Keep On!: The Story of Matthew Henson, Co-Discoverer of the North Pole

Henson was born just after the Civil War, a time when slavery had been abolished, but few opportunities were available for black people. Even as a child, he exhibited a yearning for adventure, and at the age of only thirteen, he embarked on a five-year voyage sailing the seven seas and learning navigation, history, and mathematics.
Henson s greatest adventure began when he accepted an invitation by Robert Peary to join his expedition to the North Pole. The team endured storms, shifting ice, wind, injuries, accidents, and unimaginable cold. Finally on April 1, Peary, Henson, and four Inuit men began the final 133-mile push to the Pole.

Readers will share in the excitement and drama of this remarkable, history-making adventure as award-winning author Deborah Hopkinson pays tribute to a great but under recognized figure from America s past. Illustrator Stephen Alcorn s large-format, stylized ink-and-watercolor illustrations capture all the action. Excerpts from Henson s expedition diaries, a timeline, and an epilogue place the story in its historical context.