Disastrous Wrangel Island Expedition

Description: "In 1921, Inupait seamstress Ada Blackjack joined a a group of four white men who wanted to establish a trading post on Wrangel Island in the freezing Arctic Ocean. The explorers were stranded on the island when their return ship was forced to turn back due to ice. Facing harsh conditions and dwindling food supplies, the men died one by one, but Ada remained. Find out how she alone managed to survive the disastrous expedition"--

Brief description: Dr. Katrina Phillips is a citizen of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe. She earned her BA and PhD in History from the University of Minnesota, and she teaches Native American history and the history of the American West at Macalester College.

Review Quotes: The lesser-known 1921 Wrangel Island Expedition is chronicled in this graphic novel, part of the Deadly Expeditions series (4 titles). The book begins by introducing its two key players: Ada Blackjack (a young Inuit single mother from Nome, Alaska) and Vilhjalmur Steffansson (an aging white explorer of Icelandic heritage). Steffansson was determined to establish a European colony on Wrangel Island, off the coast of Siberia. He assembled a five-man team of explorers, and Blackjack, desperate for money, joined them. While the writing is a bit stilted, the artwork makes the tale quite lively, especially once the expedition reaches the uninhabited island. Readers will become engrossed in the team's efforts to survive and be impressed with how Blackjack proves herself the most capable person there; indeed, she's the sole survivor. A map and additional information conclude.--Julia Smith "Booklist"