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Liked It1 of 1 members found this review helpful “I watched so intently-concentrated so hard-that there was no sofa, and no screen, no chime from the click, no traffic outside, no whine from the fridge or thump from the central heating. And it became real. So real. So real. So real. So real. So real. - The White Darkness, Geraldine...” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It “Parts were quite suspenseful, but overall the book was too long and definitely kind of boring in parts. I don't understand why this novel one the Printz Award.” see full review » see other reviews » |
Newest Reviews
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“Parts were quite suspenseful, but overall the book was too long and definitely kind of boring in parts. I don't understand why this novel one the Printz Award.”
Carol W wrote this review Monday, November 23 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“This book is about a girl who go to antarctic and figure out her uncle tricked her.”
Chaeyeon P wrote this review Thursday, November 19 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“An utterly strange and gripping book. Sym has a man in her life, a companion who loves and guides her all the way to the Antarctic with her uncle (not her actual uncle), only, this companion is Lawrence Oates, known as Titus. The Oates who walked out of Scott's tent on their doomed trek to the South Pole with the immortal words 'I may be gone some time'. From a first person perspective the horror of this tight plot and the closing net around Sym in the white desert is completely compelling.”
Jo Bennie wrote this review Monday, November 16 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean is a story about a young girl name Sym and her uncle Victor as they travel to Antarctica in search of a crater that supposedly holds the key to a new world. Little does Sym know, her uncle has an extravagant search planned. Sym plans to go to France for the weekend with her mother and her uncle. A cheer up gift that her uncle feels will benefit Sym seeing as she is having difficulty dealing with the death of her father. The trip starts off odd when Sym’s mother suddenly cannot find her passport as they board the train to France. The plot becomes even more twisted as Sym realizes that her uncle had her mother’s passport all along and now plans to take Sym on a vacation to Antarctica. All the while, Victor tells Sym that she needn’t call or contact her mother in any way to tell her of their plans. Victor claims that he will update Sym’s mother as to their whereabouts so that she wouldn’t have to worry about her mother being worried. As they arrive at their camp in Antarctica, Sym and Victor go along with the rest of the tourists as they sigh-see around the snow-laidened continent. They visit families of penguins and areas of Antarctica that one would expect a group of tourists to visit. The vacation takes a different turn however when the plane that was supposed to take the sick vacationers home suddenly sinks into the ice and bursts into flames. The plane crash seems as though it was an accident and no one takes the time to think about whether or not it was caused by anyone with an ulterior motive. The men and women visiting the camp are overcome with grief and are unaware that Victor has served them poisoned tea. At that point in time, the getaway is set in motion and Victor, Sym, and their two partners for the expedition, Sigurd and Bruch head out on their quest. Their travels teach them many things they did not know about each other that are shocking as well as expected.
Nell B wrote this review Thursday, November 12 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
I liked this book much more than I expected I would. Normally I don’t like books that have an element of science and exploration in them. I much prefer to read books, which contain simple messages about the world around us, and how that connects to daily life. However, when I finished reading this book I came to the conclusion that this story only seems as if it relates to huge themes about science. In reality, this book is no different from other books where the life of a family is followed.
I also enjoyed this book because it followed a young girl who comes into her own as the story develops. At the beginning of the story, Sym does not know whom she is as and individual. However, as the story progresses, Sym finds who she is as a person and becomes more secure with the individual she has become.
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“only read half”
Nia; H3 gave m3 11 roses, 10 were real 1 was fake, he told me "I'll love you 'till the last 1 dies." wrote this review Friday, October 23 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“ARGGG! This book was SO boring that I decided to put it down. It was such a snoozer that I didn't even read it at bedtime, it was so verbose and rambling. Very little character development and too much blah-dee-blah-blah. I can't believe this author won an award. I also can't imagine that a young adult could actually stick with this through almost 400 pages. I am so glad to turn this book back into the library. ”
Carmen M wrote this review Sunday, September 6 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“So far its great! The book is very creative.”
ghostgirl101 wrote this review Friday, September 4 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“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.”
Meaghan G wrote this review Monday, August 3 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“An adventure in Anarctica is not a setting or plot I would have expected to like, but I found this book and its main character very riveting. My male students liked it, too, although the protagonist is female.”
Laurie C wrote this review Thursday, July 30 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
