The Survival Story of Ada Blackjack

The Reference Desk

In this week's episode of The Reference Desk, Katie is bewitched by the Arctic survival story of Ada Blackjack.

Ada was a young, single mother living in Nome, Alaska when she was approached about joining an expedition to uninhabited Wrangel Island. The Inupiat woman was told she would live among other Inuit families as they assisted a crew of four explorers who were colonizing the remote island under the command of famous Arctic explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson. Instead, Blackjack found herself the only woman alongside a small crew of very inexperienced young men. What followed was two years of incredible survival in one of the most inhospitable landscapes on the globe. By the time the rescue ship reached Wrangel Island, Ada Blackjack was the lone survivor of the expedition.

What we are reading:

-The Good, the Bad, and the Dumped by Jenny Colgan

-Book Lovers by Emily Henry

-When You Get the Chance by Emma Lord

Recommendations:

-Ada Blackjack: A True Story of Survival in the Arctic by Jennifer Nivens

-Marooned in the Arctic: The True Story of Ada Blackjack, the 'Female Robinson Crusoe' by Peggy Caravantes

-A Line of Driftwood: The Ada Blackjack Story by Diane Glancy

-How to Survive in the North by Luke Healy

-How the Penguins Saved Veronica by Hazel Prior

-The Arctic Fury by Greer Macallister

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