Between Two Worlds

Gr 9 Up—Based on a true story, this gripping novel set in 1900 Greenland is narrated by a 16-year-old married Inuit woman. Billy Bah's life has been intertwined (rather tragically) with that of Arctic explorer Robert E. Peary since childhood, when she spent a year in America with his family. When Peary's wife and daughter arrive in her village on a supply ship, Billy Bah is one of the few who can translate and organize an expedition of native men and American sailors to find Peary, who has gone further north to the "Musk Ox Land." The journey proves harrowing as the ship becomes icebound for the winter and everyone is stranded for nine months in a remote Arctic outpost. As much a story of survival as it is a coming-of-age tale, the strength here lies in the fascinating details of daily native life (hunting, cooking, igloo building) and cultural customs (birth and death rites, marital and divorce practices). Billy Bah, an expert seamstress, is "traded" by her husband to a white sailor for supplies and unexpectedly finds herself falling in love with him, a conflict that proves pivotal to the story. While never explicitly graphic, themes of love, sex, and racism are for mature teen readers. Realistic and likable, Billy Bah provides an intriguing viewpoint to a place and time rarely written about in young adult fiction.—Madeline J. Bryant, Los Angeles Public Library