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June 10, 2019
This latest by Stone (Internet Famous) follows two teenagers lost in the Canadian wilderness. Vale Shumway’s love of the outdoors means she’s excited to go on her school’s annual PE hiking trip, but she’s less thrilled at the prospect of spending time with her classmates. With Mike, her relentless bully, on the trip, her lifeline is her best (and only) friend, Ash Hamid, a gamer and class clown who hates the outdoors. After accidentally following the wrong trail, Ash and Vale become separated from the class and must face animals, dramatic weather, and starvation to make it out of the forest alive. The perilous adventure is viscerally described (as when rutting elk wander into their camp), but the characters lack development. The harsh bullying that Vale endures is compounded by her parents’ dismissive belief that her identified sexuality, aromantic-asexual, is a phase, and while she shows some growth in dealing with her bully, a final moment to flesh out Ash’s character undermines Vale’s efforts at self-determination. And though Ash feels guilty for not standing up for his friend, he remains a class-clown stereotype. This uneven offering will appeal most to fans of survival stories. Agent: Morty Mint, Mint Literary Agency. Ages 13–up.