Teen Fiction

Surviving Antarctica: Reality TV 2083

Name: Surviving Antarctica: Reality TV 2083
Author: Andrea White
ISBN: 9780060554569

by Andrea White

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Overview

The wind and snow blow so hard, you can't see your hand in front of your face. Your heating fuel is nearly gone, and so is your food. How do you survive?

Five fourteen–year–olds face this desperate situation on a deadly journey in Antarctica. It is 2083. They are contes–tants on a reality TV show, Antarctic Survivor, which is set up to re–create Robert F. Scott's 1912 doomed attempt to be the first to reach the South Pole.

But in 2083 reality TV is not just an act. Contestants literally relive – or die during – the simulations of events. Robert Scott and his team were experienced explorers and scientists, but their attempt to reach the Pole proved fatal. What chance does the Antarctic Survivor team have?

This action–packed, riveting adventure – full of fascinating direct quotes from Scott's journals and other accounts of the expedition – is both a heart–wrenching drama from the past and a disquieting glimpse into the future.

Ages 12+

In the year 2083, five fourteen-year-olds who were deprived by chance of the opportunity to continue their educations reenact Scott's 1910-1913 expedition to the South Pole as contestants on a reality television show, secretly aided by a Department of Entertainment employee.

Synopsis

The wind and snow blow so hard, you can't see your hand in front of your face. Your heating fuel is nearly gone, and so is your food. How do you survive?

Ages 12+

Publishers Weekly

Politics and pop culture collide in White's provocative debut novel, a dystopian view of America in which 14-year-olds must win a game of chance called "Toss" in order to continue their education, and environmental disasters and overpopulation have scarred the country. The Department of Entertainment controls all television, with the goal of attaining 100% viewership-the resulting complacency keeps down the nation's crime rate. Stephen Michael, now 17, lost his Toss, but he has managed to land a job editing the latest incarnation of the popular Historical Survivor series (a reality show), in which five 14-year-olds will retrace the steps of Robert F. Scott's failed 1912 expedition to reach the South Pole. Robert, Billy, Polly, Andrew and Grace are chosen for their specific abilities: Polly for her photographic memory, for instance, and Andrew for his tolerance of the cold. Thanks to his position, Stephen is able to communicate with Andrew and tries to help the children on their trek (the Secretary of Entertainment has planned several "calamities" to make for better TV). White paints a vision of a government-driven, TV-obsessed future that hits close to home, and also interweaves facts about Scott's mission from primary sources (through Polly's research). This page-turning adventure may well pry a few of today's couch potatoes away from the TV. Ages 12-up. (Apr.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

About the Author, Andrea White

Andrea White was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, but has spent most of her life in Houston, Texas. She received both undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Texas. She has had several short stories published; this is her first book.

Besides writing, Ms. White is a community volunteer and education activist. She is married to Bill White, formerly an energy official in the Clinton administration and now the mayor of Houston. The Whites have three children: Will, Elena, and Stephen. They love to hike and camp, and although they've had some hair-raising adventures, says Ms. White, all were tame compared to what happens in Surviving Antarctica.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly

KLIATT

White's novel predicts the future of television as the source for all edu-tainment headed by the government's Secretary of Entertainment. In 2083, a toss of the dice determines which 14-year-olds win scholarships to continue their education and which will have to go out into the world of work to earn a meager living. For those who lose the toss, there is little else to do, unless selected to be a participant on one of the many reality shows where large cash prizes barely offset a year's tuition. The newest installment of the Historical Survivor series is a reenactment of Robert F. Scott's 1912 expedition to the South Pole by five 14-year-old kids. Polly, Billy, Andrew, Robert and Grace are selected because each of them brings a special talent to the show. Polly has a photographic memory. Grace is an Inupiat Eskimo. Andrew has remarkable navigation skills. Robert has excellent leadership and survival skills. Billy is the only one with serious snow and ice experience. Or is he? As the teens head out to Antarctica to start their expedition with the same equipment Scott's team used, they are monitored by the night shift in the Department of Entertainment. Steve has just been transferred to this shift, and the Antarctic Survivor kids have become his special project. Of course, no one on the original expedition survived, and whether or not these five contestants will make it to the Pole alive is just what sends ratings through the roof. Peppered with excerpts from actual historical documents, this novel marries historical and futuristic fiction in a thrilling page-turner. KLIATT Codes: JS—Recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2005, HarperCollins, 325p.,Ages 12 to 18.
—Michele Winship

