This list of fiction and nonfiction books, compiled by Susan Conlon, MLIS and Kim Dorman, Community Engagement Coordinator, of Princeton Public Library, provides a range of perspectives on the issues raised by the POV documentaryWinter’s Yearning.

In Maniitsoq, Greenland, the US aluminum giant Alcoa Corporation has been planning to build a smelting plant for years. Pictured against immense, isolating landscapes, the people await their plant and with it, the nation's possible first steps towards economic renewal and political sovereignty.

ADULT NONFICTION

Alley, Richard B. The Two-mile Time Machine: Ice Cores, Abrupt Climate Change, and Our Future. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000.
Richard Alley, one of the world's leading climate researchers, tells the history of global climate changes as revealed by reading the annual rings of ice from cores drilled in Greenland.

Flaherty, Louise and Neil Christopher. Kappianaqtut: Strange Creatures and Fantastic Beings From Inuit Myths and Legends.Iqaluit, Nunavut; Toronto, Ont.: Inhabit Media Inc., 2011.
Each volume in the Kappianaqtut series provides readers with an in-depth academic examination of two mythological creatures from Inuit mythology. The series examines Inuit myths from an ethnographic perspective and fosters discussion on the variations and multiple representations of the myths and creatures in question. This volume, which explores the giants of the North and the mother of the sea mammals, has been fully revised and updated. Kappianaqtut represents the first book-length study of Inuit mythological beings written from a Northern perspective.

Gertner, Jon.The Ice at the End of the World: An Epic Journey Into Greenland’s Buried Past and Our Perilous Future.New York: Random House, 2019.
Greenland: remote, mysterious, ice-covered rock, has some of the most profound secrets of our planet--clues about where we've been, and where we might be headed. And now, with the ice sheet melting at an unprecedented rate, we are able, for the first time, to understand the story that lies within it, and what it can tell us about our future.

Glassley, William E.A Wilder Time: Notes from a Geologist at the Edge of the Greenland Ice.New York, NY: Bellevue Literary Press, 2018.
Greenland, one of the last truly wild places, contains a treasure trove of information on Earth's early history embedded in its pristine landscape. Over numerous seasons, William E. Glassley and two fellow geologists traveled there to collect samples and observe rock formations for evidence to prove a contested theory that plate tectonics, the movement of Earth's crust over its molten core, is a much more ancient process than some believed. As their research drove the scientists ever farther into regions barely explored by humans for millennia--if ever--Glassley encountered creatures and natural phenomena that gave him unexpected insight into the origins of myth, the virtues and boundaries of science, and the importance of seeking the wilderness within.

Sonne, Birgitte. Worldviews of the Greenlanders: An Inuit Arctic Perspective.Fairbanks, AK: University of Alaska Press, 2017.
Ninety years ago, Knud Rasmussen’s popular account of his scientific expeditions through Greenland and North America introduced readers to the culture and history of Arctic Natives. In the intervening century, a robust field of ethnographic research has grown around the Inuit and Yupiit of North America—but, until now, English-language readers have had little access to the broad corpus of work on Greenlandic natives. Worldviews of the Greenlanders draws upon extensive Danish and Greenlandic research on Inuit arctic peoples—as well as Birgitte Sonne’s own decades of scholarship and fieldwork—to present in rich detail the key symbols and traditional beliefs of Greenlandic Natives, as well as the changes brought about by contact with colonial traders and Christian missionaries. It includes critical updates to our knowledge of the Greenlanders’ pre-colonial world and their ideas on space, time, and other worldly beings. This expansive work will be a touchstone of Arctic Native studies for academics who wish to expand their knowledge past the boundaries of North America.

Tedesco, Marco.The Hidden Life of Ice: Dispatches from a Disappearing World. New York: The Experiment, 2020.
Marco Tedesco is a world-leading expert on Arctic ice decline and climate change. In The Hidden Life of Ice, he invites the reader to Greenland, where he and his fellow scientists research the dramatic changes afoot. Alongside the sobering facts on climate change, Tedesco shares photographs of this surreal landscape— as well as captivating legends of Greenland’s earliest local populations, epic deeds of long-ago Arctic explorers, and his own reflections.

