Review: Trapped by Michael Northrop
Title: Trapped
Hardcover, 224 pages
Author: Michael Northrop
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Publication Date: January 1, 2011
Source: Publisher
Buy: Amazon
Book Summary:
The day the blizzard started, no one knew that it was going to keep snowing for a week. That for those in its path, it would become not just a matter of keeping warm, but of staying alive….
Scotty and his friends Pete and Jason are among the last seven kids at their high school waiting to get picked up that day, and they soon realize that no one is coming for them. Still, it doesn’t seem so bad to spend the night at school, especially when distractingly hot Krista and Julie are sleeping just down the hall. But then the power goes out, then the heat. The pipes freeze, and the roof shudders. As the days add up, the snow piles higher, and the empty halls grow colder and darker, the mounting pressure forces a devastating decision….
Review:
Brrrrr
The cover of Trapped is a pretty good description of what’s inside the book – people trapped in a building during a blizzard. I read this during some bad weather in my own town, so it was a little eerie.
Like Susan Beth Pfeffer’s Life As We Knew It (and accompanying books), Trapped will have you brainstorming what you’d do in a blizzard or other natural disaster. We only had about six inches of snow on the ground while I was reading this, but I was still freaking out a little (and read it very quickly as a result). In fact, I bet even if I read this in the summer I would feel like it was snowing outside. Major mind trip.
Scotty, Pete, Jason, and the other students stuck in the school are excellent characters. You learn the personalities of each, and their decisions stay true throughout. Michael Northrup didn’t just write a fluff book about a blizzard, either (I was originally expecting something along the lines of the Baby Sitter’s Club Super Special where they get snowed in) – there are some serious decisions to be made, and they don’t all go very smoothly. Things I hadn’t even considered happen (and not outrageous things – things that would actually happen in this situation), which made me doubt my own ability to survive. Needless to say, this isn’t a book where you’ll be rooting for “Team Jason” or “Team Pete” – there are more important things going on than a love triangle or where to sit at lunch.
Haunting and desperate, Trapped by Michael Northrup will mess with your mind and have you rooting for survival.
Buy: Amazon
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Oooh, I’ve been looking forward to reading this one, and now I want to even more! Thank you for the great review.
It is certainly a winter time kind of book!
LOL, well I personally love the cover because it is what I see out my front door all through winter! I have not heard very good reviews for this book, you are not the only one!
I’m sure the cover is hitting home for quite a few people haha
When I was stuck instead from the blizzard, I was wishing I had this book to read. I thought it would be perfect!
Sarah
That Bookish Girl
It may have made you a little anxious that you were in a blizzard yourself – the things the characters in the book have to do to survive are very intense!
I have this one. I stole it off the ARC shelf at Hicklebee’s. I hope to get to it soon.
I fell in the middle on this one. It’s quite darker than my usual fare. Well done (though not entirely unpredictable) but for such a short book on a pretty simple plot I thought it was intriguing enough.