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The Winter Road
This visceral survival story pits Willa against both arctic temperatures and her own self-doubt. She'll need more than snow boots and her pilot's training to live through this experience. Seventeen-year-old Willa looks at a knight's helmet that she's made in shop class. After thinking for a moment, she looks for a sledgehammer and smashes it. Since her brother, Ray, died, her mother is never around and her father ignores her. She needs to prove herself to them--and to Ray. So when Uncle Jordy's drinking threatens to ruin her mother's research, Willa jumps in his plane and flies the cold Canadian route alone to pick up her mother.
176 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
July 12, 2024
extremely repetitive, same sort of plane crash survival storyline you’ve probably heard 1600 times
April 1, 2011
To be blunt, this was "Hatchet" for girls. I find it difficult to get anybody but males interested in Paulsen fiction, but this book generates female and male interest. I often sell it to my students as girls rock harder than boys because Willa crashes in the Winter, but Brian only had to endure the Canadian Summer. It usually works.
That being said, this is a great book about a teen who learns what's really important in life through survival endurance.
That being said, this is a great book about a teen who learns what's really important in life through survival endurance.
September 12, 2019
2.5 stars. Not terrible, but far from the best wilderness survival story I've read. It's about a teen girl named Willa who tries to fly a small plane to make a delivery on behalf of her inebriated uncle, and ends up caught in a winter storm and then crashes the plane into the Canadian wilderness.
The good: if there's a teen in your life who wants to read about a contemporary girl in a survival situation, this is another book to add to the repertoire. Unfortunately, the protagonist's gender is about the only thing that stands out, so much so that 3 of the praising quotes on the back of the book mention gender. Other good stuff: the survival stuff seems to be pretty accurate, and reading this book on top of others like "Hatchet" can help build up some general knowledge about how to survive outside in the winter.....it's not the same as actually practicing these skills, but there are handy skills in here to know about.
On that note....aside from crashing the plane, Willa pretty much faces no hardships. Unlike in "Hatchet", she has the gently-wrecked plane to use as shelter, and she has access to the plane's survival kit. Making fire, keeping warm, getting water, and finding food (for at least the first few days) is taken care of for her. No gut cherries for her; she has some freeze dried meals to tide her over while she figures out how to make a fish trap. She isn't injured during the crash, nor does she become injured during her time in the woods. When she decides to make snowshoes, a fish trap, a snow cave, and a toboggan, she accomplishes these with only a little trial and error. When she decides to strike off across the frozen landscape to try to find civilization The end. No other difficulties.
Willa's home life gets some brief mentions, but these didn't seem to have a point. The book starts out with her throwing a tantrum and destroying a project she'd be welding in shop class, and we find out that she's dealing with the aftermath of her brother's death six years before. We're also introduces to a host of off-site characters (Brothers? Uncles?) that we never really see again. The front flap of the book says "School and life have been hard for Willa Raedl since her brother Ray died. Jean is never around, and Bud ignores her whenever she shows up; they were better parents when Ray was alive." Honestly, until I typed this, I went the whole book without realizing Bud and Jean were her parents. I must have missed that, since they were only briefly mentioned in the beginning, and then make very little appearance in Willa's thoughts after that. And that's the problem with Willa's back story in this book: a bunch of stuff is thrown at you in the first chapter, and then it has no effect on the rest of the story. We gradually learn that Bud (apparently her dad, not her brother like I thought the whole book) had taught her some wilderness knowledge, and that's why she manages ok. Otherwise, her family story is irrelevant to the plot.
Now....the writing. The back flap says that this is the author's first book, and it shows. When they're just writing general stuff about Willa making snowshoes or a fire, it's fine. But when they write about her thoughts or any kind of dialogue, it can be pretty cringey. Willa randomly says stuff out loud that sounds like the corny lines that "grown ups" think teens say. Granted, this book is from 2006, over an entire whopping decade old, and it's in Canada...so maybe some dialogue is different than how I'd expect a teenager today to think/talk.
Other descriptions were written.........not so much "over written" with excessive thesaurus use, but just written in kind of a weird way. Like, when Willa is contemplating making that fish trap: "And human beings had learned how to exploit the weakness of fish to catch them and eat them. Willa shivered. This was hand-to-hand combat. Sure, she'd eaten lots of fish in her life, but never had she stolen them from their lair for her direct consumption. She already hungered for their flesh." Really??? Hand-to-hand combat to have fish swim into a primitive trap? She hungered for their flesh, but ten pages later when she contemplated trying to catch a rabbit: "She didn't want to kill things." Describing the act of catching fish as stealing them from their lair seems a bit melodramatic as well. This paragraph was just one example that I made a note of, but there were so many others that kind of make you pause. Not so much that the description is wrong (you know exactly what the author means), but just....weird. Like, the first time she needed to pee after the crash, she got out of her parka far enough to squat, and then "She drilled a dark, steaming hole in the snow." Nothing about that sentence is wrong or unclear, but it made me pause a second before I could move on.
