Out of Range

by Heidi Lang

Hatchet meets Raina Telgemeier’s Sisters in this “realistic, riveting” ( Kirkus Reviews ) middle grade tale of three warring sisters who find themselves lost in the wilderness and must learn to trust each other if they want to survive.

Sisters Abby, Emma, and Ollie have gone from being best friends forever to mortal enemies.

Thanks to their months-long feud, they are sent to Camp Unplugged, a girls’ camp deep in the heart of the Idaho mountains where they will go “back to nature”—which means no cell phones, no internet, and no communicating with the outside world. For two whole weeks. During that time, they had better learn to get along again, their parents tell them. Or else.

The sisters don’t see any way they can ever forgive each other for what they’ve done, no matter how many hikes and campfire songs they’re forced to participate in. But then disaster strikes, and they find themselves lost and alone in the wilderness. They will have to outrun a raging wildfire, make it through a turbulent river, escape bears and mountain lions and ticks. They don’t have training, or food, or enough supplies. All they have is each other.

And maybe, just maybe, it will be enough to survive.

Genres: Middle Grade, Adventure, Survival, Realistic Fiction, Fiction, Family, Young Adult

320 pages, Hardcover

Published June 7, 2022

About the author

Heidi Lang believes that the next Grand Adventure is always just around the corner. She has chased her love of judo from the East to the West Coast, run ultramarathons, started her own dog-walking business, and converted a Sprinter van into a tiny home so she could experience #vanlife. Currently she lives in Washington with her husband, kids, and two dogs.

Reviews

[Cadee · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I like this book because it taught me how you need to always get along with your siblings. And it taught me how I should always get along with my brother because who knows when you can get lost or drown. I feel like you should read this book if you need to know what could happen if you don't get along with your siblings." -Cadee, age 10

[Belles Middle Grade Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was absolutely phenomenal. This has so many amazing layers. There’s a fantastic & realistic sister story with these 3 sisters who have lost their way with each other, so to speak, & are sent to this camp so they can hopefully repair their relationship. Each chapter alternates between the 3 sisters POV, & some are also titled “before”, meaning events leading up to current time. It helps getting that backstory, especially from each sisters view. Loved that so much. Connects you to the story, to them, to the EMOTION of it all. Abby, Emma, & Ollie each have their own unique personality, & experience. Current timeline chapters are titled “now”. The book also has 3 parts. Then you have this amazingly written setting. Everything is so vivid, from the descriptions of EVERYTHING, to what the characters are feeling..you almost feel lost & scared out there right along with them. Intense atmosphere in all the best ways for a survival story for sure. Nailed it. Nailed the whole story really. Then the survival part of the story itself. These 3 kids lost in the wilderness trying to survive. Everything they face, what they see & feel, what they go through..I couldn’t believe how well the author did this part especially. But in the authors note I read where she, her husband, & their 2 dogs had once gotten lost in the wilderness-so she definitely knows how this feels! Imagine being a kid though like these girls! It doesn’t shy away from the danger this scenario would bring, & I love that. Kids need to know it’s not fun & games, it’s not something you can easily get out of. These girls don’t have training, food, or hardly any supplies at all. The danger they face is not a fairytale, it’s real life dangers, & it is intense & scary. The sibling story at the core of it all though, & how they realize they’re all they have in this moment, & if they want to make it through this they have to depend on & trust each other again. They also each see what really matters in life, & what actual fear is-not the trivial things they thought were so important before, or what they thought fear was before. Also, life can change in the blink of an eye. Don’t take those you love for granted. Don’t waste time being angry. This was a realistic, terrifying, moving, deep, suspenseful, impactful story. Full of sister love(& realistic intense dislike lol), nature, danger, adventure of the most intense & fearful kind, wildlife, bravery, & so much heart. I flew through this. Like I said, the way it’s broken down into 3 parts of the survival story, & then alternates POV each chapter so you get to see each sisters experience is brilliant. And also some chapters showing the events “before” that got the sisters where they are now….just a genius layout to go with this AMAZING story..AMAZINGLY WRITTEN story. Wow. HIGHLY recommend. This is out now! STUNNING cover by Celia Krampien as well.💜

[⛅ Sunny (sunnysidereviews) ⛅ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars

This was an enjoyable middle grade story on resilience, and the unbreakable bond of sisters. RTC!
—————
Heidi Lang is such an iconic Middle Grade author, so I'm very excited for this!! Plus, who doesn't love books with sisters in them??

