Polar Explorer by Jade Hameister
on April 2nd 2019
ISBN: 1250317681
Pages: 218
Goodreads

Sixteen-year old Jade Hameister tells her amazing story of becoming the youngest person to complete the Polar Hat-Trick (crossing the three largest polar ice caps on skis).  Starting at the age of fourteen, Jade, along with her uber-supportive father, began training and conditioning to face their first ice cap, the North Pole. Jade’s account of the grueling yet inspirational trek pull readers in at what an awesome feat this is for anyone to undertake, let alone a teenager.  Two subsequent treks across Greenland and the South Pole complete Jade’s epic journey and she now has first hand knowledge of how imminent a danger global warming has become. She has completed countless speaking engagements, done a Tedx Talk and was the feature of Nat Geo’s On Thin Ice documentary.  So many parts of the journeys are deadly and dangerous and whole chapters read like an adventure thriller.  This is a un-put-downable autobiography of a tremendously brave and strong young woman. The resounding message throughout the account is Jade’s belief that young women need to focus less on their appearance and rather what they can accomplish.  Chapters are broken up with sections on “Some Cool Facts About…” (polar ice caps, Greenland, climate change, etc.), the script of Jade’s Tedx Talk and gorgeous color photos of the expedition. Jade’s story is amazingly powerful and her young voice sets a tone of hope and perseverance.  As Jade is Australian, measurements are in metric so the average American reader will not be able to gauge the vastness of depths, heights and temperatures without a little help from a converter. An excellent selection for middle school biography collections.  

Reviewed by Suzanne Dix, Westbrook Middle School, Westbrook