Tag Archives: family conflict

Out of Range

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by Heidi Lang

Three sisters are sent to a rigorous camp together as a punishment for their constant fighting and terrible choices. Ollie ( age 9), Emma (age 12) and Abby (age 14) had moved to a new home and making friendships was difficult. Prior to this move, they had had typical sibling relationships, sometimes doing things together or sometimes two breaking off to have their own adventure. Abby starts to pull away as she tries to forge new friendships and in the process embarrasses Emma at school pretty horribly. Emma and Ollie then team up to get revenge and target Abby. As a result, their parents send them to a camp known to help kids figure things out.There are lots of unpleasant hikes and the girls don’t seem to regain their previous close bond. There is an incident and the head of the camp decides to take the girls on a punishment hike. During this hike, the girls stray from the trail and leave the camp director. What ensues is a harrowing few days as the girls work together, surviving every possible outdoor disaster (ear drownings, falling down a cliff, bear encounter and so much more) and realize they really do love each other.

The story is told in alternating views and jumps back and forth from the present (at camp) and the past (all the awful stuff leading up to it). These girls are absolutely horrible to each other and I was feeling secondary embarrassment on their behalf with each social/emotional attack they wielded. The camp part was a little over the top, with every conceivable disaster befalling the girls. I could see a couple things going wrong. But, this was EVERYTHING. You might want to take my view with a grain of salt, though, because my family has grown up in the outdoors and guides in Alaska during the summers. So, that part might be more believable to a reader that doesn’t have such a background. I did like how the girls spent quite some time reflecting (individually and together) on their actions and came to the conclusion themselves that they needed to change. Buy this book if you are looking for a survival story that has all the bells and whistles.

In-Between Days

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In-between Days, by Australian young adult author Vikki Wakefield, gives a real look into the lives of people in a small, rural town. Known for its “Suicide Forest”, Mobius feels like a dead-end town, and Jacklin, a 17 year old girl, feels trapped there. Jack’s life is filled with sibling conflict, an overbearing mother, a dad who has left the family,  a miserable job, and a tumultuous relationship with her boyfriend, who breaks her heart.

Jack struggles to truly find herself after losing everything.   She makes a new friends in a man named Pope, a wanderer camping in the woods behind her house, and begins a new relationship with Jeremiah, the boy next door.  Jack’s internal struggle between sexual desire and true intimacy puts this book right on the edge of adult fiction. Readers who likes books with female main characters, teen angst, family conflict, and other realities of  life will enjoy this book.