The Raft

July 2, 2012
A simple airplane trip becomes a harrowing struggle for survival in this tense offering from Bodeen (The Gardener). Fifteen-year-old Robie is on her way home to Midway Island after vacationing in Honolulu when the tiny cargo plane she’s on develops engine problems. One emergency landing later, and Robie is forced to swim for her life, taking refuge on a life raft with Max, the copilot. In the middle of nowhere, with almost no supplies, and under constant threat of shark attack, their chances for rescue are impossibly slim. As they fight to stay alive, Max’s story unfolds and Robie discovers just how far she’ll go in the name of self-preservation. Bodeen’s tight, pared-down sentences mirror Robie’s mood as her ability to cope falls apart (“My throat was so dry, I could barely swallow. I rolled on my back and looked up at the sky. Cloudless. Again”). This psychological thriller uses natural menaces and Robie’s eroding mental state to strike one dark note after another, leading to some disturbing twists and an ending that isn’t entirely reassuring. Ages 12–up. Agent: Scott Mendel, Mendel Media Group.

July 1, 2012
When her plane crashes, Robie's years of living with her researcher parents on Midway Island provide her with important knowledge. Cutting short a visit to an aunt in Honolulu, 15-year-old Robie gets on a small cargo plane delivering supplies that founders in an electrical storm; a crash quickly follows engine failure. The raft that becomes her support contains some useful items, but with the only other survivor almost comatose, it is clear that Robie is pretty much on her own. As a survival tale, this is both engaging and full of scary factoids and frightening possibilities. Not completely likable, Robie nonetheless engages readers with her sometimes almost stream-of-consciousness narration. She finds ways to push herself to be brave and do what is needed to survive. Her familiarity with the flora and fauna of the Pacific islands proves both asset and hindrance: She knows the danger she's in. Her thoughts are often selfish, almost whiny, but this rough-edges glimpse into her personality ultimately makes both her decisions and her chances of survival more realistic. Despite its small font, it's a quick read, thanks to plenty of white space. A compelling survival adventure. (Adventure. 11-15)

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September 1, 2012

Gr 6 Up-Step aside Karana (Island of the Blue Dolphins)-teen fiction has a new castaway heroine. Robie loves traveling from the Midway Atoll where she lives with her parents, both researchers, to visit her aunt in Honolulu. She's taken the trip by cargo plane many times by herself, but when a storm hits mid-flight, Robie has to bail out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. With the storm still pouring water over them, the plane's copilot, Max, inflates the emergency raft and drags Robie to safety. On the raft with a man she doesn't know, over hundreds of miles of ocean, her problems really begin. Survival means patching up the leaking raft, staying hydrated, and avoiding the tiger shark that's following her. Eventually she must face the reality that rescue may not be coming. After days and days of torture on the open water, she washes up on the beach of an uninhabited island. Is this island her salvation or her final resting place? Fast-paced and intense, Robie's story has a tight grip on readers up to the very last page. What will stick with them are the choices Robie makes amid her grim reality and her determination to stay alive. There is nothing like losing everything to make you appreciate what you have, like parents who love you and clean drinking water. This book will satisfy anyone who likes a good survival story.-Richelle Roth, Boone County Public Library, KY

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