The Raft by S.A. Bodeen -- OPTIONAL

Bodeen, S.A. The Raft 240 pgs. Feiwel & Friends, 2012. $16.99. Language: PG-13 (9 mild swears), Sexual Content: PG, Violence: R. Robie is headed home to Midway Island when her plane goes down in the ocean. Together she and the copilot make it onto the life raft, where they quickly discover that they are stranded without food, water, or a way to communicate their whereabouts.

For a fast-paced survival story, this one has a very slow start, filled with many pointless details and little emotion, as if the author were just biding time until the actual story began, and trying to make the fact that no one was searching for Robie seem plausible. If students can get past that and to the point where the plane goes down, however, they may find themselves hooked, despite the main character's flightiness and self-centeredness. (For example, when she refuses to jump out of the doomed plane and into the lifeboat, the copilot pushes her, thus saving her life. Instead of thanking him, however, she screams at him because he pushed her.) Unfortunately, by the end Robie still has a long way to go. If not for a huge coincidence, her lack of self-sufficiency and practicality would have lost her her life -- and nearly did on numerous occasions. She survived despite herself, not because of it. For a true survival story, classics such as Hatchet, Island of the Blue Dolphins, and Touching Spirit Bear are likely to have more appeal and contain stronger main characters. However, diehard survivalists who have read those others and still want more may enjoy having this one to turn to. HS -- OPTIONAL. Reviewed by: Caryn