Thomas will reel in the middle schooler in your life with this informative, illustrated account of the Antarctic, its scientists and the science. With chapters on preparation and training, arriving in the Antarctic, field work, natural history and conservation. He includes dispatches from The Ice by David Thomas, Stathys Papadimitriou and Louiza Norman, who were on a 2006 Antarctic expedition aboard the R/V Polarstern to the Weddell Sea.  (ANT257, $24.95)