Perma-Bound

"*Starred Review* Fourteen-year-old Symone?s only friend is an imaginary incarnation of Captain Laurence ""Titus"" Oates, an explorer who accompanied Robert Scott on his failed expedition to the South Pole. Sym is passionate about the Antarctic and her infatuation is fed by Uncle Victor, an eccentric family friend who has cared for Sym and her mother since Sym?s father?s death. When Victor surprises Sym with a trip to ""the Ice,"" she has some doubts, especially when she discovers that her mother can?t come. But her excitement overshadows her initial misgivings?until realizes that Uncle Victor has an obsession of his own that runs deeper than the glaciers and threatens her life. It?s not always clear whether Titus? voice is imagined or if it?s meant to be shy, bookish Sym?s only link to the outside world, but McCaughrean?s lyrical language actively engages the senses, plunging readers into a captivating landscape that challenges the boundaries of reality. Best suited to older, better readers despite the age of the protagonist, this imaginative, intellectually demanding novel offers plenty of action." Gr 7 Up-As with Not the End of the World (HarperTempest, 2005), McCaughrean weaves a tale of obsession and personal growth against the backdrop of nature's unrelenting power. Fourteen-year-old Sym Wates is fascinated with the Antarctic and the men who explored it, even to the point of creating an internal confidante in the form of Captain Lawrence "Titus" Oates, who was part of the doomed Scott expedition 90 years earlier. So when her "Uncle" Victor whisks the painfully shy, hearing-impaired teen away on a surprise trip to the South Pole, it seems like a dream come true. But Victor has his own agenda, seeking the legendary Symmes's Hole, portal to the interior of a hollow Earth. The lengths to which the madman pursues this quest provide the book with a dramatic drive and powerful revelation Sym makes for an engaging (if occasionally melodramatic) narrator, although aspects of her character, such as her hearing loss, are not fully developed. An afterword on Scott's expedition in 1911 is included.-Christi Voth, Parker Library, CO Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information. Fourteen-year-old Sym loves a polar explorer named Titus who lives in her head. From this premise McCaughrean builds a page-turning survival thriller, as Sym and her eccentric uncle Victor join a polar expedition. What makes the book stand out is Sym's unique personality; her relationship with Titus; the slow revelation of Victor's malevolence; and McCaughrean's inspired wordplay and powerful imagery.