THE ONE WHO KNEW HOW TO LOOK AFTER HERSELF (Ada Blackjack)

“Celle qui savait se débrouiller toute seule” | Alexis Jenni & Lucile Birba | Paulsen Jeunesse | 44pp | 25 x 31 cm

Ada Blackjack, Arctic survivor, explained to children by Alexis Jenni (winner of the 2011 Goncourt Prize, France’s most prestigious literary award)

Ada was as tall as the three letters that made her name. But as strong-willed as an Inuit whose ancestors learned to survive by hunting. Sent to the town of Nome, she learned to read, sew and cook, but not to hunt walrus or build an igloo. Ada was living alone with her sick little boy when she was hired as a helper on an expedition to Wrangel Island with four young men who were a bit dreamy but not quite explorers. There was a first winter and no one came and got them. There was a second winter. And Ada ended up alone. The three boys had gone to look for help, and one had died. She had to learn to manage on her own to hunt, keep warm, protect herself and survived for another season until a boat arrived.

In the same series: The man who wanted to do everything very, very well (Fridtjof Nansen) / The one who wasn’t afraid of the waves (Ida Lewis) / The one who always wanted to walk in the forest (John Muir) / The one who wanted to climb to the top (Tenzin Norgay)

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