White, Andrea. Surviving Antarctica; reality TV 2083.WHITE, Andrea. Surviving Antarctica; reality TV 2083. HarperCollins, Eos. 438p. c2005. 0-06-055456-8. $6.99. JS To quote the review of the hardcover in KLIATT, May 2005: White's novel predicts the future of television as the source for all edu-tainment headed by the government's Secretary of Entertainment. In 2083, a toss of the dice determines which 14-year-olds win scholarships to continue their education and which will have to go out into the world of work to earn a meager mea·ger also mea·gre adj. 1. Deficient in quantity, fullness, or extent; scanty. 2. Deficient in richness, fertility, or vigor; feeble: the meager soil of an eroded plain. 3. living. For those who lose the toss, there is little else to do, unless selected to be a participant on one of the many reality shows where large cash prizes barely offset a year's tuition. The newest installment of the Historical Survivor series This article is about the professional wrestling pay-per-view event. For the video game named after this event for the Game Boy Advance, see WWE Survivor Series. The Survivor Series is a reenactment re·en·act also re-en·act tr.v. re·en·act·ed, re·en·act·ing, re·en·acts 1. To enact again: reenact a law. 2. of Robert E Scott's 1912 expedition to the South Pole South Pole, southern end of the earth's axis, lat. 90° S. It is distinguished from the south magnetic pole. The South Pole was reached by Roald Amundsen, a Norwegian explorer, in 1911. See Antarctica. by five 14-year-old kids. Polly Polly Biotechnology A Poll Dorset sheep cloned from sheep skin cells, which has a human gene in each cell. See Dolly. , Billy, Andrew, Robert and Grace are selected because each of them brings a special talent to the show. Polly has a photographic memory. Grace is an Inupiat Eskimo. Andrew has remarkable navigation skills. Robert has excellent leadership and survival skills. Billy is the only one with serious snow and ice experience. Or is he? As the teens head out to Antarctica to start their expedition with the same equipment Scott's team used, they are monitored by the night shift in the Department of Entertainment. Steve has just been transferred to this shift, and the Antarctic Survivor kids have become his special project. Of course, no one on the original expedition survived, and whether or not these five contestants will make it to the Pole alive is just what sends ratings through the roof. Peppered with excerpts from actual historical documents, this novel marries historical and futuristic fu·tur·is·tic adj. 1. Of or relating to the future. 2. a. Of, characterized by, or expressing a vision of the future: futuristic decor. b. fiction in a thrilling thrill v. thrilled, thrill·ing, thrills v.tr. 1. To cause to feel a sudden intense sensation; excite greatly. 2. To give great pleasure to; delight. See Synonyms at enrapture. page-turner. Michele Winship, Asst. Prof., Capital Univ., Columbus, OH J--Recommended for junior high school students. The contents are of particular interest to young adolescents and their teachers. S--Recommended for senior high school students. |
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