[simone ☆ · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite new books of 2022!
I really enjoyed this book. Each encounter with each new forest-y challenge felt realistic and terrifying.
Being the Penderwick lover that I am, I had very high expectations. I didn't want anything fluffy and was ready for something deep and poignant. This book definitely delivered.
This is my first time reading something by Heidi Lang, I believe--but it hopefully won't be my last!

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC provided by NetGalley. This was a great read! A good survival story (which my students love so I’m always looking for more) and a great story about sisters.

[Kira DeSomma · Rating 5 out of 5]

*I was provided with an Advance Reviewer copy of this book from the publishers as I am an employee at an independent bookstore*
This book was gritty in the best way. It was dark and cold at points, much like the forest that the three sisters were lost in… but at the heart of this book is a brilliant story of sisterhood, friendship, and resilience that will inspire young readers. The message is clear: be yourself, and you will find your way!

[Afoma (Reading Middle Grade) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Out of Range is a heartfelt survival middle grade book about sisterhood, tween angst, and identity. Starring three sisters between the ages of 9 and 13, this story will work for various ages and appeal to kids with diverse interests. This would be a great selection if you enjoy books set in summer camps or stories about kids adjusting to a move!

Read my full review on my blog.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can see how kids who enjoy adventure stories/survival stories would enjoy this, but if definitely wasn't for me. Mostly because these girls would have died within the first 100 pages and it was hard to get past that. The way the story was told in flashbacks and in the present AND from all three sister's perspectives was interesting and well done.

[Kim Bahr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great survival story for girls

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 3 out of 5]

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Ollie, Emma, and Abby are sisters who are close in age, but do not get along well. Abby is the oldest, and in order to fit in after the family has moved has joined the cross country team even though she hates running. What she does like is Dustin, one of the members of the team who takes an interest in her when she says she wants to improve her skills. Because she's spending time trying to get Dustin to be interested in her, she often cancels plans with Emma. Emma struggles with a lot of anxiety, and even though she is a good singer, has had enough trauma surrounding public performance to dissuade her from going out for plays. Ollie is the youngest, and is tired of watching both of her sisters grow away from her. Flipping back and forth between the girls' experience on a disciplinary walk after they pull a prank at the wilderness camp their parents made them attend as punishment for OTHER meanness to each other, we see the girls struggle when they get separated from the counselour, and in between those experiences, see what happened at home to get them sent to camp in the first place. Ollie and Emma try to band together to scare Dustin away from Abby; at one point, they "redecorate" her room with all of their stuffed animals so she looks juvenile, and Abby retaliates by ripping the heads off of the stuffed animals. Abby has a friend at school who pulls a prank on Emma so that her singing gets on the announcements, which doesn't help her anxiety. In the wilderness, the three struggle with typical survival issues like food, cold, and having to cross water, as well as an encounter with both a cougar and a bear. Even after almost losing both sisters, Abby struggles to remain grateful that they are alive, and their survival is compromised by their inability to get along. Will they be able to make some peace with each other and manage to get out of the forest alive?
Strengths: This was a solid adventure survival tale that will go over well with readers who enjoyed Behrens' Alone in the Woods or Lambert's Distress Signal. There's also a ton of sister drama that bleeds into friend drama. Abby's longing for a friend group, and her crush on Dustin, will resonate with younger readers. Ollie's growing distance from her older sisters will be all too familiar to many girls who are the youngest in the family. Emma's constant anxiety is echoed in many of my students right now, making this a timely mix of emotional and physical survival.
Weaknesses: While I definitely see how flashbacks can be used to good advantage, I'm not a fan of them because I have so many students who return books that they claim are hard to follow because of this literary device.
What I really think: I would have liked this more if Abby had enjoyed cross country a little bit more; most teams are good ways to make friends. As an adult who has dealt with a lot of complaining, bickering children this year, I found myself rooting just a little bit for the cougar and the bear, but young readers will approach this from a completely different angle and enjoy the story without wishing to kill off all of the sisters! I am impressed that Ms. Lang now gets along with her sister Kati Bartkowski well enough to write books with her, if this is at all based on her personal experience growing up!

