From award-winning and bestselling author Jewell Parker Rhodes comes a powerful coming-of-age survival tale exploring issues of race, class, and climate change.
Addy is haunted by the tragic fire that killed her parents, leaving her to be raised by her grandmother. Now, years later, Addy’s grandmother has enrolled her in a summer wilderness program. There, Addy joins five other Black city kids—each with their own troubles—to spend a summer out west.
Deep in the forest the kids learn new (and to them) strange skills: camping, hiking, rock climbing, and how to start and safely put out campfires. Most important, they learn to depend upon each other for companionship and survival. But then comes a devastating forest fire…
Addy is face-to-face with her destiny and haunting past. Developing her courage and resiliency against the raging fire, it’s up to Addy to lead her friends to safety. Not all are saved. But remembering her origins and grandmother’s teachings, she’s able to use street smarts, wilderness skills, and her spiritual intuition to survive.
Author’s note. Black-and-white illustrations.
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Gr 4-8-Plagued by memories of the fire that killed her parents years ago, Addy always maps her city surroundings. But a chance to experience a wilderness camp leads Addy away from her comfort zone, along with five other kids, and across the country to Paradise Ranch. Out in the California forest, Addy has the opportunity to learn essential wilderness skills. However, her worst nightmare occurs when a deadly forest fire leaves Addy and her friends fighting for their lives in the woods. Now it's up to Addy to take all that she's learned at camp to survive. Rhodes delivers another gripping story about loss, resilience, and healing. Addy's anxiety over her parents' deaths is handled beautifully through her transition from mapper of escape routes to proper wilderness cartographer. Addy's restorative journey is realistically bumpy as she fights to accept that she can't live her life waiting for the worst to happen; rather, she can act wisely, embracing hope. While the environmental message may seem heavy-handed at first, it plays its part well by the end, aiding the final note that humans impact the Earth greatly and need to take this responsibility seriously. Addy and the five other city kids are Black. Camp owner Leo and the two counselors are cued white. An afterword provides the historical inspiration for the story. VERDICT Perfect for reluctant readers and fans of Dusti Bowling's The Canyon's Edge, this is a tale of survival and hope that doesn't disappoint.-Emily Walker, Lisle Lib. Dist., IL