Survival Strategies of the Almost Brave

April 13, 2015
Twelve-year-old Liberty and her eight-year-old sister, Billie, have been abandoned by their widowed father at a gas station somewhere in the southwestern U.S. White’s gripping debut weaves the events that led them there with what happens over the following three days. Liberty studies animals and records their behavior in her treasured notebook, along with the “survival strategies” she collects along the way (with titles that include “Sometimes You Should Feel Sorry for the Cobra” and “Be Patient, Like a Snapping Turtle,” the book’s chapters correspond to the tips Liberty catalogues). Left to care for Billie, Liberty uses these techniques to escape a “creepy” gas station attendant, find food and transportation, and try to get home to San Diego. Colorful characters both help and hinder the sisters on a journey that leads Liberty closer to a true home as well as a truer understanding of herself, human vulnerability, and love. While Liberty’s animal facts sometimes feel wedged into the narrative, White’s story will stay with readers. Ages 8–12. Agent: Charlotte Sheedy, Charlotte Sheedy Literary Agency.

March 15, 2015
Abandoned at a desert gas station by a mentally unbalanced parent, 12-year-old Liberty uses the animal-survival strategies she's recorded in her notebook to protect her little sister, Billie, and escape to safety.An obsessive watcher of National Geographic's Hunter and Hunted, Liberty sees her world in terms of predators and prey. She and her 8-year-old sister are the prey. After her mother was hit by a car and died, the photographer father they barely knew took them with him. The plan was for a work-and-camping trip, but he turned out not to be up to the stress of caring for children. Stranded in the desert and knowing what every 21st-century American child knows about stranger danger, they can't ask for help, and Liberty's view of the people they encounter will encourage readers to share her fears. The desert with its searing heat, stony sand, and venomous inhabitants provides an appropriate setting. Using imagery from the natural world, Liberty describes their journey, fueled by junk food and her fears. It's not until the end that she realizes that some of these scary people were wishing her well. Readers familiar with Cynthia Voigt's Homecoming (1981) will recognize the gripping story arc, but for today's middle graders, the world has sadly changed. (Fiction. 9-13)

March 1, 2015

Gr 4-7-When 12-year-old Liberty and her eight-year-old sister are abandoned at a gas station by a father who's unpredictable on his best days, Liberty takes the responsibility of protecting Billie quite seriously. After all, her recently deceased mother told her again and again that it was part of her job as the older sibling. Not wanting to get her dad in trouble, Liberty decides to avoid adult "help" altogether, choosing instead to make her own way back to San Diego and her mom's friend Julie. The result is a series of encounters with quirky characters. Some adventures are scary, some funny, some slapstick, until hunger, injury, and dehydration make adult intervention necessary and inevitable. Liberty's voice is authentic throughout, although Billie sometimes acts younger than her eight years. Debut author White uses a number of devices to unify the sometimes-hectic action scenes. For example, Liberty takes comfort from her notebook, her lists, and her knowledge of other animal species. These motifs help readers to understand Liberty, and they smooth transitions between encounters. However, these literary devices are not woven as smoothly into the plot as they might be in the hands of a more experienced writer. Taken as a whole, this is a satisfying picaresque escapade, assuming one can accept the premise that an abandoned 12-year-old would think it wiser to be on her own in the desert with a sister who has only one shoe than to ask for help from a sheriff. The ending, fortunately, is happy yet realistic. VERDICT An additional purchase, recommended for larger middle grade collections.-Katherine Koenig, The Ellis School, PA

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