it swooshes to the sky, blazing - - up to a hundred feet to be seen for miles, but for five minutes only. His desperation is acute, but then is answered by the dim light of an approaching tractor. Three members of the crew on a mercy mission! He collapses from the effect of accumulated terrors. As light slowly returns to the bottom of the world, he is nurtured until he can be flown back to base camp. This book tells a challenging adventure story, especially for today's youth. The artist captured the harsh conditions and clearly portrays Byrd as a man humbled by his experiences - certainly he is less arrogant than when he stepped off the "City of New York" upon arrival at the frozen continent. The early 30s were the days when Abercrombie & Fitch outfitted 'real' men, and pemmican & Horlick's malted milk tablets were menu highlights in Antarctica. Robert Burleigh has achieved an honest telling of this story of courage. REVIEWER mcHAIKU, who "dressed up" long ago in seal mitts & wolverine hooded top, will always thrill to stories of polar exploration.

Burleigh recounts a brief but traumatic period of RichardByrd's life based upon Byrd's diary and book "Alone." Foralmost six months, Byrd observed and recorded the Antartic night, while based in a manmade tunnel where temperatures could drop to 60 degrees below zero. What could the man have been thinking about? The intense cold and dark are nicely illustrated by Krudop's somber colors. A good initial introduction, for the younger reader, to the life of Admiral Byrd.