Mary Albanese peels back the outer layers of her life to share an incredible journey of resilience, hardship, education, and self-discovery in her wonderful memoir "Midnight Sun, Arctic Moon." Albanese is no ordinary young lady. She applies for a teaching position in Alaska, but when nothing is offered she detours into the graduate Geology programm instead, beginning ten years of experiences beyond most of our wildest imaginations. Besides earning her degree, working in her chosen field, meeting her lifetime companion, and suffereing the emotional ups and downs of daily life, Albanese climbed mountains, lived in teh most rudimentary circumstances, faced bears, earned a black belt in karate, dabbled in dog-sledding, ran for a local government position and conducted the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra one season amoung various other diversions!

"Midnight Sun, Arctic Moon" is a delightful, inspring, well-written and fast-paced read. Althought there is heartbreak in this memoir, Albanese does not let it paralyze her forever. She embraces all of her life experiences wholeheartedly. Her memoir profiles a woman of courage, stubbornness, grit, and pride. She taclkes life in Alaska, with an inner determination to not only survive but also to achieve in an area and time not woman-friendly. And she does it with grace an an indomitable spirit. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wishes to read an honest life story of someone who faced life's obstacles and challenges and never gave up. I greatly enjoyed reading about her journey.