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Backcountry
A girl and her diabetic alert dog face impossible odds when they're stranded in the unforgiving wilderness. Hatchet for a new generation! Emily has always excelled at sports, and her athletic abilities have given her confidence on and off the courts. So when she starts to drag during her middle school volleyball season, she assumes it must be the flu. Why else would she be missing simple spikes and blocks? But after a particularly intense game she finds herself riding in the back of an ambulance, a paramedic telling her that her life will never be the same. Adjusting to life with type 1 diabetes isn't easy. Emily is desperate to prove that she's just as strong and capable as ever, so she jumps at the opportunity to go on a backcountry ski trip with her dad and her new diabetic alert dog, Molly. But when an avalanche rips through the area, separating Emily from her father, she and Molly are left to face a challenge far greater than anything she could have imagined. When it becomes clear that no one will come to their rescue before their food and insulin run out, Emily and Molly must find strength they didn't know they possessed -- and faith in one another -- to survive the harsh wintery conditions and escape the backcountry.
224 pages, Paperback
Published December 5, 2023
17 people are currently reading
140 people want to read
About the author
Jenny Goebel
20 books64 followersJenny Goebel is the author of GRAVE IMAGES, a forthcoming middle grade novel from Scholastic (Nov 1,2013).
She lives just outside of Denver, and if she's not hiking up a mountain or mothering, or doing both simultaneously, she's probably sitting at her computer writing.
She lives just outside of Denver, and if she's not hiking up a mountain or mothering, or doing both simultaneously, she's probably sitting at her computer writing.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
March 28, 2025
Squeeeee! (That’s my inner child saying, “Wow, what a book! I hope the author writes more like this one!”) If I’d had this novel as a kid, I would have read and re-read it!
It checks all my boxes for a great middle-grade read:
☑️ Young girl with a life challenge
☑️Realistic relationship issues
☑️Heroic service dog
☑️Much breathtaking wilderness drama, that kept me turning pages
☑️No foul language
☑️Even a gorgeous cover!
I’ll be looking out for more books from this author!
It checks all my boxes for a great middle-grade read:
☑️ Young girl with a life challenge
☑️Realistic relationship issues
☑️Heroic service dog
☑️Much breathtaking wilderness drama, that kept me turning pages
☑️No foul language
☑️Even a gorgeous cover!
I’ll be looking out for more books from this author!
July 13, 2024
Good middle grade book touching on chronic illness (diabetes), self acceptance, relationships (family, friends), and survival. Recommended to me by my nine year old who loved it :)
November 28, 2023
I LOVED THIS BOOK! I loved how Emily persevered through her struggle and did not let her diabetes define her personality and bravery! This was the best book I have ever read!!!!!!!!!!!😀🤓👍👍👍👍
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 4, 2025
A fast, gripping read, perfect for fans of Gary Paulsen, Dusty Bowling, and Rodman Philbrick.
I thoroughly enjoyed Emily’s journey, her grit and perseverance but also her more vulnerable and introspective moments. The difficulties with balancing friendships with competitive sports, the struggles of connecting with parents, and the unplanned obstacles—in Emily’s case, her Diabetes diagnosis—make this a truly relatable story and one I believe Middle grade readers will glean so much from.
Can’t wait to read this with my 5th graders!
I thoroughly enjoyed Emily’s journey, her grit and perseverance but also her more vulnerable and introspective moments. The difficulties with balancing friendships with competitive sports, the struggles of connecting with parents, and the unplanned obstacles—in Emily’s case, her Diabetes diagnosis—make this a truly relatable story and one I believe Middle grade readers will glean so much from.
Can’t wait to read this with my 5th graders!
July 5, 2024
Strong survival/adventure book with a female protagonist.
October 23, 2023
THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING!!!
It was a great story and I love how Emily wasn't just defined by her diabetes. She's smart, she's sporty, and she's a great role model. I fond her relationsip with her parents very interesting. Emily seems like a living, breathing character.
There was just one thing that bugged me. The cover makes her look like a 16-year-old wearing a lot of makeup. Other than that, this book was great! I'd totally reccomend!
*There is one punctuation mistake on line 9 of page 77. There should be a period and there isn't.
It was a great story and I love how Emily wasn't just defined by her diabetes. She's smart, she's sporty, and she's a great role model. I fond her relationsip with her parents very interesting. Emily seems like a living, breathing character.
There was just one thing that bugged me. The cover makes her look like a 16-year-old wearing a lot of makeup. Other than that, this book was great! I'd totally reccomend!
*There is one punctuation mistake on line 9 of page 77. There should be a period and there isn't.
