Age 11-16

This illuminating nonfiction account of the Arctic is written by the environment correspondent of The New York Times. It tells the history of the ice-clad continent, describes its current state and considers its future. We learn that once there was a theory of a warm sea at the top of the world, and another that the earth had a hollow core, inhabited by people who enjoyed two summers as the sun shone into their home from both ends. We are told the story of explorations from as long as 2,000 years ago, including the dangerous contests of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Revkin interweaves his account with his own tale of a few days spent at the Pole with scientists, overcoming daunting technical hitches to collect data. Above all, this is a story of the ice that is not only moving — scientific camps drift with the ice floes — but also diminishing, as the global temperature rises. Full of fascinating facts and generously illustrated with maps and photographs, this is a timely, myth-busting warning for a new generation.

(Kingfisher £9.99)

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