Reality Tv Ratings

WHITE, Andrea. No child's game; reality TV 2083. HarperCollins. 325p. c2005. 0-06-055454-1. $15.99. JS

White's novel predicts the future of television as the source for all edu-tainment headed by the government's Secretary of Entertainment. In 2083, a toss of the dice determines which 14-year-olds win scholarships to continue their education and which will have to go out into the world of work to earn a meager living. For those who lose the toss, there is little else to do, unless selected to be a participant on one of the many reality shows where large cash prizes barely offset a year's tuition. The newest installment of the Historical Survivor series is a reenactment of Robert E Scott's 1912 expedition to the South Pole by five 14-year-old kids. Polly, Billy, Andrew, Robert and Grace are selected because each of them brings a special talent to the show. Polly has a photographic memory. Grace is an Inupiat Eskimo. Andrew has remarkable navigation skills. Robert has excellent leadership and survival skills. Billy is the only one with serious snow and ice experience. Or is he?

As the teens head out to Antarctica to start their expedition with the same equipment Scott's team used, they are monitored by the night shift in the Department of Entertainment. Steve has just been transferred to this shift, and the Antarctic Survivor kids have become his special project. Of course, no one on the original expedition survived, and whether or not these five contestants will make it to the Pole alive is just what sends ratings through the roof. Peppered with excerpts from actual historical documents, this novel marries historical and futuristic fiction in a thrilling page-turner. Michele Winship, Asst. Prof., Capital Univ., Columbus, OH

J--Recommended for junior high school students. The contents are of particular interest to young adolescents and their teachers.

S--Recommended for senior high school students.

COPYRIGHT 2005 Kliatt
COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group

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