Ocean State Libraries

"A frozen, pocket-sized island in the Canadian Arctic holds the secrets to England's first attempts at colonizing the New World. On this Meta Incognita - or Unknown Shore - as Queen Elizabeth I called it, England made its first major efforts at western exploration and settlement. In Unknown Shore, author Robert Ruby uncovers the history of Meta Incognita in a story teeming with rich characters and even more fantastical dreams." "Unknown Shore is the...

"Ice Ghosts weaves together the epic story of the Lost Franklin Expedition of 1845 -- whose two ships and crew of 129 were lost to the Arctic ice -- with the modern tale of the scientists, divers, and local Inuit behind the incredible discovery of the flagship's wreck in 2014. Paul Watson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who was on the icebreaker that led the discovery expedition, tells a fast-paced historical adventure story: Sir John Franklin...

Provides an account of Cartier's journey to discover a water route between France and China in the 1500s. Presents a brief description of the life and explorations of Cartier, who made three voyages to what is today known as Canada, in search of a northwest passage to China. Students will learn the geographic, economic, and religious reasons that brought the explorers and settlers to unfamiliar regions; their problems, their goals and accomplishments,...

"Part high-seas adventure, part examination of the Age of Exploration, this account of Captain James Cook's last voyage in 1776 charts how his overt and covert missions came to a head on the island of Hawaii and left behind a complex and controversial legacy still debated to this day."--