To sum up: if this book hadn't been so quick (less than 200 pages) it would have been a DNF for the weird, awkward writing and the cringey thoughts/dialogue. Since it was so short, and since in general I like reading wilderness survival books, I went ahead and finished it. Definitely won't be adding this to my collection though...
The good: if there's a teen in your life who wants to read about a contemporary girl in a survival situation, this is another book to add to the repertoire. Unfortunately, the protagonist's gender is about the only thing that stands out, so much so that 3 of the praising quotes on the back of the book mention gender. Other good stuff: the survival stuff seems to be pretty accurate, and reading this book on top of others like "Hatchet" can help build up some general knowledge about how to survive outside in the winter.....it's not the same as actually practicing these skills, but there are handy skills in here to know about.
On that note....aside from crashing the plane, Willa pretty much faces no hardships. Unlike in "Hatchet", she has the gently-wrecked plane to use as shelter, and she has access to the plane's survival kit. Making fire, keeping warm, getting water, and finding food (for at least the first few days) is taken care of for her. No gut cherries for her; she has some freeze dried meals to tide her over while she figures out how to make a fish trap. She isn't injured during the crash, nor does she become injured during her time in the woods. When she decides to make snowshoes, a fish trap, a snow cave, and a toboggan, she accomplishes these with only a little trial and error. When she decides to strike off across the frozen landscape to try to find civilization The end. No other difficulties.
Willa's home life gets some brief mentions, but these didn't seem to have a point. The book starts out with her throwing a tantrum and destroying a project she'd be welding in shop class, and we find out that she's dealing with the aftermath of her brother's death six years before. We're also introduces to a host of off-site characters (Brothers? Uncles?) that we never really see again. The front flap of the book says "School and life have been hard for Willa Raedl since her brother Ray died. Jean is never around, and Bud ignores her whenever she shows up; they were better parents when Ray was alive." Honestly, until I typed this, I went the whole book without realizing Bud and Jean were her parents. I must have missed that, since they were only briefly mentioned in the beginning, and then make very little appearance in Willa's thoughts after that. And that's the problem with Willa's back story in this book: a bunch of stuff is thrown at you in the first chapter, and then it has no effect on the rest of the story. We gradually learn that Bud (apparently her dad, not her brother like I thought the whole book) had taught her some wilderness knowledge, and that's why she manages ok. Otherwise, her family story is irrelevant to the plot.
Now....the writing. The back flap says that this is the author's first book, and it shows. When they're just writing general stuff about Willa making snowshoes or a fire, it's fine. But when they write about her thoughts or any kind of dialogue, it can be pretty cringey. Willa randomly says stuff out loud that sounds like the corny lines that "grown ups" think teens say. Granted, this book is from 2006, over an entire whopping decade old, and it's in Canada...so maybe some dialogue is different than how I'd expect a teenager today to think/talk.
Other descriptions were written.........not so much "over written" with excessive thesaurus use, but just written in kind of a weird way. Like, when Willa is contemplating making that fish trap: "And human beings had learned how to exploit the weakness of fish to catch them and eat them. Willa shivered. This was hand-to-hand combat. Sure, she'd eaten lots of fish in her life, but never had she stolen them from their lair for her direct consumption. She already hungered for their flesh." Really??? Hand-to-hand combat to have fish swim into a primitive trap? She hungered for their flesh, but ten pages later when she contemplated trying to catch a rabbit: "She didn't want to kill things." Describing the act of catching fish as stealing them from their lair seems a bit melodramatic as well. This paragraph was just one example that I made a note of, but there were so many others that kind of make you pause. Not so much that the description is wrong (you know exactly what the author means), but just....weird. Like, the first time she needed to pee after the crash, she got out of her parka far enough to squat, and then "She drilled a dark, steaming hole in the snow." Nothing about that sentence is wrong or unclear, but it made me pause a second before I could move on.
To sum up: if this book hadn't been so quick (less than 200 pages) it would have been a DNF for the weird, awkward writing and the cringey thoughts/dialogue. Since it was so short, and since in general I like reading wilderness survival books, I went ahead and finished it. Definitely won't be adding this to my collection though...
December 20, 2017
Hokenson, Terry The Winter Road, 175 p. -
The morning Uncle Jordy is supposed to fly Willa's mother onto the next remote settlement in the far northern reaches of the Hudson Bay area, Willa finds him sleeping off a drunk instead. So WIlla takes matters into her own hands and flies the plane herself - an unplanned first solo flight. A severe storm wrecks the plane and leaves Willa with a little food and a large store of homegrown survival knowledge. After she fails to grab the attention of the rescue planes overhead, she makes the life-changing decision to find her own way to safety.
