Resource Links December 2005 G – Good, even Great at times, generally useful! This is a fascinating book about women explorers, including women both from the past and the present. The chapters present the stories of twelve different women explorers, their travels and some commentary on their lives and struggles. The women covered range across history from Sacagawea, who accompanied Lewis and Clark on their expedition across the American Plains, to Matty McNair and Denise Martin who led the first successful all-women expedition to the North Pole in 1997. They also cover a broad range of lifestyles, from the shy Ada Blackjack, an Inuit woman who accompanied four men on an ill-fated attempt to claim Wrangel Island (north of Siberia) for Canada to the free spirit Alexandra David-Neel, who became a Buddhist monk and was the first Western woman to go to Lhasa, the Forbidden City of the Buddhist religion. All of these women faced hardship and public disapproval to travel and see new places. As such, they are an inspiration to all women who hunger to go beyond the limits of their safe environments. – Reviewed by Heather Empey.