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4.13 AVERAGE
4.13 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really enjoyed this book, it was really interesting!!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Gun violence, Medical content
adventurous
challenging
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
adventurous
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I wanted to love this book. It is a perennial favorite with my middle schoolers, but I found the lack of information provided about the “imminent threat” and also the lack of information provided about why it took Maddie’s parents so long to come and look for her and why they were finally allowed out ruined the ending for me. I did admire Maddie’s will to survive and her ingenuity, but the plot felt so contrived that I couldn’t fully appreciate her accomplishments.
fast-paced
adventurous
dark
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
2023 Truman Award nominee. If you liked the survival story of 96 Miles, then you'll enjoy Alone. Written in prose. Very quick read for adults. Good for classroom read-alouds.
This book focuses on the emotional impact of an event in which twelve year old Maddie wakes up to find herself completely isolated in her town. Told in sparing but emotionally-charged free verse, Maddie and her neighbor's dog team up to survive in modern day Colorado. Unlike some other survival stories (e.g. Hatchet and My Side of the Mountain) this book doesn't spend a lot of time on the logistics or wildcraft. References to other books like Island of the Blue Dolphins and the poetry of Mary Oliver abound.
I am going to try to keep this succinct and respectful but I really really didn't like this book. It was like someone asked what all of my kids' lit pet peeves are and then wrote a book based on those.
-Way too much of this book is just book/author name-dropping and a love letter from the author to the writers she loves. Who, shock of a lifetime, are almost exclusively white people. I could be wrong, but I think the only author of color even mentioned was Jason Reynolds and certainly the ones who got a lot of attention were white (and some are now considered problematic). Not to mention a lot of these books are just really old. In general, the book just screams 'white people' a lot. At one point she mentions something like 'wars in far off places' and it gave me icky vibes, as well as some of the comments about the looters vs church pastors. On top of the whiteness issue of the literature, it just drives me crazy when it feels like authors are pandering to librarians and book fanatics. I generally love recommending survival/adventure titles to reluctant readers but with all of the constant literary references I don't think they could get into it.
-This book is guerrilla Christian fiction. Now, Christian fiction is very much not my jam but I still believe people have a right to write and read it if they want to. But in this book, the author continuously pretends that the main character ISN'T religious but there are quite a few Christian references and sections, including a word-for-word hidden quote toward the end that comes straight out of a popular hymn.
-Maddie is boring and doesn't really have any character development. The book is essentially a series of obstacles with no real point or growth coming out of them. There are long soliloquy sections about two subjects that are each brought up multiple times: her parents' [seemingly super amicable!!] divorce and her loneliness. The loneliness concept is really hammered over the head of the reader. The divorce angst screams of privilege. Maddie has not one fully intact, loving, and well-functioning family who loves her but TWO. It is truly the best case scenario of divorced parents.
-As to writing style: In general, and this is not surprising after reading her profile, this author would succeed more with true poetry. This particular title doesn't really get anything out of being written in verse, imo. She clearly enjoys more flowery language and I bet her poetry is really quite lovely.
-Way too much of this book is just book/author name-dropping and a love letter from the author to the writers she loves. Who, shock of a lifetime, are almost exclusively white people. I could be wrong, but I think the only author of color even mentioned was Jason Reynolds and certainly the ones who got a lot of attention were white (and some are now considered problematic). Not to mention a lot of these books are just really old. In general, the book just screams 'white people' a lot. At one point she mentions something like 'wars in far off places' and it gave me icky vibes, as well as some of the comments about the looters vs church pastors. On top of the whiteness issue of the literature, it just drives me crazy when it feels like authors are pandering to librarians and book fanatics. I generally love recommending survival/adventure titles to reluctant readers but with all of the constant literary references I don't think they could get into it.
-This book is guerrilla Christian fiction. Now, Christian fiction is very much not my jam but I still believe people have a right to write and read it if they want to. But in this book, the author continuously pretends that the main character ISN'T religious but there are quite a few Christian references and sections, including a word-for-word hidden quote toward the end that comes straight out of a popular hymn.
-Maddie is boring and doesn't really have any character development. The book is essentially a series of obstacles with no real point or growth coming out of them. There are long soliloquy sections about two subjects that are each brought up multiple times: her parents' [seemingly super amicable!!] divorce and her loneliness. The loneliness concept is really hammered over the head of the reader. The divorce angst screams of privilege. Maddie has not one fully intact, loving, and well-functioning family who loves her but TWO. It is truly the best case scenario of divorced parents.
-As to writing style: In general, and this is not surprising after reading her profile, this author would succeed more with true poetry. This particular title doesn't really get anything out of being written in verse, imo. She clearly enjoys more flowery language and I bet her poetry is really quite lovely.