A weak distillation of the author’s adult works, this is unlikely to instruct or even inspire young would-be explorers.
First principles of surviving in the wild, from one who should know.
Stroud, author of several survival manuals and memoirs for older audiences and host of TV shows that document his own voluntary strandings in diverse rugged climes, offers 12 anecdotes from his experiences that exemplify what he sees as the four necessary actions: “Prepare,” “Observe,” “React,” and “Adapt.” Some stories—such as the time a companion in the Kalahari reaches into a weaverbird nest for an egg and pulls out a cobra or the discovery that Australian witchetty grubs are delectable (“The skin tasted like fried chicken, and the insides tasted like scrambled eggs! Mmmm”) while the superficially similar Indonesian sago grubs really, truly aren’t—make riveting reading. Most, however, are more casual in tone than melodramatic, and they are too sketchy on the finer points of building a fire, contriving a shelter from found materials, or like skills to draw in survivalists of either the practical-minded or armchair bent. A basic survival-kit checklist and occasional DIY projects like a homemade rain gauge are likewise perfunctory. The illustrations make this look even more like a marketing tool, as Barr’s painted reconstructions depict useful gear or crank up the drama a bit but, like many of the interspersed photos, seem mostly designed to show how good the ruggedly handsome White author looks posing in various outdoorsy settings.
A weak distillation of the author’s adult works, this is unlikely to instruct or even inspire young would-be explorers. (bibliography) (Memoir. 10-13)Pub Date: March 9, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-77321-507-5
Page Count: 104
Publisher: Annick Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
Readers will need to strap on their helmets and prepare for a wild ride.
Disaster overtakes a group of sixth graders on a leadership-building white-water rafting trip.
Deep in the Montana wilderness, a dam breaks, and the resultant rush sweeps away both counselors, the rafts, and nearly all the supplies, leaving five disparate preteens stranded in the wilderness far from where they were expected to be. Narrator Daniel is a mild White kid who’s resourceful and good at keeping the peace but given to worrying over his mentally ill father. Deke, also White, is a determined bully, unwilling to work with and relentlessly taunting the others, especially Mia, a Latina, who is a natural leader with a plan. Tony, another White boy, is something of a friendly follower and, unfortunately, attaches himself to Deke while Imani, a reserved African American girl, initially keeps her distance. After the disaster, Deke steals the backpack with the remaining food and runs off with Tony, and the other three resolve to do whatever it takes to get it back, eventually having to confront the dangerous bully. The characters come from a variety of backgrounds but are fairly broadly drawn; still, their breathlessly perilous situation keeps the tale moving briskly forward, with one threatening situation after another believably confronting them. As he did with Wildfire (2019), Newbery Honoree Philbrick has crafted another action tale for young readers that’s impossible to put down.
Readers will need to strap on their helmets and prepare for a wild ride. (Fiction. 10-12)Pub Date: March 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-64727-3
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
A picture book combines the exuberance of children and the drama found in nature for a sly lesson on power-sharing. Henderson (Newborn, 1999, etc.) lands on the wide reaches of a windy beach where young Jim expansively flings wide his arms and claims “All this is mine!” So it seems until the wind blows in a gale so violent that it smashes objects and tears “through the dreams of people sleeping.” An eerie series of black-and-white paintings shows the white-capped waves breaking ever higher and crashing inland; these are so frightening that Jim cries out to his mother, “The sea! It’s coming!” Happily enough, Jim and his mother are able to run up the hill to a grandmother’s house where they weather the storm safely. The next time Jim speaks to the wind, on a much quieter beach, he whispers, “All this is yours.” Large type, appealing pastel illustrations, and a dose of proper perspective on humankind’s power over nature make this book a fine choice for story hours as well as nature collections. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-7636-0904-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1999
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