15 Secrets to Survival

Both exciting and revelatory.

All his life, 12-year-old Baxter Phillips has been part of what his mother coined "The Getalong Gang," a playgroup comprised of her and her best friends' children. In addition to gamer Baxter, there's perfectionist Emerson and her gentle-giant twin brother Turner Casella, and Abigail Walters, a competitive gymnast with confidence in spades. The problem is, the four middle schoolers rarely get along. When the tweens' tension comes to a head during a school-sponsored trivia contest, they're disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct. As further punishment, they're forced to complete a group extra-credit assignment, which involves the gang being sent to stay with Baxter's survivalist great-uncle Hornsby in the Montana winter wilderness, an event intended to teach them teamwork. But when Uncle Hornsby sets up an elaborate network of interconnected puzzles, Turner, Emerson, Abigail, and Baxter, along with his feisty younger sister Vivi, rush to solve the puzzles with the help of pages from Hornsby's self-written guide to survival--until something goes awry with Hornsby's plans. Immediate first-person, present-tense prose keeps the emotional resonance high in this fast-paced adventure that features a charging moose, potential hypothermia, and plenty of friendship drama. Characters read as white. Ages 8-12. Agent: Suzie Townsend, New Leaf Literary. (Nov.)

Gr 3-6--Because their parents are best friends, Baxter, Abigail, Turner, and Emerson have been thrown together since they were babies, even being dubbed "The Get-along Gang." But the group is very different now, and they haven't actually been real friends in years. In fact, they actively dislike one another. When a school project goes awry due to "inappropriate use of the text chat feature," their parents decide to send the four off to Baxter's eccentric uncle, an ex-camp counselor and wilderness expert, for a weekend teamwork bootcamp in western Montana. Things do not go well. First there's the addition of Baxter's 18-month-old sister, Vivi, to their group (and the horror of changing her diapers). Then Uncle Hornsby unexpectedly goes missing, leaving the kids with nothing to guide them but a few pages of a survival handbook. This highly readable thriller highlights four kids with unique talents, all of which become crucial to complete their seemingly impossible task. Excellent characterization, rich details, and an exciting setting bring every harrowing adventure to life as the kids learn the value of working together, and the value of one another's strengths and passions. VERDICT A teamwork-oriented update of Hatchet, this fast-paced adventure story is recommended for all collections.--Rebecca Kirshenbaum