Ada Blackjack, Jennifer Niven
Ada Blackjack, Jennifer Niven
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Ada Blackjack
A True Story of Survival in the Arctic

Author: Jennifer Niven

Narrator: Laural Merlington

Unabridged: 13 hr 36 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 06/30/2020


Synopsis

In September 1921, four young men and Ada Blackjack, a diminutive twenty-five-year-old Eskimo woman, ventured deep into the Arctic in a secret attempt to colonize desolate Wrangel Island for Great Britain. Two years later, Ada Blackjack emerged as the sole survivor of this ambitious polar expedition. This young, unskilled woman—who had headed to the Arctic in search of money and a husband—conquered the seemingly unconquerable north and survived all alone after her male companions had perished.

Following her triumphant return to civilization, the international press proclaimed her the female Robinson Crusoe. But whatever stories the press turned out came from the imaginations of reporters: Ada Blackjack refused to speak to anyone about her horrific two years in the Arctic. Only on one occasion—after charges were published falsely accusing her of causing the death of one her companions—did she speak up for herself.

Jennifer Niven has created a compelling history of this remarkable woman, taking full advantage of the wealth of first-hand resources about Ada that exist, including her never-before-seen diaries, the unpublished diaries from other primary characters, and interviews with Ada's surviving son. Ada Blackjack is more than a rugged tale of a woman battling the elements to survive in the frozen north—it is the story of a hero.

About Jennifer Niven

Jennifer Niven's first book, The Ice Master, was named one of the top ten nonfiction books of the year by Entertainment Weekly. Her second book, Ada Blackjack, was a Book Sense Top Ten Pick. She is also the author of Velva Jean Learns to Drive and The Aqua-Net Diaries: Big Hair, Big Dreams, Small Town. Jennifer divides her time between Atlanta and Los Angeles.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Melissa on January 26, 2011

The title of this book is a little deceiving. While Ada Blackjack is featured prominently in the book, this is more the telling of all the explorers on the Wrangel Island expedition. As much detail is given to the other four explorers and their families as is given about Blackjack herself. Ada Blackj......more

Goodreads review by Licha on October 02, 2016

How could I not have had this on my list? I read this years ago but I will always remember the story of Ada Blackjack. I was really surprised that I'd somehow forgotten to add this to my list of favorite books. This book was so fascinating to read. I really love survival stories and this one was har......more

Goodreads review by Becky on December 04, 2010

Needed a better editor- but an amazing story of strength and survival, ending in a very bittersweet sadness.......more

Goodreads review by Jack on April 12, 2023

I was looking forward to reading this book, and it took me a while to locate a copy. I feel the writing was good and it was a good adventure. The problem I have was the authors pretext was skewed. The 4 young men are considered heroes, as is the protagonist Ada Blackjack. The boys were manipulated by......more

Goodreads review by Aj on February 14, 2021

Ada Blackjack: A True Story Of Survival In The Arctic is about an Inuit woman in the 1920s who joined a team of Arctic explorers because they needed a seamstress/maid/cook for their expedition. Things went badly wrong in the Arctic. When a rescue ship finally reached the stranded explorers (two year......more