Buried In Ice: A Time Quest Book [Paperback]

Owen Beattie (Author), John Geiger (Author), Shelley Tanaka (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 7 and up | Grade Level: 2 and up | Series: Time Quest Book

Luke Smith, a fictional stoker on board one of the ships looking for the fabled Northwest Passage in 1845, tells of the events that befell the two ships, while, 135 years later, an anthropologist unravels the mystery of what happened.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4 Up-- In 1845, Sir John Franklin and his two ships, Erebus and Terror , sailed from England to begin a search in icy Arctic waters for the fabled Northwest Passage. It was one of the most well-planned, well-supplied, and well-commanded expeditions of all times; yet it ended in disaster. Not one man returned alive. For almost a century and a half, no one could explain their mysterious deaths. In this compelling, contemporary account, anthropologist Beattie and journalist Geiger describe how they solved the 147-year-old mystery. The narrative is interspersed with an imaginative section that relates the story of the expedition from the point of view of 19-year-old Luke, a member of the crew. While the text is exciting, the book's greatest strength is its superb illustrations: drawings, paintings, and historic and present day photographs are used to enrich each page. Probably the most intriguing photographs are those of the actual exhumation of three sailors whose graves had been discovered in 1857. Because of the cold, the bodies remained frozen and appeared almost exactly as they did at the time of interment. Another fine entry in an excellent series. --Don Reaber, Meadowdale High School, Lynnwood,
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

In 1845, famed explorer Sir John Franklin set out with two ships in search of the elusive Northwest Passage; the expedition vanished, leaving only a few artifacts and several lonely graves for subsequent searchers to find. When, 140 years later, Beattie (a forensic anthropologist) began to look into the expedition's fate and the causes of its failure, he not only uncovered evidence of cannibalism but--by temporarily opening the graves to take tissue samples--proved that some or all of the crew had ingested debilitating levels of lead from poorly tinned food. This book is a digest of Beattie and Geiger's book for adults, Frozen in Time (1987), combined with a dramatized historical reconstruction plus plenty of paintings and color photos-- including macabre photo portraits of three exhumed, startlingly well-preserved corpses. Like others in the ``Time Quest'' series: a fresh, vividly illustrated look at modern methods of archeological research. (Fiction/Nonfiction. 11-14) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic (December 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590438492
• ISBN-13: 978-0590438490
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.3 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,004,376 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Photos Alone Are Worth the Stars, February 9, 2003

By 

mwreview "mwreview" (Northern California, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Buried In Ice: A Time Quest Book (Paperback)

After seeing a clip on the Franklin Expedition in a documentary on mummies, I rushed to the library to see if there was a book on the subject. The only one available was this book in the juvenile section. At first I was disappointed, but, noticing a photo of the preserved body of one of the sailors, I checked it out. For a kids' book, this one is pretty cool. The first part of the book is a fictionalized (and very sanitized) story of chief stoker John Torrington and his friend and stoker Luke Smith on the HMS Terror. William Braine and Thomas Hartnell (John's brother) also make appearances. This story leaves the reader with questions that the author will answer in the second section describing the disinterring of Torrington, John Hartnell, and Braine and the information their well-preserved remains revealed. The photos are amazing and make this book fascinating for all ages. The first illustration of Torrington in the fictionalized story has him wearing the same articles found on his corpse (an intriguing, if a bit creepy, touch). The reading level and, at times, disturbing content is probably appropriate for kids 5th grade and up.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars a picture is worth a thousand nightmares, December 16, 2001

By 

Slashqueen (OH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Buried in Ice: The Mystery of a Lost Arctic Expedition (Time Quest Book) (Library Binding)

My mother gave this book to me when I was ten, which was a very long time ago. Those images of the mummies, so well-preserved that they don't look like mummies but like still-living human beings in some eternal pain we can't imagine -- they gave me nightmares then and they can still chill me to the stomach.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buried in Ice, January 31, 2001

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Buried In Ice: A Time Quest Book (Paperback)

Buried in Ice is about two boats who went to the Arctic to discover new parts. They all died! Nobody worried though,because they had a three year supply of food.

What I like about the book is it's story,and adventure at the same time. Mystery because they want to find out what happenned to the crew. Adventure to survive in the cold.

I think we should apritiate explorers. For risking thier lives to find new things. These people tried to explor the Arctic. To find new places that were not put on the map yet,but they are now.