Alone in the Woods

Alex and Joss have been BFFs forever, but the summer between 7th and 8th grades bring changes. Alex has to go to Spanish camp, but straight-A Joss doesn’t. Alex makes a new friend at camp and evolves into Lexie while she is gone. When she returns, she spends more time with her new friend than she does with Joss. Things get more and more tense. By the time their two families leave for their annual end-of-summer trip, the two girls can hardly be in the same room. The families take a tubing trip on the Wolf River, the girls get separated from the group, their tube punctures, and they are lost and on their own in the woods of northern Wisconsin. Can they come together enough to save themselves?

Author Rebecca Behrens has absolutely nailed the feelings and voices of 12-year-old girls. She tells this terrific story from two points of view, so readers are immersed in their issues and steeped in their feelings. The girls face grave danger in the woods and must work together to have a chance. It’s difficult and makes a great survivor story with plenty of tension. Don’t miss this.