discovery and exploration

Relates the true story of York, an African slave who participated in the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

"In 1804, Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, and their team set out on an exciting yet challenging expedition into the American West. They faced many difficult choices along the way. Now the choices are yours. Would you rather discover new animals or new plants, both of which could cause you harm? Would you rather be caught in a flash flood or a blinding snowstorm? Would you rather risk crossing rugged mountain terrain or going down rapids in a canoe? It's your turn to pick this or that!"--.

Looks at the disappearance of the John Franklin Arctic Expedition, in which two ships searching for the Northwest Passage in the Arctic vanished.

"In the 19th century, the discovery and translation of the Rosetta Stone set off a frenzy of interest in ancient Egypt. At the same time, European powers sent off waves of explorations intended to map the unknown corners of the globe--and extend their colonial empires. Two British men--Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke--were sent by the Royal Geographical Society to claim the prize for England. Burton was already famous for being the first non-Muslim to travel to Mecca, disguised as an Arab chieftain. He spoke twenty-nine languages, was a decorated soldier, and literally wrote the book on sword-fighting techniques for the British Army. He was also mercurial, subtle, and an iconoclastic atheist. Speke was a young aristocrat and Army officer determined to make his mark, passionate about hunting, Burton's opposite in temperament and beliefs. From the start the two men clashed, Speke chafing under Burton's command and Burton disapproving of Speke's ignorance of the people whose lands through which they traveled. They would endure tremendous hardships, illness, and constant setbacks. The two became venomous enemies, with the public siding with the more charismatic Burton, to Speke's great envy. Yet there was a third man on both expeditions, his name obscured by imperial annals, whose exploits were even more extraordinary. This was Sidi Mubarak Bombay, who was enslaved and shipped from his home village in East Africa to India. When the man who purchased him died, he made his way into the local Sultan's army, and eventually traveled back to Africa, where he used his resourcefulness, linguistic prowess and raw courage to forge a living as a guide. Without his talents, it is likely that neither Englishman would have come close to the headwaters of the Nile, or perhaps even survived"--Adapted from publisher.

"[The] story of how Yellowstone became the world's first national park amid the nationwide turmoil and racial violence of the Reconstruction era . . . In late July 1871, the geologist-explorer Ferdinand Hayden led a team of scientists through a narrow canyon into Yellowstone Basin, entering one of the last unmapped places in the country. The survey's discoveries led to the passage of the Yellowstone Act in 1872, which created the first national park in the world . . . examines the larger context of this American moment, illuminating Hayden's survey as a national project meant to give Americans a sense of achievement and unity in the wake of a destructive civil war . . .follows Hayden and two other protagonists in pursuit of their own agendas: Sitting Bull, a Lakota leader who asserted his peoples' claim to their homelands, and financier Jay Cooke, who wanted to secure his national reputation by building the Northern Pacific Railroad through the Great Northwest. Hayden, Cooke, and Sitting Bull staked their claims to Yellowstone at a critical moment in Reconstruction, when the Grant Administration and the 42nd Congress were testing the reach and the purpose of federal power across the nation . . . also a story of Indigenous resistance, the expansive reach of railroad, photographic, and publishing technologies, and the struggles of Black southerners to bring racial terrorists to justice. It reveals how the early 1870s were a turning point in the nation's history, as white Americans ultimately abandoned the the higher ideal of equality for all people, creating a much more fragile and divided United States"--Provided by publisher.

"It might seem lonely at the top of the world, but the North Pole is teeming with life! Polar bears, walruses, and Arctic seals make their home on sea ice that can be nine feet thick, while the Inuit and other Indigenous peoples continue their traditions and means for survival in this harsh climate. Along with the early twentieth-century story of Robert Peary's egomaniacal quest to reach the exact spot of the North Pole"-- Provided by publisher.

Tells the story of when Douglas Mawson was lost in Antarctica in January 1913, and against all odds made his way back to camp.

"In the summer of 1535, France's king Francis I sent explorer Jacques Cartier to the New World to search for the Northwest Passage that would lead from China and the East. It was hoped he would also return with ships brimming with riches and gold for the country ... Cartier found neither the elusive passage nor a bounty of riches, but he did find the St. Lawrence River. Readers will learn about the details of Cartier's extensive travels, his encounters with Native Americans, and the many features for which he is named"--Provided by publisher.

"Engineering expert Kiki and Connor the marine biologist are sent on a mission to the Arctic. There they discover a research vessel studying the effects of climate change that has become trapped in the sea ice. To make matters worse, one of the ship's scientists who went to find help at a nearby research station hasn't returned. It's up to the Secret Explorers to find the scientist, free the ship, and save the day!"--Provided by publisher.

The men on board the HMS Terror have every expectation of triumph. As part of the 1845 Franklin Expedition, the first steam-powered vessels ever to search for the legendary Northwest Passage, they are as scientifically supported an enterprise as has ever set forth. As they enter a second summer in the Arctic Circle without a thaw, though, they are stranded in a nightmarish landscape of encroaching ice and darkness. Endlessly cold, with diminishing rations, 126 men fight to survive with poisonous food, a dwindling supply of coal, and ships buckling in the grip of crushing ice. But their real enemy is far more terrifying. There is something out there in the frigid darkness: an unseen predator stalking their ship, a monstrous terror constantly clawing to get in. When the expedition's leader, Sir John Franklin, meets a terrible death, Captain Francis Crozier takes comman and leads his surviving crewmen on a last, desperate attempt to flee south across the ice.