Shackleton : : Antarctic Odyssey

Locations
Call Number: Teen Graphic Novel / Bertozzi, Nick, Teen Book / Comics & Graphic Novels / Nonfiction / General / Bertozzi, Nick
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Pittsfield Branch, Traverwood Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown Teen, 1st Floor 4-week checkout	Teen Graphic Novel / Bertozzi, Nick	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Pittsfield Teen Books 4-week checkout	Teen Book / Comics & Graphic Novels / Nonfiction / General / Bertozzi, Nick	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Traverwood Teen Books 4-week checkout	Teen Book / Comics & Graphic Novels / Nonfiction / General / Bertozzi, Nick	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Westgate Teen Books 4-week checkout	Teen Book / Comics & Graphic Novels / Nonfiction / General / Bertozzi, Nick	4-week checkout	Due 05-17-2024

Presents, in graphic novel format, the adventures of explorer Ernest Shackleton in the Antarctic.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

School Library Journal Review
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Summary / Annotation
Author Notes

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Compelling History of an Explorer of Antarctica submitted by aseagrav on August 22, 2014, 2:38pm There may not be any frontiers left on Earth to explore, though history will continue to reveal heroic stories of their exploration. Ernest Shackleton was one of last Antarctic explorers at a time when the continent was a new frontier. Nick Bertozzi’s Shackleton: Antarctic Odyssey accounts his 1914 attempt to trek across the continent after having two failed attempts to be among the first to reach the South Pole. The graphic novel (comic) is a historically accurate telling of the journey with some details “compressed” for dramatic effect. Reading about the grandness of the expedition and fascinating events that transpired in this form somehow make the events, both, more lucid, and fantastical. What happens to Shackleton and his large crew is unbelievable to someone who, like me, might consider a quick voyage across a parking lot a dangerous endeavor. The trans-arctic journey very quickly becomes difficult for the explorers to realize and they resort to basic survival. Despite the hardship experienced by Shackleton’s crew, reading the narrative gives the impression that, for the most part, the men maintain comradery and a mastery of their expertise. Cold, ice, water, and wind are the primary characters in the book and Sir Ernest is the antagonist.

Bertozzi doubles-down on his 2011 Lewis & Clark publication by continuing to make non-fiction comics about historic explorers. The books are exemplary comics and the subjects of the narratives are clearly treated with a historian’s respect. The cartoonist has been a favorite of mine since reading The Salon (2007), a work of historical fiction and an imaginative Modern art murder-mystery. In Shackleton, his lines are crisper and perhaps more minimal—a good development to depict Antarctica’s landscape. Bertozzi is excellent at supporting the tone, tempo and significance of what transpired with crafted page and panel compositions. For example, at the beginning of the book there are a few one-to-two-page summaries of previous Antarctic exploration and fine details about Shackleton’s expedition that could standalone as sort-of infographics. What makes reading larger-than-life history in a comic by someone incredibly adept at cartooning so compelling is the directness of the true events to the reader—like, a pen-and-ink wormhole into the past. Reading this book is a more immersive and enjoyable way to become more learned on the subjects of the “Heroic Age” of exploration, plus it is quality comic and can be enjoyed as a great example of that art.