Marooned in the Arctic ─ The True Story of Ada Blackjack, the "Female Robinson Crusoe"

In 1921, four men ventured into the Arctic for a top-secret expedition: an attempt to claim uninhabited Wrangel Island in northern Siberia for Canada. With the men was a young Inuit woman named Ada Blackjack, who had signed on as cook and seamstress to earn money to care for her sick son. Conditions soon turned dire for the team when they were unable to kill enough game to survive. Three of the men tried to cross the frozen Chukchi Sea for help but were never seen again, leaving Ada with one remaining team member who soon died of scurvy. Determined to be reunited with her son, Ada learned to survive alone in the icy world by trapping foxes, catching seals, and avoiding polar bears. After she was finally rescued in August 1923, after two years total on the island, Ada became a celebrity, with newspapers calling her a real “female Robinson Crusoe.” The first young adult book about Blackjack’s remarkable story, Marooned in the Arctic includes sidebars on relevant topics of interest to teens, such as the uses of cats on ships, the phenomenon known as Arctic hysteria, and aspects of Inuit culture and beliefs. With excerpts from diaries, letters, and telegrams; historic photos; a map; source notes; and a bibliography; this is an indispensible resource for any young adventure lover, classroom, or library.

Peggy Caravantes is the author of The Many Faces of Josephine Baker and more than a dozen other books for middle grades and young adult readers. A former English and history teacher, middle school principal, and deputy school superintendent and frequent speaker at schools and various organizations, her books have been selected for the California Titles for Young Adults, Tri-State Books of Note, and Top Forty Young Adult Nonfiction Books lists.