Watt-Cloutier, Sheila. The Right to Be Cold: One Woman's Fight to Protect the Arctic and Save the Planet From Climate Change. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2018.
The Right to Be Cold is the human story of life on the front lines of climate change, told by a woman who rose from humble beginnings to become one of the most influential Indigenous environmental, cultural, and human rights advocates in the world.

Zuckoff, Mitchell.Frozen in Time: An Epic Story of Survival, and a Modern Quest for Lost Heroes of World War II.New York: Harper, 2013.
In Nov. 1942 a U.S. cargo plane crashed into the Greenland ice cap.The search-and-rescue mission got caught in a storm and also crashed but miraculously all nine men aboard survived. A second rescue operation was launched, but the plane, the Grumman Duck, flew into a storm and vanished. The survivors of the B-17 spent 148 days fighting to stay alive while waiting for rescue by famed explorer Bernt Balchen. Then in 2012 the U.S. Coast Guard and North South Polar mounted an expedition to solve the mystery of the vanished plane and recover the remains of the lost plane's crew.

ADULT FICTION

Ferencik, Erica.The Girl in Ice.New York, NY: Scout Press, 2022.
Valerie “Val” Chesterfield is a linguist trained in dead Nordic languages. When her twin brother dies on a remote island off Greenland’s barren coast it is deemed a suicide, but she suspects foul play. When her brother’s fellow researcher discovers a scientific impossibility­—a young girl frozen in the ice who thaws out alive, speaking a language no one understands—Val is his first call.With time running out, Val embarks on an incredible frozen odyssey—led by the unlikeliest of guides—to rescue the new family she has found in the most unexpected of places.

Hammer, Lott. The Girl in the Ice.New York, NY: Bloomsbury, 2015.
When the body of a girl is discovered in the melting Greenland ice cap, hundreds of miles from any civilization, Detective Chief Superintendent Konrad Simonsen investigates the murder and discovers disturbing details about some of Denmark's most powerfulfigures.

Leine, Kim.The Prophets of Eternal Fjord.New York, NY: Liveright Publishing Corp.; a Division of W.W. Norton & Company, 2015.
This historical novel about Danish missionary expeditions to Greenland in the late 1700s that explores the moral complexities of religious and economic colonialism won the Nordic Council Literature Prize, chosen by an intergovernmental body and presented to authors writing in Danish, Norwegian, or Swedish.

McConaghy, Charlotte.Migrations. New York, NY: Flatiron Books, 2020.
Franny Stone has always been a wanderer. By following the ocean's tides and the birds that soar above, she can forget the losses that have haunted her life. But when the wild she so loves begins to disappear, Franny can no longer wander without a destination. She arrives in remote Greenland with one purpose: to find the world's last flock of Arctic terns and follow them on their final migration.

Stef, Penney.Under a Pole Star.New York, NY: Quercus, 2018.
A whaler's daughter, Flora Mackie first crossed the Arctic Circle at the age of twelve and fell in love with the cold and unforgiving terrain. In 1889 she sets out to become a scientist and explorer. Despite those who believe that a young woman has no place in this harsh world of men, her determination leads her back to northern Greenland at the head of a British expedition. Yearning for wider horizons, American geologist Jakob de Beyn joins a rival expedition led by the furiously driven Lester Armitage. When the path of Flora's expedition meets theirs, the three lives become intertwined. All are obsessed with the north, a place where violent extremes exist side by side: perpetual night and endless day; frozen seas and coastal meadows; heroism and lies.

NONFICTION FOR YOUNGER READERS

Bjorklund, Ruth.Greenland.(Enchantment of the World, Second series.) New York, NY: Children’s Press, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., 2019.
The book explores Explores the history, economy, geography, religion, customs, and culture of Greenland.

