Voyage to Nowhere

Deep Freeze #1

by D.S. Weissman, Dorothy Toth (Illustrations)

When the world started to freeze over, everyone tried to escape the cold. The kids at the Samuel S. Fornland Boardinghouse had nowhere to go and no one to help them. With the country in ruins and most of the world cast in snow, James and his best friend Abe find hope in an abandoned cruise ship docked in the San Diego harbor. The only things standing in their way are the remaining kids from the boardinghouse and the scavengers that prowl the city. Voyage to Nowhere is Book #1 from Deep Freeze, an EPIC Press series.

208 pages, Library Binding

Published January 1, 2016

Reviews

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book* · Rating 1 out of 5]

Weissman, D.S. Voyage to Nowhere (Deep Freeze 1), 208 pages. Epic Press, 2017. $19. Language: PG (24 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: PG (peeing); Violence: PG-13 (bullying, some blood, undescribed death).
James, 15, has lived in the orphanage for ten years, ever since the day he woke up and found that his parents had left and left him behind. The children at the home are a family of sorts, even trying to look after each other when the day comes that they have to abandon their home when the world-wide freezing finally reaches San Diego.
Frankly, I am baffled by this book. The cover and the blurb promise a book about an abandoned cruise ship and the kids escaping the freezing world. In reality, the boat doesn’t come into play until page 199. The rest of the book goes back and forth between kids’ arrivals in the home and the present-day, probably as a device to introduce us and hopefully invest us in the characters – it doesn’t work. This feels like its supposed to be a hi/lo reader, but the vocabulary is weirdly erratic – throwing a higher level vocab word in occasionally (what 5-year-old uses the word emanate?). There are six books in the series and they have already all been printed, so maybe the author felt that they had plenty of space to use the entire first book for character introductions, but that was a very bad call. I wish they had dived into the action first and then brought us up to date on the characters, but that probably wouldn’t have saved this book either. I forgot to mention – this book is only available in a library bound format. It should have only ever been published in paperback.
NOT RECOMMENDED. Cindy, Library Teacher

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was full of character development, but unlike the last review stated, I feel that it sets up the rest of the series very well. I appreciate that the author took the time to establish the reader's relationship and connection to the characters instead of just packing it full of action. While there are not as many action scenes in this first book, the scenes that occur are vivid and heart-breaking. If you want an action packed exciting read, I highly recommend this book and the series!

[Susan Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK storyline, but the language is not necessary, especially for middle school kids to be reading.

[Ginny · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK, 3 1/2 stars. This isn't a classic work of fiction, but it's a good middle grade read. Mostly focused on the kids and the world they've made growing up in an enormous orphanage, with small appearances of the adults, one of whom is very kind and cares for the kids. The rest seem to all be crummy parents. Focus on the story, not the unlikelyhood of what's happening in the background.
The world is quite suddenly in another ice age and San Diego is now a giant ice cube terrorized by gangs of ruthless scavengers. The story moves along very quickly with few details.
I was hoping that each of the books could stand alone. Maybe they can, to a young reader. The fourth in the series was just returned and the boy really liked it!
The cover art on all of the books is fabulous.
A quick read, I'll surely grab at least one more.

[GNRLibrary · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an optimist, I hope this book is simply setting the stage for the rest of the series. As a stand-alone book, it fell short for me. Choppy transitions, erratic vocabulary and too little plot made this a more challenging read than it should have been. Set in San Diego, in a future time not specified, but feeling like it could be not too distant from now, the Fornland Boardinghouse for orphans has been abandoned. A deep freeze has set over the earth, finally making its way to the west coast. Survival is all anyone lives for now, and the children left have decided to make a run for it. Unfortunately, their survival run takes place in the last 10 pages of the book, which is a long time for a reader without a lot of patience.

[emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

the book, i felt, was too much of an introduction to the actual plot; almost like a prequel. but it was very consumable and sets the stage for the later books in the series. one thing that did bother me was how the synopsis on the back of the book honestly had nothing to do with what the book was actually about. overall, i felt like it was a good read though

[Madison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it, only thing i didn’t enjoy was the time line. It was confusing to follow and seemed to pop up in different moment sun past and future. But other than that it was good.

[April eclecticbookworm · Rating 1 out of 5]

The only thing going for it was how short it is. There are 6 books to the series so it might pick up but I don't care enough about any of them to read anymore. The ship didn't come into play until the last couple pages so "Voyage To Nowhere" was a bit literal. The story didn't go anywhere just described how the main characters arrived at the home.