Winner of the Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature!

"Completely gripping." --People

"Dazzling." --The Observer

Geraldine McCaughrean--two-time Carnegie Medalist for Where the World Ends and Pack of Lies--takes readers on a spellbinding journey into the frozen heart of darkness with this lyrical, riveting, and imaginative young adult novel.

Symone "Sym" Wates is obsessed with the Antarctic and the brave, romantic figure of Captain Oates from Scott's doomed expedition to the South Pole. In fact, Oates is the secret confidant to whom she spills all her hopes and fears.

But Sym's uncle Victor is even more obsessed--and when he takes her on a dream trip into the bleak Antarctic wilderness, it turns into a nightmarish struggle for survival that will challenge everything she knows and loves.