KLIATT - Michele Winship

To quote the review of the hardcover in KLIATT, May 2005: White's novel predicts the future of television as the source for all edu-tainment headed by the government's Secretary of Entertainment. In 2083, a toss of the dice determines which 14-year-olds win scholarships to continue their education and which will have to go out into the world of work to earn a meager living. For those who lose the toss, there is little else to do, unless selected to be a participant on one of the many reality shows where large cash prizes barely offset a year's tuition. The newest installment of the Historical Survivor series is a reenactment of Robert F. Scott's 1912 expedition to the South Pole by five 14-year-old kids. Polly, Billy, Andrew, Robert and Grace are selected because each of them brings a special talent to the show. Polly has a photographic memory. Grace is an Inupiat Eskimo. Andrew has remarkable navigation skills. Robert has excellent leadership and survival skills. Billy is the only one with serious snow and ice experience. Or is he? As the teens head out to Antarctica to start their expedition with the same equipment Scott's team used, they are monitored by the night shift in the Department of Entertainment. Steve has just been transferred to this shift, and the Antarctic Survivor kids have become his special project. Of course, no one on the original expedition survived, and whether or not these five contestants will make it to the Pole alive is just what sends ratings through the roof. Peppered with excerpts from actual historical documents, this novel marries historical and futuristic fiction in a thrilling page-turner.

School Library Journal

Gr 6-10-In 2083, all education in the United States is conducted through television. Shows re-creating historical events like the Battle of the Alamo are used to teach history, and also to give losers in the educational dice roll a chance to earn fame and money. The Secretary of Entertainment, worried about falling ratings, has come up with a splendid idea-re-create Robert F. Scott's 1912 expedition to the South Pole, using 14-year-old kids, most of whom have never even experienced snow. And make sure they are completely isolated by implanting tiny digital cameras directly into their corneas, thus avoiding the need for pesky camera crews who might interfere with the drama. The five participants are the usual band of misfits, including Grace, an I-upiat Eskimo transplanted to Arizona after Alaska is turned into a nuclear waste dump, and Billy, who desperately wants to be voted MVP, but hides snack food from his starving companions. There's also Polly, who has an amazing memory and a surprising capacity for leadership; Robert, great with engines and sheer determination; and Andrew, searching for his special talent and finding unexpected depths of courage. Back in the television studio, a few brave employees surreptitiously help the kids and try to figure out a way to stop the madness. Brisk action, interesting characters, and intriguing (sometimes gruesome) details make this a compelling story, while television's pervasive presence in our lives and the undeniable popularity of the "reality" format give a rather frightening timeliness and believability to the tale.-Mara Alpert, Los Angeles Public Library Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

This tale of five 14-year-olds in a life-endangering reality show sustains tension through the middle, but ends weakly. In a grim American future-a dystopia without complexity-television reigns supreme. Reality programming teases contestants with money for education beyond eighth grade while providing viewers a distraction from poverty and hopelessness. Its new gimmick is children: The DOE (Department of Entertainment, responsible for all television and schooling) sends five kids to Antarctica to simulate the historical 1911 Scott expedition to the South Pole. As with previous Historical Survivor series, injuries and deaths are welcomed for their high ratings. Nauseated by the spectacle, a sad DOE employee secretly helps the kids, but frigid polar conditions and DOE sabotage may triumph anyway. Quotations from Scott's real diary flavor the adventure, but White's ending lacks substance: the trip is aborted and the future (for characters and society) lies stagnantly between hope and despair. Some nice characterization and connection with historical explorers, but closes with an emptiness reminiscent of reality TV itself. (end note, bibliography) (Science fiction. 10-14)