Middle Grade Monday is a feature started right here at Reading Nook. It's a way to share news or reviews of middle grade novels on a blog that doesn't exclusively post middle grade content. Feel free to join any time and link up.
Where I got it: ARC from publisher
Rating: 3 stars
Cover Rating: 3 stars (I hate how associated with Survivor this is. Yeah the author was the host, but can't the book be a different thing?)
Genre: Middle Grade
Publication Date: February 7, 2013
Publisher: Puffin
Page Count: 176 p.
Buy it: Book Depository / Amazon
Add it: Goodreads
Vanessa, Buzz, Carter and Jane were supposed to be bonding on vacation. Their parents had just gotten married and they all had to learn to get along. So with their uncle and his friend they take off on a week-long boating trip. Then a storm comes. A much bigger storm then they are prepared for. The children end up shipwrecked, the adults are gone. This will surely test how well they are willing to work together, because if they don't they may not survive.
This was a fast and interesting read, but it left a lot to be desired. It should have been longer. It was a bit too short. This book did have an ending, so at least it wasn't just left completely open like shorter book tend to be. I think younger kids will definitely be intrigued by this story.
There doesn't seem to be a lot of actual danger though. Everything is a bit soft around the edges. I know it's a middle grade novel and maybe that's why it's so gentle, but it does slow the book down a bit. It's a nice spread of ages in this novel.
My favorite parts were Jane. She was a very interesting young girl and I really enjoyed the bits she was filming for her class project. I would almost love for this book to have been told from just one perspective and then have another character do the next book and so on. At least it was fairly clear who was narrating.
I would probably recommend this to younger reluctant readers. There is a fair amount of action and the book goes by quickly.
First Line:
"It was day four at sea, and as far as eleven-year-old Carter Benson was concerned, life didn't get any better than this."
Favorite Line:
"And a long shot was way better than no shot at all."
This is a Middle Grade Monday Post feel free to link your middle grade reviews/news below :)
(doesn't have to be posted on a Monday)
