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The stowaway : a young man's extraordinary adventure to Antarctica  Cover Image Large Print Book Large Print Book

The stowaway : a young man's extraordinary adventure to Antarctica / Laurie Gwen Shapiro.

Record details

  • ISBN: 9781432849078
  • ISBN: 1432849077
  • Physical Description: 365 pages (large print) ; 23 cm.
  • Edition: Large Print edition.
  • Publisher: Waterville, Maine : Thorndike Press Large Print, 2018.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:
Includes bibliographical references.
Summary, etc.:
The spectacular, true story of a scrappy teenager from New York's Lower East Side who stowed away on the Roaring Twenties' most remarkable feat of science and daring: an expedition to Antarctica. It was 1928: a time of illicit booze, of Gatsby and Babe Ruth, of freewheeling fun. The Great War was over and American optimism was higher than the stock market. What better moment to launch an expedition to Antarctica, the planet's final frontier? This was the moon landing before the 1960s. Everyone wanted to join the adventure. Rockefellers and Vanderbilts begged to be taken along as mess boys, and newspapers across the globe covered the planning's every stage. The night before the expedition's flagship launched, Billy Gawronski--a skinny, first generation New York City high schooler desperate to escape a dreary future in the family upholstery business--jumped into the Hudson River and snuck aboard. Could he get away with it? From the grimy streets of New York's Lower East Side to the rowdy dance halls of sultry Francophone Tahiti, all the way to Antarctica's blinding white and deadly freeze, Laurie Gwen Shapiro's The Stowaway takes you on the unforgettable voyage of a gutsy young stowaway who became an international celebrity, a mascot for an up-by-your bootstraps age.
Subject: Gawronski, Billy, 1910-1981 > Travel > Antarctica.
Antarctica > Description and travel.
Stowaways > Antarctica > Biography.
Ocean travel > History > 20th century.
Adventure and adventurers > Antarctica > Biography.
Teenage boys > New York (State) > New York > Biography.
Large type books.

Available copies

  • 1 of 1 copy available at GRPL.

Holds

0 current holds with 1 total copy.

Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
Main Large Print 919.8904 Sh22s (Text) 31307023337373 Large Print Available -

Electronic resources


Syndetic Solutions - Publishers Weekly Review for ISBN Number 9781432849078
The Stowaway : A Young Man's Extraordinary Adventure to Antarctica
The Stowaway : A Young Man's Extraordinary Adventure to Antarctica
by Shapiro, Laurie Gwen
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Publishers Weekly Review

The Stowaway : A Young Man's Extraordinary Adventure to Antarctica

Publishers Weekly


(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

In this true-life adventure yarn, filmmaker Shapiro reconstructs the story of Billy Gawronski, who captured the boundless optimism of the American national psyche in the lead up to the Great Depression when, in 1928, he attempted to stow away on a ship headed to the Antarctic. The enthusiastic 18-year-old was caught trying to sneak onboard three times before he could finally convince his hero, commander Richard Byrd, to let him join as a mess boy aboard the Eleanor Bolling en route to the South Pole. Shapiro interweaves snippets of Russell Owen's Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of the expedition for the New York Times into the main narrative, which tracks Billy's progression from being a reckless stowaway to commanding a ship in WWII. In the characters of Billy and his shipmates, Shapiro finds a "microcosm of American barriers and dreams." This coming-of-age story about a strong-willed boy with an insatiable appetite for adventure is evocative of the Hardy Boys and will appeal to both adult and young adult readers. (Jan.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Syndetic Solutions - BookList Review for ISBN Number 9781432849078
The Stowaway : A Young Man's Extraordinary Adventure to Antarctica
The Stowaway : A Young Man's Extraordinary Adventure to Antarctica
by Shapiro, Laurie Gwen
Rate this title:
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BookList Review

The Stowaway : A Young Man's Extraordinary Adventure to Antarctica

Booklist


From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

In the late 1920s, New York City teenager Billy Gawronski was headed toward a very dull future. His father had built a successful upholstering business and slated Billy as his future partner. Billy had other plans. Entranced by adventurous tales of the great expeditioners of his time, Billy heard of Commander Byrd's intention to mount an expedition to Antarctica and saw his way out. But with thousands already clamoring to join Byrd, and Billy needing parental consent, the odds were against him. Thus, with only the clothes on his back, Billy swam out and boarded one of Byrd's ships in the wee morning hours as a stowaway. Exposed to new ports and places on his journey, Gawronski became the unexpected darling of the press and returned home with his true calling. Novelist and filmmaker Shapiro (The Anglophile, 2005) has revived the history of a once-celebrated stowaway to Antarctica in this well-wrought true tale of a young man who captured the hearts of millions and found adventure at sea.--Shaw, Stacy Copyright 2017 Booklist

Syndetic Solutions - Library Journal Review for ISBN Number 9781432849078
The Stowaway : A Young Man's Extraordinary Adventure to Antarctica
The Stowaway : A Young Man's Extraordinary Adventure to Antarctica
by Shapiro, Laurie Gwen
Rate this title:
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Library Journal Review

The Stowaway : A Young Man's Extraordinary Adventure to Antarctica

Library Journal


(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Shapiro, in her first full-length work of nonfiction, deftly tells the story of Billy -Gawronski, a young boy determined to seek adventure. Through reading novels and following the events of real-life explorers, Gawronski cultivated a knowledge of and insatiable desire for risk-taking. In 1928, at the age of 17, Gawronski's ambition was fulfilled. During the height of the Jazz Age, Richard Byrd, a famous American explorer and idol to Gawronski, led an expedition to Antarctica. Byrd intended to be the first person to fly over the South Pole. At this point, the United States had largely been absent from Antarctic exploration. Byrd was already a household name and the country was excited. One night, Gawronski swam across New York's Hudson River and climbed on board Byrd's ship. He was found with two other stowaways and sent home. After several more of these kinds of attempts, Gawronski won the respect of Byrd and was hired on as part of the crew. VERDICT This fascinating and exciting story contrasts the optimism and sense of progress of the 1920s with the devastation of the 1930s. Readers of popular history and biographies will find much to delight in here.-Timothy Berge, SUNY Oswego Lib. © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.


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