Review by Jackie Marchant
A debut that was
longlisted for the Carnegie, and rightly so.
Set in the US, three completely different teenagers find themselves on
the run, heading for Yellow Lake – Peter is secretly heading to his mother’s
log cabin to fulfil her dying wish and bury a lock of hair, Jonah has run away
to find his Native American roots and Etta is fleeing from her mother’s latest
abusive boyfriend.
What they don’t know is
that the log cabin where they all end up hasn’t been used by Peter’s family for
a very long time – and an abandoned cabin is the perfect place to commit all
sorts of atrocities without anyone knowing.
As the danger become
clearer, you’d expect the teens to stick together. But they each have their own agenda and they
don’t. Instead they allow
misunderstandings to become major issues, detracting from the real danger they
are in, until it’s too late. And that’s
what I love about this book. The way the
characters fail to cope makes it so real – and all the more chilling. There are no gimmicks here, just a believable
tale of what really could happen. That’s
what makes you keep turning the pages.
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3 comments:
Me like this book too! And there's a really surprising funny turn of phrase that only Jane McLoughlin does.
I like the sound of that - and how the three don't immediately "make a team etc etc."
And with an Anne Cassidy quote on the cover. It's published by Frances Lincoln, says internet search.
It's a very good tool to stimulate discussion with young and mid-teens on many major issues. It's also a very good read with danger, suspense and adventure. Thank you JaneMcLoughlin.
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