Tag Archives: survival story

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.

Descent by Roland Smith

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This is Bk. 4 in the Peak Marcello Adventure series and the final installment. The “outdoorsy” cover will attract readers who love climbing / survival stories. Welcome into the novel, also, those with an interest in international politics. Peak’s famous mountaineering father, Josh, and his climbing partner, Zopa, are on the run from Chinese government, wanted for questioning by the People’s Liberation Army. The setting is Tibet, the goal is to safely descend while not being discovered, while at the same time facing the usual survival challenges of avalanches, food and drink scarcity, and unpredictable weather.

Having not read the previous three books in the series put me at a disadvantage, especially in the lack of character development, probably established in the earlier books. The pacing was sometimes slow, typical for a survival story, but often action-packed as well.