At first I was a little skeptical that this was just a blatant "Hatchet" ripoff. But the longer I read, the more I liked, and then fell in love with this excellent first effort. Descriptive, exciting writing, excellent survival skills (as if I would know! - city girl that I am!) and by the end I had tears in my eyes, because I couldn't stand the suspense any more!!! I can't wait for the author's next book.
EL, MS, HS - ESSENTIAL
The morning Uncle Jordy is supposed to fly Willa's mother onto the next remote settlement in the far northern reaches of the Hudson Bay area, Willa finds him sleeping off a drunk instead. So WIlla takes matters into her own hands and flies the plane herself - an unplanned first solo flight. A severe storm wrecks the plane and leaves Willa with a little food and a large store of homegrown survival knowledge. After she fails to grab the attention of the rescue planes overhead, she makes the life-changing decision to find her own way to safety.
At first I was a little skeptical that this was just a blatant "Hatchet" ripoff. But the longer I read, the more I liked, and then fell in love with this excellent first effort. Descriptive, exciting writing, excellent survival skills (as if I would know! - city girl that I am!) and by the end I had tears in my eyes, because I couldn't stand the suspense any more!!! I can't wait for the author's next book.
EL, MS, HS - ESSENTIAL
March 4, 2019
Skip the 1st chapter - This book is not about the relationships with her family members but is about a 17-year-old's survival following a plane crash in an expansive unpopulated area of Canada in the middle of a -30º snowy weather. Chapter 1 was a 2/5, the first half increased my rating to a 3 and at the end, I was sucked in - that "forget where you are and what day it is to the point you feel like you are the person in the book" kind of feeling. When that happens, I can't give less than a 4!
October 29, 2021
It was good.
January 7, 2024
Really good!
November 6, 2011
I love survival stories - they can be exciting and make the reader squirm in their seat during certain situations. But this one was . . . well, boring. Willa could have been a whole lot stupider in her situation, but the areas in which she was stupid were just irritating. Her plane is full of medical supplies and she doesn't take any of them with her when she decides to hike out!! None of them! That's downright stupidity. I don't care if you are able to make snowshoes, a toboggan, or a fish trap. If you are stranded with medical supplies and don't take them with you, you're just plain stupid. I was just hoping she would get injured bad so I could smugly taunt "Told you so!" at the pages.
However, that was the least annoying element in this book. Willa herself is just an aggravating girl in every respect. On top of that, this dialogue - this story takes place in Canada, therefore the characters are Canadian. I have read other books that take place in Canada with Canadian characters. Never has the author - thank God - found it necessary to put "eh" at the end or beginning of dialogue. Well, Terry Hokenson did find it necessary. Thankfully there isn't actually much dialogue because, well, Willa is stranded alone and the story doesn't deviate from her situation at all to say what's going on elsewhere. But Terry Hokenson made it up by putting "eh" in regular sentences! Plus there were Willa's thought processes, which ended or began with "eh." It drove me up a wall! One should never be accurate about how Canadians talk, unless you're making fun of them. Aside from the "eh" problem, the dialogue in general was random, annoying, and unnecessary. Willa would just all of a sudden say something for no particular reason at all.
However, that was the least annoying element in this book. Willa herself is just an aggravating girl in every respect. On top of that, this dialogue - this story takes place in Canada, therefore the characters are Canadian. I have read other books that take place in Canada with Canadian characters. Never has the author - thank God - found it necessary to put "eh" at the end or beginning of dialogue. Well, Terry Hokenson did find it necessary. Thankfully there isn't actually much dialogue because, well, Willa is stranded alone and the story doesn't deviate from her situation at all to say what's going on elsewhere. But Terry Hokenson made it up by putting "eh" in regular sentences! Plus there were Willa's thought processes, which ended or began with "eh." It drove me up a wall! One should never be accurate about how Canadians talk, unless you're making fun of them. Aside from the "eh" problem, the dialogue in general was random, annoying, and unnecessary. Willa would just all of a sudden say something for no particular reason at all.
November 12, 2015
"She caught her breath and fell quiet"
My overall oppinion is that this book is boring there isn't anything entrusting about it.What i mean by this is that there was not really much detail, as i thought there was going to be. So that is my honest oppinion about the book.
This book takes place in the Canadian route and its in the winter.
This book is about a girl and about her brother Ray that died and how her parents werent the same as before. Her parents dont talk , treat her like before.Her mom is like never around and her dad like ignores her and willa is trying to prove herself to them but she tries and tries and always ends up failing.Willa ends up crashing her uncles plane and she starts to starve herself.