[Waverly Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exciting adventure about three sisters who are upset each other. I love that this story gets deep into all the personalities and the past of the characters. This was a great book and I'm hoping for another one.

[Yz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute

[Melissa Killian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love a sister story and these three sisters were great characters with their own personalities, who just wanted to be seen and accepted by each other. When eldest sister Abby starts hanging out with the "cool" kids from the track team and even gets her first boyfriend, middle sister Emma, who struggles making friends and counts on Abby for companionship, feels left behind. And youngest sister Ollie is jealous of the bond between her older sisters, who always leave her out and shoo her away. So when Abby ditches Emma, again, breaking her heart, Ollie comes up with a plan to get revenge, which results in a prank war. Perfect for Ollie, who instigates this rivalry, because she now has Emma to hang out with and would rather not be left out anymore if her sisters were to reconcile.

The girls' parents send them to a wilderness camp to try to force them to spend time together and learn to get along, but they abandon their counselor and get lost in the woods for two days, having to survive countless dangers. I really liked the adventure aspect of this story, but I have to wonder how realistic their survival truly would be. They survive a wildfire that is the initial danger but is barely brought up again, one sister gets swept away in the river current and passes out in the water yet somehow lives through it, a cougar is stalking them, a bear attacks one of the sisters for the honey in her sleeping bag (their only food) but she doesn't get injured. What?! Seems unlikely that they'd all make it through. But they do manage to rely on each other and make peace so the danger was worth it, I guess?

Also, the stuffed animal abuse in this book would have horrified my younger self, who always believed stuffed animals have souls. Each incident was like a knife in the gut, even now as an adult. Save the stuffies! The absolute worst thing someone could do to me (that wasn't actual injury or murder of loved ones) would be to mutilate or take away a stuffed animal.

[eve.lyn._.reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

🚞🌄🏙️Out of Range🏙️🌄🚞
3.5 Stars
Abby, Emma, and Ollie have a tense relationship after a horrible fight that ensued over the course of several days. Now they are sent to Camp Unplugged to sort out their emotions. However, the sisters resort to fighting and end up getting lost in the woods. A wildfire has started, and Emma, Abby, and Ollie must outrun it and find the camp again. But several obstacles come in their path, arguments, and the sisters are separated multiple times. As the book alternates from the past to the present, the sister's complicated relationship unfolds.

Heidi Lang is such a versatile author, no matter the genre she writes, I've enjoyed every single book by her! Out of Range wasn't the typical use of girl-meets-boy-survive-in-forest-together. No, instead it focused on the complexities and difficulties in the relationship between sisters. I like how this really focused on the sisters, and their argument wasn't something over-the-top-dramatic, but it wasn't underwhelming either.

After reading the author's note about how Heidi Lang went through an experience similar to Out of Range, and then deciding to write a book about three sisters braving the wild added an intriguing element! I loved how it alternated between the past and present. It dealt with several lessons, like growing up, growing apart, and not staying with someone who loves who they want you to be.

Abby, Emma, and Ollie were different ages and I felt that Heidi was careful to make them seem their age but also make their personalities vastly different. I enjoyed how adventurous this book is with emotion packed at the heart! Three sisters bravely venture into the woods. Their relationship was complicated and tricky but I enjoyed it!
✅PLOT
✅CHARACTERS

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It's switches between the POV of the three sisters, Abby, Emma and Ollie as well as having flashbacks. At first I was worried this would make the story harder to follow but it helped keep the story moving instead of slow it down. You learn through the first 2/3rds of the book why the girls began to fight and the ultimate reason they were sent to Camp Unplugged, while also seeing them start off refusing to really talk to each other, or accept their own roles in their feud. As the story progress they come back together as sisters as they are required to survive after some.. poor decisions, similar to the ones that landed them in the camp to begin with. By the end the girls have truly begun to mend their relationship and that leads to their survival and being found again.

