Annal:1999 Golden Kite Nonfiction Award

Space Station Science: Life in Free Fall

Marianne J. Dyson

• 1999 Golden Kite-nonfiction winner
• Score: 10.49

In Space Station Science, former NASA mission controller Marianne Dyson explains all the systems needed to keep the International Space Station up and running. She shows how the simplest tasks of daily life are changed in free fall and details the types of experiments scientists can do in space and nowhere else. Dyson tells how we get to and from space and gives us a glimpse into the future of space stations. Complete with activities that simulate life in space and illustrated with full-color photos and drawings, this insider’s guide will show you what it’s like to live in a space station and how what we learn up there could forever change our lives down here.

Ice Story: Shackleton's Lost Expedition

Elizabeth Cody Kimmel

• 1999 Golden Kite-nonfiction honor
• Score: 6.49

This dramatic, suspenseful narrative reads like an adventure story—but it is true. In 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton and a twenty-seven-man crew set off on an expedition to reach and cross Antarctica. Just a month and a half into the voyage, their ship, the Endurance, was caught fast in heavy pack ice. The men had no radio contact, and no one knew where they were or even that they were in trouble.

None of them should have survived the ordeal that followed - unstable ice floes, treacherous waters, freezing temperatures, and starvation. Only the extraordinary leadership, courage, and strength of Shackleton brought the whole team safely through.

Elizabeth Cody Kimmel’s clear, compelling text is illustrated with photographs, taken and carefully preserved by the ship’s photographer, that record the stark condition and the day-to-day activities of the men. Hand-drawn maps that show the extraordinary route of the Endurance and her crew.