Perhaps because Antarctica is so impossibly cold in winter, most books about it focus on the brief summer there, with the sudden burst of life that it brings. This is no exception. Where it stands apart is in the photographs. Wu, a renowned filmmaker and photographer, shows the worlds below and above the Antarctic ice with brilliant storytelling and clarity. Starfish move along the ocean floor just beneath an ice floe; a seal, startled underwater, opens his mouth wide; penguins leap from ice ledges and race underwater trailing wakes of bubbles. The text is well-written, smooth, and interesting, examining several forms of life and how they survive and thrive in such a difficult climate. But buy it for the photos. (Nonfiction. 5-9)