This would be a great book for a kid who wants an adventurous relationship book that isn't a romantic relationship but a sibling one instead.

[Grace Lyman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was so close to a five star book for me. Heidi Lang did a great job showing the honesty and sincerity of growing up with three sisters who are so close in age and relationships. I also loved how this one shows that with relationships with siblings go through many stages and motions but we always rely on our siblings through all of life's journey.

Emma, Abby, and Ollie's unspoken, prank war was funny to watch transpire and take place. This book was written in three perspectives and also had alternating time periods. This helped see all sides and angles of the story and gain the best background of the story. I can't decide who was my favorite sister because they all had such lovable traits about each one. These traits appealed to all different readers in their life.

Out of Range felt like the girl version of Hatchet but also had a Holes feel to it, and I kept hoping somehow the camp would reveal some big secret similar to Holes. A must read!

[Yvie · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this adventure/family drama, three sisters become lost in the woods during a summer camp hike and must fight for their survival. In an added twist, the sisters have been at odds with one another since before even arriving at the camp. On top of this, they are each dealing with a personal conflict that comes into play during their ordeal. Abby, the oldest, longs for acceptance among her peers, middle child Emma is dealing with personal insecurities, and the youngest, Ollie, feels she is always left out of things by her sisters

While the beginning of the book is intriguing, the novel ultimately fell short because it was pretty apparent to me early on how the story would unfold. There were no major plot twists or surprises, although there were what I would characterize as minor reveals throughout.

In short, it was a pretty good book, just a little too predictable.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lang does a great job of weaving together a heart-stopping adventure and survival story and an engrossing portrayal of a sibling relationship that has become toxic. Each of the three young sisters is fully and sympathetically developed and each one's emotions and motivations ring true.

Through the course of serious and life-threatening predicaments, each girl grows and changes believably as they endure near-drowning, a fall from a cliff, a bear attack, poison ivy, hypothermia, hunger and fear. Each girl's story has equal weight Lang does a terrific job with the pacing, plot and character development.

This is a book hard to put down and one that may make kids think about their own relationships. Me? I'm going to call my sister the minute I finish this review ;-)

[WKPL Children's/YA Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Miss Lori really enjoyed this adventurous and suspenseful survival story. Three sisters find themselves at an "off the grid" camp for 2 weeks as a consequence for months of fighting and hurtful pranks against each other. One day shy of being "done" with their punishment/camp experience, they get lost and encounter all kinds of disasters and life-threatening events.

Each chapter is written from the point of view of one of the sisters, sometimes in the present and sometimes in the past--as we learn about what it was that caused them to be sent to the camp.

There is much to be learned (or reminded of) as you read about these young girls feelings, decisions, and actions as they begin to come of age. I highly recommend this book to middle school boys and girls alike.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sister relationships + a survival story? Count me in! This fast-paced read is engrossing, heartfelt, and even funny. The three girls at the novel's center are all sympathetic, likable, and relatable. All of them grow and change throughout the book, becoming both better sisters and better people. Their journeys—both physical and emotional—are so vividly portrayed that I felt as if I'd gone on them with them. As the middle sister of three, their experiences together felt very true-to-life and relatable to me. Although there are some intense, scary scenes in the book, overall it's an upbeat, hopeful, and empowering read. I buzzed through it in an afternoon and quite enjoyed it.

[BookSweetie]

Middle grade adventure fiction featuring 3 sisters who have moved with their parents from California to Utah. They play hurtful pranks against each other and when summer arrives, their parents send them to Camp Unplugged in an Idaho wilderness camping setting in hopes of improving the sister’s relationships with one another. While on a hike on a poorly maintained forest trail, the girls (Ollie, Emma, Abby — ages 9- ~12) abandon their counselor and get lost —at times even separated from one another—and encounter multiple life-threatening situations. By the end of the book, the three each have re-evaluated their feelings and actions towards one another.