Ray died six years ago in a snowmobiling accident. Willa plans to ride with her uncle Jordy in his small airplane, Willa knows about the horible weather conditions and yet willa still wants to ride with her uncle Jordy. Thats when she rode it when him and she ends up cashing.
I like the way the author describes how she crashes the plane and how she has to survive with the only tools she had. Also how she had to survive her feelings while she was trying to survive.
I wold give this book a 3 out of 5 starts because it was boring and not as entrusting as i thought yea there was some good things about this book here and there but not s much as i thought. I would recommend this book to somebody that likes books that are survival. So if you like surviva books i think you you will like this book.
My overall oppinion is that this book is boring there isn't anything entrusting about it.What i mean by this is that there was not really much detail, as i thought there was going to be. So that is my honest oppinion about the book.
This book takes place in the Canadian route and its in the winter.
This book is about a girl and about her brother Ray that died and how her parents werent the same as before. Her parents dont talk , treat her like before.Her mom is like never around and her dad like ignores her and willa is trying to prove herself to them but she tries and tries and always ends up failing.Willa ends up crashing her uncles plane and she starts to starve herself.
Ray died six years ago in a snowmobiling accident. Willa plans to ride with her uncle Jordy in his small airplane, Willa knows about the horible weather conditions and yet willa still wants to ride with her uncle Jordy. Thats when she rode it when him and she ends up cashing.
I like the way the author describes how she crashes the plane and how she has to survive with the only tools she had. Also how she had to survive her feelings while she was trying to survive.
I wold give this book a 3 out of 5 starts because it was boring and not as entrusting as i thought yea there was some good things about this book here and there but not s much as i thought. I would recommend this book to somebody that likes books that are survival. So if you like surviva books i think you you will like this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 25, 2008
This is the survival story of a troubled girl named Willa who is in her late teens. She takes her Uncle's plane without permission but with good intentions and ends up crashing in the Artic.
A Winter Road addresses topics of survival and self-discovery. This book had a certain truth to it and I almost felt as if I were reading a non-fiction account. After awhile Bryan came looking for me because I was so engrossed with the book that I had forgotten lunch. I was riveted and couldn't put this one down. This book would make an excellent and inspiring gift for any young adult.
I'd tell you more but I don't want to ruin the story.
A Winter Road addresses topics of survival and self-discovery. This book had a certain truth to it and I almost felt as if I were reading a non-fiction account. After awhile Bryan came looking for me because I was so engrossed with the book that I had forgotten lunch. I was riveted and couldn't put this one down. This book would make an excellent and inspiring gift for any young adult.
I'd tell you more but I don't want to ruin the story.
September 17, 2010
In a nutshell, this book was just plain boring. Nothing happened! The main character was lacking substance and wasn't relatable in the least. There was barely any character development, and any personality she did show was unlikeable.
The situation she was in would have been impossible to overcome. First off, if she really crashed in a plane, she would have probably broken her bones. And, even if she didn't, the -40 or -50 degree weather would have done her in quickly.
Not to mention, the actual writing was just bad. So many words with such little meaning. You could really tell this was the author's first book.
The situation she was in would have been impossible to overcome. First off, if she really crashed in a plane, she would have probably broken her bones. And, even if she didn't, the -40 or -50 degree weather would have done her in quickly.
Not to mention, the actual writing was just bad. So many words with such little meaning. You could really tell this was the author's first book.
May 25, 2009
I enjoyed it. There was a ton of details about how she survived in the wilderness and what methods she used. Sounds incredibly boring I know, but it was actually interesting and drew me in. I liked that the author studied the facts before she jumped into writing this book. All I know is if that I was in her situation I deffinatly would not have survived 3 whole weeks. I am just not that skilled.
April 5, 2012
The winter Road Was a really good book. It was one of the best book's i have read! I just loved how it took place. It's a good book for people that love to read about survival and airplanes. Im not a fan of that but i did like this book. It doesn't take that much time to read either.
September 28, 2012
I didn't really like this book just because it got nowhere in the story. But i think that when it got going it was an interesting book. I did like though how independent the girl was and how she overcame many of her fears.
July 18, 2013
This is a straightforward tale of survival. Willa annoys at times, and the author overuses exclamation points, but it's a quick read that could be empowering for young female readers.
December 18, 2008
This book had a good topic, and Willy Actually new how to survive in -30 degrees F, but the swear words were too much.
Read
June 30, 2009Hatchet for girls. A teen girl's struggle to survive after the plane she is flying crashes in Canada in winter.
March 2, 2011
Now I really know what to do if I'm stuck in a blizzard!
July 20, 2012
Decent survival/adventure story.
April 6, 2014
A cute little survival story.
May 13, 2014
I read this quite a while ago - came up in conversation recently. If you liked "Hatchet" you would like this. I'd need to read it again.
November 21, 2008
This was a pretty good book. Nothing complex, but still a good story.
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