Winner of the 2008 Printz Award

The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughran

Winner of the 2008 Printz Award

Symone (Sym) is hearing impaired and lost her father when she was young. Her father's business partner "Uncle" Victor took care of the funeral arrangements, attended to their family business, and helped her and her mom financially. Sym was convinced that her "Uncle" Victor loved her more than her father and believed she was a total disappointment to her father because of her impairment. Well, that is what Victor led her to believe. She became obsessed with the Antarctic ever since her "Uncle" Victor introduced her to books and stories about it. She even gains an imaginary friend named Captain Lawrence Oates (Titus), an Army officer who went in an expedition to the South Pole with Captain Robert Falcon Scott in 1911. She becomes so infatuated with Titus that she confides all her hopes and fears to him. This mental relationship plays an important role in the story. "Uncle" Victor takes Sym to her dream trip to the Antarctic but it quickly changes from a dream to a nightmare. Along this adventurous journey, Sym will discover that nothing is really what it seems to be. Along with love comes deception and Sym will not only be heartbroken by a young man but also by her "Uncle" Victor whom she considered a father figure.

This story started interesting and contained great detail in describing one of nature's beauty. However, it started getting a little confusing towards the end of the story. I had to reread a couple of times, trying to figure out what was going on. I was shocked by the ending and was kept on the edge of my seat, which made me continue reading trying to find out what was going to happen next. However, I think there was too much dialogue between Sym and her imaginary friend Titus. This story deals with adventure, love, deception, obsession, and the quest for survival.