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Frozen Stiff

Name: Frozen Stiff
Author: Sherry Shahan
ISBN: 9780440413738

by Sherry Shahan

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Overview

With only each other for support, the cousins face hunger and their fears of the unknown region of Southeast Alaska. As an advancing glacier floods the remote fjord, Cody and Derek find themselves facing menacing waves, immense icebergs, and wild animals. A sense that someone is following them adds to the formidable danger.

Cousins Cody and Derek take a kayak trip in Alaska and find themselves battling the raw elements of an untamed wilderness.

Synopsis

What begins as a two-night camping and kayaking trek in the untamed Alaskan wilderness turns into a test of survival for Cody and her cousin Derek. While their mothers are in Juneau picking up supplies for Yakutat Lodge, the cousins sneak off in an old pickup. The taste of freedom is soon tainted when Cody's kayak is lost on the rising tide, washing away her life vest and precious supplies.

With only each other for support, the cousins face hunger and their fears of the unknown region of Southeast Alaska. As an advancing glacier floods the remote fjord, Cody and Derek find themselves facing menacing waves, immense icebergs, and wild animals. A sense that someone is following them adds to the formidable danger.

The Mailbox - Deborah Zink Roffino

Two cousins sneak off for a quick kayaking trip, never counting on a freak flood that leads to a heart-pounding struggle to survive in he Alaskan wilderness. Laced with scary moments (an advancing glacier, bears, strangers, and temporary blindness), the book is a surprisingly realistic account of preteen reactions and courage. Rich in language and geography lessons, the novel also contains vivid descriptions of the overwhelming beauty of the Russell Fjord.

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Editorials

Deborah Zink Roffino

Children's Literature - Gisela Jernigan

As this young adult survival novel begins, 15-year-old Cody and her 12-year-old cousin, Derek, think that they are sneaking off for a carefree 2-day camping and kayak trip in a glacier/fjord wilderness area in Southeast Alaska, while their mothers are in Juneau buying supplies. The fun soon turns into a grueling week in which they battle a flooding glacier, a lost kayak and provisions, sun-blindness, mysterious creatures and other dangers. The book is exciting and well researched, with believable characters, and the reader painlessly learns a lot about glaciers and Alaskan geology and geography. A map and author's note are included.

School Library Journal

Gr 4-7-A survival story set in the Alaskan wilderness. When their mothers leave to buy supplies, Cody and her cousin Derek make an unapproved kayak and camping trip to Russell Fjord. Cody has never gone alone, but she and her mother have spent the past three summers in Alaska, and she's been on some guided trips, so she's sure she knows what to do. Derek is willing to follow her. All goes well at first, but a sudden glacier shift floods their tent and most of their provisions are destroyed. Cody becomes ill and they must make camp again. While there, they feel like they're being watched--and they are. The hidden observer is a trapper living away from society who ends up caring for the youngsters and helping them get home safely. Shahan knows this setting well and the power and majesty of the land are described eloquently and so vividly that readers can easily imagine the scene. However, this sharp description is not applied as well to the characters. It's easy to get caught up in Cody and Derek's adventure, but there is no insight into their personalities. A contrived subplot involving Cody's feelings about her parents' divorce doesn't ring true. Despite these flaws, there is enough here to make a solid, though not heart-stopping, adventure story.-Arwen Marshall, New York Public Library

Kirkus Reviews

Two inexperienced kayakers are trapped in the Alaskan wilderness by a freak of nature in a patchy but vivid survival adventure. Cody and her cousin, Derek, sneak out for a weekend of camping while their mothers are away in Juneau; when the Hubbard Glacier "surges," blocking outflow from the Russell Fjord, a rapidly rising water level catches them by surprise, washing away Cody's kayak and nearly all of their supplies. After an unsuccessful attempt to paddle back to their starting point leaves them wet, hungry, exhausted, and, in Cody's case, snow blind, a mysterious, masked woodsman brings food before luring Derek away. Cody follows, attempting to save Derek from danger, only to learn that he's gone along willingly with a reclusive ex-guide (and his wife) whose face was ravaged by frostbite on Denali; they feed the children and lead them to a point from which they can kayak to safety. The "abducting" of Derek (planned so Cody would follow) is never explained satisfactorily, and a heavily foreshadowed run-in with bears remains a tease. Still, the action is rapid and mostly realistic; Shahan describes the natural beauty, as well as the mud, mosquitoes, and other miseries her young people encounter, with authority. (Fiction. 10-12)