Book Review & Giveaway: My Polar Dream by Jade Hameister

Title: My Polar Dream
Author: Jade Hameister
Publisher: Macmillan Australia
Publication date: 11th September 2018
Pages: 240
RRP: 29.99
Format read: Paperback
Source: Courtesy of publisher

Fourteen-year-old Jade Hameister had a dream: to complete the Polar Hat Trick.

In 2016, she skied to the North Pole.
In 2017, she completed the Greenland Crossing.
In 2018, she arrived at the South Pole.

This is the story of an adventurer who never gave up - who set herself incredible challenges beyond her years and experience. An adventurer who endured extremes of cold and blizzards; tackled treacherous terrain where one wrong step could be fatal; struggled through sastrugi, ice rubble and emotional lows to achieve an extraordinary goal.

Along the way, she made a sandwich for online trolls, inspired young people, and made international headlines.

At sixteen, Jade Hameister became the youngest person in history to complete the Polar Hat Trick.

Jade Hameister is the youngest person to complete the Polar hat-trick – skiing to the North Pole, crossing Greenland coast to coast and skiing from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole.

From an early age, adventure was just a regular part of family life for jade, climbing Mt Kosciuszko at age 6 and climbing to Everest Base Camp with her family at age 12. These trips instilled a sense of adventure in Jade and she had dreams of bigger and better conquests. With the support of her parents her Polar hat-trick dream evolved.

Life wasn’t all winning, as Jade tells how she missed out on School Captain. She didn’t take this as a failure but as a spur to keep striving.

Jade is honest in her account. The training was gruelling and makes you physically fit for the trip but the mental hardships were problems that could only be faced on the trip.

It’s who you become from pushing through the pain and suffering and achieving your goal. Back spasms, blisters on feet, and sunburn made the trek difficult enough but add nose bleeds and light headedness, not many people would push on under these conditions.

“The suffering wasn’t something to avoid, but to relish as an opportunity to reinvent ourselves.”

The story includes facts about the North Pole, Greenland, the South Pole and how we can help to save our planet.

Jade is a tireless advocate of climate change and she is passionate about empowering women.

Jade talks about personal issues, such as toileting with no privacy and in temperatures down to -50°C, with a sense of self mocking fun. The tears, anger and arguments with her father as they lived in close quarters for days on end and how she dealt with the internet trolls are also included.

 “It’s so easy nowadays to get sucked into distractions like our phones and miss what is really going on around us and in our minds. It was a really good opportunity for me to learn something about myself.”

When you’ve achieved such extraordinary goals and see your dreams become reality can ever live an ‘ordinary’ life again? Does the everyday become mundane? Jade admits not having a new adventure to work towards has left her in a lull, but she is ready to move on. She plans on continuing her efforts to empower young women and inspire young people to choose bravery over perfection and to raise awareness of climate change.

My Polar Dream is a truly inspiring and educational story suitable for all ages.

I can’t wait to see what Jade does next!

Jade Hameister began her Polar Hat Trick quest in April 2016 at the age of 14, when she became the youngest person to ski to the North Pole from anywhere outside the last degree and was awarded Australian Geographic Society's Young Adventurer of the Year as a result. In June 2017, she became the youngest woman to complete the 550-kilometre crossing of Greenland, the second largest ice cap on the planet.

In January 2018, Jade skied 600 kilometres from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole unsupported and unassisted, after an epic 37-day journey via a new route through the Transantarctic Mountains and up the Kansas Glacier, from the Amundsen Coast.

In finishing this incredible journey, Jade has set a number of world records including:
* The youngest person to ski from the coast of Antarctica to South Pole unsupported and unassisted
* The first Australian woman in history to ski coast to Pole unsupported and unassisted
* The first woman to set a new route to the South Pole
* The youngest to ski to both Poles
* The youngest to complete the Polar Hat Trick.

Jade lives in Melbourne and is currently a year 11 student.  Her ultimate goal is space.   

Giveaway: (Australia only) 

 

This giveaway is now closed. See the giveaway tab for more giveaways.

Book Review: Memories of May by Juliet Madison

 

Memories of May by Juliet Madison
Publisher: Escape Publishing
Publication Date: May 5th 2017

Blurb: 
They say that truth is stranger than fiction, but in Tarrin’s Bay, she’s about to find that love is stronger than time...

By day, single mother Olivia Chevalier runs the family’s bookstore and raises her nine-year-old daughter. By night, she escapes into a world of fiction where there is excitement, romance, and happy endings.

Both of her roles are endlessly rewarding, but Olivia’s life has not been without challenges, hard work, and disappointment. So when enigmatic travel writer Joel Foster walks into her bookstore – and her life – with his mantras of trying new things and taking risks, Olivia knows that nothing will change.

But when a family dilemma surfaces, Olivia is compelled to enroll in Joel’s writing course to tell the story of her grandmother’s life. With each new day and each new page, Olivia discovers secrets about her family and truths about herself, and finds herself yearning to rewrite the story she has planned and seek a life as intriguing as fiction.

My thoughts:
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Memories of May is book 5 in Juliet Madison’s Tarrin’s Bay series.

Olivia Chevalier is a single mother to 9 year old Mia. She owns the local bookshop and is pretty happy with her simple, some may say boring, life. That is until adventurer and author Joel Foster comes into town to teach a writing course and turns Olivia’s life upside down.
Olivia decides to attend Joel’s writing course and write her Grandmother’s life story.

I loved the blending of story’s; Olivia’s story, Joel’s story and Olivia’s Grandmother May’s story. They all held my interest and were relevant to the theme of the overall story.

”Life is merely a collection of moments, of memories. Every life matters. It is up to you to take risks, live your life fully, and follow your heart. Don’t settle for a life half lived. Make amazing memories. Make memories matter.”

Memories of May is a heart-warming story of new beginnings and the urging to create your own life, not just the one that is expected of you.


Nine year old Mia was a lovely addition to the story. She was fun and outspoken but not too precocious. It was a good way of introducing a child’s view of aging and death.

Even though this is part of a series each book can be read on it’s own but it’s always nice when familiar characters, from previous books, make an appearance through the story.

I finished this book with that warm feeling that life and love really are good.

Looking forward to the next book in the series.

I received an ERC from the publisher via Netgalley.

About the Author: (courtesy of Goodreads)

 Juliet Madison is a naturopath-turned-author with a background in dance, art, internet marketing, and perfume sales (yes, she was one of those annoying people in department stores who spray you with perfume). Nowadays she prefers to indulge her propensity for multiple careers by living vicariously through her characters. She likes to put those characters into extraordinary situations and take them on a challenging journey to discover their true passion and inner strength, weaving in some laughs, tears, romance, and sometimes a touch of magic along the way.
Living near the beach on the beautiful south coast of New South Wales, Australia, Juliet spends as much time as possible writing and coming up with new ideas, while doing her best to avoid housework.
Juliet is a proud member and volunteer with The Romance Writers of Australia and she loves to interact online with readers and writers via twitter (@Juliet_Madison), and facebook (www.facebook.com/JulietMadisonAuthor). She can be contacted through her website at www.julietmadison.com where readers can also download some free short stories.