Conrad, Pam and Richard Egielski.Call Me Ahnighito.New York, NY: Harper Collins, 1995.
A huge meteorite describes how it lay half-buried in Greenland for centuries until it is finally excavated by members of a Peary expedition and begins a new journey.Told from the perspective of a meteorite, the true story of a meteorite follows its discovery before the Peary expedition and was eventually brought to the Museum of Natural History in New York.

King, David C. and Jill Keppeler.Greenland.New York, NY: Cavendish Square Publishing, 2022.
The book explores the history, geography, and culture of Greenland. Featuring detailed maps and vivid, full-color photographs of this remote island territory, focused chapters present up-to-date information about Greenland's government, economy, arts scene, holidays, and more.

Latreille, Francis.The Arctic.New York, NY: Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2007.
Photographs and text describe how people live in the Arctic.

Natcher, David C. and Neil Christopher, Mary Ellen Thomas and Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley.Unikkaaqatigiit: Arctic weather and climate through the eyes of Nunavut's children.Publisher: Iqaluit, Nunavut; Toronto, Ont.: Inhabit Media Inc., 2013.
Compiled from writing, poetry, and illustrations created by young Nunavummiut, this anthology explores diverse aspects of the theme of weather--from Inuit mythology to traditional knowledge, climate change, and daily survival.

FICTION FOR YOUNGER READERS

Jørn, Riel and Helen Cann. The Shipwreck. Cambridge, MA: Barefoot Books, 2011.
Shipwrecked off the coast of Greenland, Leiv Steinursson, a young Viking boy, is helped by two Inuit children, twelve-year-old Apuluk and his eleven-year-old sister Narua, and is accepted into their community, gladly leaving his violent lifestyle behind.

Paniaq, Herve. ˆIqaluit, Nunavut; Toronto, Ont.: Inhabit Media Inc., 2018.
"Takannaaluk" means "the one down there", a term used in the High Arctic to refer to the mother of sea mammals, the most important being in Inuit mythology. This picture book tells how she came to be both feared and respected. As a young woman, Takannaaluk is tricked into marrying a sea bird posing as a man and then betrayed by her family.

Rachel Qitsualik-TinsleyandSean Qitsualik-Tinsley.
The Raven and the Loon.Iqaluit, Nunavut; Toronto, Ont.: Inhabit Media Inc., 2019.A re-telling of the pan-Arctic traditional story. In the time before animals were as they are today, Raven and Loon were both white. Their feathers had no color at all. Raven spent his days swooping through the sky trying to fight off his incessant boredom, while loon spent her days in her iglu working away on her sewing. One day, too bored to even fly, Raven visited Loon and suggested a sewing game that would give their feathers some much-needed color. The results led to Raven and Loon acquiring their now-familiar coats.

Sammurtok, Nadia.In My Anaana’s Amautik. Iqaluit, Nunavut: Toronto, Ontario: Inhabit Media Incorporated, 2019.
Told from the unique perspective of a baby nestled inside an “amautik,” the pouch in a mother's parka.

Stead, Rebecca.First Light. New York, NY: Wendy Lamb Books, 2007.
When twelve-year-old Peter and his family arrive in Greenland for his father's research, he stumbles upon a secret his mother has been hiding from him all his life, and begins an adventure he never imagined possible.

Wheeler, Patti and Keith Hemstreet.Greenland.Austin, TX: Greenleaf Book Group Press, 2016.
After arriving in Ilulissat, Greenland, to embark on a dogsled expedition in the Arctic, twins Gannon and Wyatt receive a mayday call from a family stranded in the far north and set off on a dangerous adventure to save them.

Yellowhorn, Eldon and Kathy Lowinger.What the Eagle Sees: Indigenous Stories of Rebellion and Renewal.Toronto, Ont.: Annick Press, 2019.
In this follow up to Turtle Island, academic Eldon Yellowhorn and award-winning author Kathy Lowinger team up again, this time to tell the stories of what Indigenous people did when invaders arrived on their homelands. What the Eagle Sees shares accounts of the people, places, and events that have mattered in Indigenous history from a vastly under-represented perspective—an Indigenous viewpoint.