Snowhook

February 1, 2019
Mother Nature battles a girl and her motley crew of sled dogs to a draw in the frozen landscape of eastern Ontario.Forecasts of a winter storm send Hannah's Army Reservist father to answer the call of duty, igniting a series of poor choices and near misses for his teenage daughter. In a fit of pique over spending school holidays at the family's rural cabin, Hannah accidentally breaks her mother's supply of insulin ampoules. Accompanied by a guilty conscience and four family dogs, Hannah sets out to save the day by dog sledding to the nearest neighbor for help. Unfortunately, the first leg of her endeavor ends with Hannah being greeted by a rifle-wielding woman having combat flashbacks. Hannah escapes with her life and Peter, a recalcitrant teenage passenger whose main contributions to the mission are sarcasm and his ability to start a fire. Anything that could go wrong does, but Hannah keeps moving forward in a learn-as-you-go adventure where only the two lead dogs have any idea what they're doing. Below zero temperatures do nothing to warm us to either Hannah or Peter, whose snarly personalities wear as thin as the ice one of the dogs falls through. Hannah's mother is Korean and her father is white; other characters follow a white default.A winter adventure that should have skipped a print version and gone straight to TV as an after-school special. (Fiction. 12-14)

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February 1, 2019

Gr 7-10-Fourteen-year-old Hannah is at her family's cabin near Timmins, Northern Ontario. Hannah doesn't like cabin life or life in Northern Ontario and is trying to gain more independence from her family. Unfortunately, her immature behavior doesn't inspire confidence in her parents to let her be more independent. However, a series of unfortunate events: her father being called away by the Armed Forces Reserves, a massive storm system hitting the Timmins area, and Hannah breaking all her mother's insulin ampules, forces Hannah to grow up quickly. With no power, her mother becoming sick, and no one coming for help, Hannah sets off to the neighbor's cabin with a sled dog team. When more misfortune strikes, Hannah not only picks up a passenger, but must extend her one day trip to the neighbor's into a four day trip to Timmins, and the storm is only getting worse. Storm's novel is fast paced and engaging, with a realistic plot that is not always seen in other YA survival/adventure novels. While Hannah starts off as immature, she grows in a realistic character arc and has a believable amount of skill and knowledge given the plot circumstances. Storm also balances descriptions of Northern Ontario, background information on running a sled dog team, and plot well enough for readers to be engaged and informed. However, the book ends abruptly and some may find the lack of epilogue unsatisfying. VERDICT Recommended for fans of adventure and survival fiction, especially stories set in Northern climates, such as Ice Dogs by Terry Lynn Johnson or the classics Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner and Dogsong by Gary Paulson.-Kaetlyn Phillips, Yorkton, Sask.

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from February 15, 2019
Grades 7-10 *Starred Review* Imagine being cold and wet in a blinding, windy snow and ice storm with a temperature of -15 degrees Fahrenheit. That's where 14-year-old Hannah finds herself. Why is she here? Because actions, even minor ones, have consequences. She resents being at the northern Ontario cabin with her family, and in a sudden fit of rage, she severs the twisty cord of the old-fashioned phone and breaks her mother's insulin vials. Afterward, her father is called to work in another part of Canada, leaving Hannah, her younger sister, and their mom alone at the cabin, where the power goes out and leaves them with no phone. In a desperate attempt to get insulin for her mother, Hannah decides to take the sled, the two trained sled dogs, and the house dogs (a Lab and a Dalmatian) to their nearest neighbor to use the emergency phone. Leaving in the middle of the night with only a note for her mother, Hannah cannot foresee the dangers that await her in the wild. Storm amazingly creates a complex story with strong, developed characters, set in her native northern Ontario. Readers will feel the cold, as well as Hannah's fear and determination, ensuring they are riveted until the last page.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)