Reality TV in a book

It's YA time again!

I'm a big reality TV junkie...I've watched them all and some I continue to watch. (Yes, I am even watching KID NATION) and I can't help it. There is just something so real about it in a very unreal-like fashion and I get reeled in every flippin' time.

So, imagine my excitement when I read a review about a book about reality TV and for kids no less. I couldn't wait to read it!
SURVIVING ANTARCTICA: REALITY TV 2083 by Andrea White (Eos, c2005, ISBN 0-06-055456-8) is about a group of five 14-year-olds who are deprived by chance of the opportunity to continue their education and they reenact Scott's 1910-1913 expedition to the South Pole as contestants on a reality show and aided by a Department of Entertainment employee when things get a little too real.
The book starts out:

What chance did Stephan Michael have of winning his Toss?

Although it's set 75 years in the future, the teens are reenacting something that happened almost 100 years in the past so it made for an interesting mixture of science fiction and history. I think this is a great way to get history lessons to kids of this age -- especially the reluctant reader types. I will be recommending this book to my patrons who fall into exactly this category.