Brandon Wallace

I was really hoping for a win with this book, because honestly, there just aren't enough realistic fiction, adventure books for boys. This story is about Jake and Taylor, two young teenagers who live with their depressed mother and her abusive boyfriend. Right there that knocks a star off, because I get so annoyed when books written for 10-13 year olds get spoiled by humanity's dark side. Seriously? Do you really need to do that? Let kids keep their innocence as long as possible.

After the abusive boyfriend, Bull, beats their mother to the point of unconsciousness, the two boys decide they have no choice but to find their dad. Here's the thing about their dad. He took off when the boys were very young to follow his dream of living off the land in the Wyoming wilderness. Ok what dad does that? This is not a person to admire. Here's the hokey part. He's been sending letters to his mother with obscure clues about how to find him. Give me a break. If you want your family to join you, you don't make it a mysterious challenge. You're straight forward with the details.

Jake and Taylor live in Pittsburgh. That's a long way from Wyoming. How are they going to get there? Well "luckily" they find a stash of Bull's money under a tile in the house, so they take that, but instead of buying a train ticket or bus ticket, they decide they have to go the undercover route. I get that. In reality if two kids show up at a station to buy tickets, the authorities will probably be called. So here's how they get to Wyoming. First, they jump on a moving cargo train like you see in the movies. They end up in Chicago. On the next leg of the trip, they hitch a ride with a women truck driver who gets them all they way to Wyoming. Then they hide in the cargo compartment of a tourist bus going to Treton National Park where they hope to find their dad.

From here it's survival stuff. I like this part, but it's not realistic. For two city boys, they have way more skill that they should. Trust me. I watch enough Naked and Afraid to know how hard it is for experienced adults to survive in the wilderness. They manage to trap fish, build a fire with a magnifying glass, and not die from drinking the water. They mentioned boiling it, but trust me. There's no way they brought a pot.

So they end up saving a guy whose arm is trapped under a rock by using a rope and pulley system. I can believe that. The guy's rope. The guy's instruction. They end up staying with the guy for a week. Skeet teaches them how to make traps, butcher a rabbit, and kill animals with a sling shot and bow. Come on. Not going to happen in a week. Skill like this takes time. When Taylor runs off and gets scratched up by a bobcat, Jake finds just the plant he needs to save him. Hok...ey.

So let me wrap this up, because I'm spending way too long on this review. Bull ends up tracking them down and they find their father. All's well that ends well.

Here's the final take. Boys will like this book. They'll miss the absurdity. I like the fact that these boys are go getters, even though in reality they would never make it past Chicago. I like that the book teaches survival skills even though these are not the kids that would ever be able to use them. I like the notes at the end that talk about animals, plants and survival how-tos. For any kid who longs to camp in the wilderness and learn how to survive, these tips are very informative. This book is not even close to [b: Hatchet|50|Hatchet|Gary Paulsen|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1385297074s/50.jpg|1158125], but I would probably purchase this book for a school library, because like I said, there aren't enough books in this category and kids aren't as obsessively analytical as adults.… (mer)