[Lonna Pierce · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one stark cautionary tale about three squabbling sisters who are forced to attend a survival camp to learn to get along, dispense with cruel pranks, and re-create a sisterly bond. Getting lost on a "punishment hike" in an unforgiving wilderness during a forest fire and nearly drowning in a raging, white-water river is one way to learn their lesson. Middle grade readers will relate to the endless arguing and loss of siblings as their closest friends when new alliances are formed in school. Not particularly an enjoyable read, all the same.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you have an annoying sibling who you also love and would do anything for, this is the story for you. 3 sisters find themselves in the wilderness of Idaho trying to survive. They must rely on each other and also forgive each other of the many wrongs they have done to each other in the past several months. I liked the growth arc of each sister and what they learned. Some of it felt a little unbelievable but it is a great nature survival story. No swears, some elements of danger including almost drowning and a bear attack, and some mild romance for Abby and her crush. 6th grade and up.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a cute enough story and I liked the characters, but the constant back and forth between timelines kept it from flowing as well as I could have. Every time the timeline changed, I got pulled out of the story a little more, and by the end I just wanted it to be over. I'm definitely not the target audience so take that with a grain of salt, and there was plenty to like about it despite that. I really liked all three of the sisters and their dynamic with each other, and the story was cute, albeit a little unrealistic. I just wish it had flowed a little better than it did.

[Amelia Venjoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is split between 3 sister’s POVs and between the present time and the past.

Present time they’re surviving in the wilderness after running away from a fire they came across while hiking and getting lost.

Past time explains how they got on this hike to begin and how their sister relationships were unraveling and fractured from a domino effect of trying to find their own identities mixed with a series of hurts they inflicted on each other.

— there’s a strong first crush / first relationship and breakup sub-story in the past time POV

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nothing has been the same among three sisters: Ollie, Emma and Abbey, since the move from northern California. And at first it seems like their parents’ solution: to ship them off to Camp Unplugged, isn’t going to change that. But then, on a hike the girls make one more bad decision, take one more wrong turn, say one more unforgivable thing and suddenly it’s not an issue of sibling bonding, it’s an issue of survival. The structure of the book is complex – divided into three acts, with chapters that shift among the three girl’s perspectives and alternate between before and now. Skillful writing ensures the reader’s attention remains engaged: a chapter will end with twelve-year old Emma in the present realizing she is physically lost and the following chapter will open with eighth-grade Abbey feeling emotionally lost, adrift in a new school. Each chapter manages to provide emotional and physical drama and plenty of character insights. Themes resonate, but never cross over into the didactic, as the girls battle to survive both human-nature and the natural world. Thank you to Netgalley and McElderry for a review copy of this book.

[Alexandra Alessandri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this middle grade survival story. Heidi Lang did an incredible job crafting compelling and relatable characters, as well as an intricate plot that kept me at the edge of my seat. The flashbacks worked well and I loved the context they provided for the sisters' relationship. I also really loved the alternating points of view. Kids will love this adventure story of survival and sibling rivalry.

[Minnikin]

These were some of the most unlikeable characters ever. As one of three sisters, I thought I would find this book relatable. Maybe, if I were a middle grade reader instead of a middle aged reader, I would. But as an adult, I found myself without anyone to root for. These sisters are terrible to each other. It was hard to hope for redemption for any of them. I was going to pass this book on to my tween, but I've decided to bring it back to the library instead.

[Kristen · Rating 2 out of 5]

We read this as a read-aloud and it was ok. The premise is ok -- three sisters who aren't getting along are sent to a technology-free outdoor summer camp to mend their relationship. But the structure of the book was confusing for my kids (ages 10 and 13) -- jumping back and forth in time and with different narrators. They found it difficult to follow the thread and would get annoyed every time it jumped to the past.

[L.G. McFerren · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy read that is The Hatchet with girls but not just any girls - squabbling sisters. I loved the adventure portions and how the sisters had to learn to rely on each other and ultimately repair their relationship but the squabbling did get a little old and vicious for me. Ultimately it's a good read for teen girls who like the outdoors.