September 24, 2023
A fast paced and suspenseful adventure for middle grades! A lot of great lessons in perseverance and overcoming fears.
July 25, 2023
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Emily is a good athlete, and loves playing volleyball, so when she doesn't feel well during the game, it's serious. Her father thinks she should tough it out to finish the game, and since she sees so little of him (he's a busy realtor), she goes back in. The game doesn't end well, and Emily ends up in the hospital. The diagnosis; Type 1 diabetes. She's determined to deal with the disease head on, especially since she and her father have a backcountry ski trip planned in a few weeks. Her family is lucky enough to have the resources to get her a diabetic alert dog who is already trained, and once Molly joins their family, she'll be going on the trip as well. Emily's mother is concerned, and rightly so. She makes sure to supervise the packing of emergency provisions, since Emily and her father will be skiing from cabin to cabin and be well out of range of all civilization, much less hospitals. Emily reluctantly agrees to this micromangaing, but doesn't think there will be any problems. The trip starts out well, and Emily is glad to reconnect with her father and impress him with her athleticism. The first cabin is nice, and Emily even picks up a book about a ski soldier during World War II who had to survive in the wilderness. When a storm is predicted, Emily's mother wants the two to come home, but they persist. Of course, shortly after this, in near white out conditions, Emily's father disappears. It turns out he has fallen a short distance and broken his leg badly. Emily skis ahead to the next cabin, but things start to snowball downhill. The cold interferes with phone batteries as well as diabetic testing equipment, and pretty much anything that could go wrong DOES go wrong. Emily keeps on top of her blood sugar levels, since she knows that if anything happens to her, no one can save her father. She manages to get him to a run down cabin, since the next one on their route is too far away, and gets him warm and fed. She even goes back out at night with Molly to retrieve his backpack, only to find that animals have opened it up and her extra insulin is ruined. This makes getting help even more crucial. Will Emily be able to get to civilization before she experiences a health emergency?
Strengths: Survival stories are always popular with my students (think Carter's Not If I Save You First and Durst's The Lake House). Dog books fly off the shelves. If there were any books about volleyball, those would be in great demand. This also has a worried mom, a distant dad, and an exciting cross country ski trip, so it will absolutely sell itself. The story moves along quickly. My favorite part is how Emily manages her own diabetes and is pretty smart about most of her choices-- except for the one to go on the trip! Young readers will think this is a great idea, but I am super risk averse and kept thinking "No, no, no!" at every turn. That sense of the inevitable crises makes this a real page turner.
Weaknesses: I'm torn-- I really wanted to see more of Emily's struggles leading up to her diagnosis, and more of her volleyball playing, but that's not really what the book is about. Maybe we need a completely different book about a volleyball player, maybe even one with diabetes. THAT'S a book that would be popular.
What I really think: This should be in hardcover. It is an excellent book with many topics my students ask for and will be popular with readers who like Terry Lynn Johnson and Rebecca Behrens' survival books. Definitely purchasing. Order extra copies of this if you are hosting a Scholastic book fair.
Emily is a good athlete, and loves playing volleyball, so when she doesn't feel well during the game, it's serious. Her father thinks she should tough it out to finish the game, and since she sees so little of him (he's a busy realtor), she goes back in. The game doesn't end well, and Emily ends up in the hospital. The diagnosis; Type 1 diabetes. She's determined to deal with the disease head on, especially since she and her father have a backcountry ski trip planned in a few weeks. Her family is lucky enough to have the resources to get her a diabetic alert dog who is already trained, and once Molly joins their family, she'll be going on the trip as well. Emily's mother is concerned, and rightly so. She makes sure to supervise the packing of emergency provisions, since Emily and her father will be skiing from cabin to cabin and be well out of range of all civilization, much less hospitals. Emily reluctantly agrees to this micromangaing, but doesn't think there will be any problems. The trip starts out well, and Emily is glad to reconnect with her father and impress him with her athleticism. The first cabin is nice, and Emily even picks up a book about a ski soldier during World War II who had to survive in the wilderness. When a storm is predicted, Emily's mother wants the two to come home, but they persist. Of course, shortly after this, in near white out conditions, Emily's father disappears. It turns out he has fallen a short distance and broken his leg badly. Emily skis ahead to the next cabin, but things start to snowball downhill. The cold interferes with phone batteries as well as diabetic testing equipment, and pretty much anything that could go wrong DOES go wrong. Emily keeps on top of her blood sugar levels, since she knows that if anything happens to her, no one can save her father. She manages to get him to a run down cabin, since the next one on their route is too far away, and gets him warm and fed. She even goes back out at night with Molly to retrieve his backpack, only to find that animals have opened it up and her extra insulin is ruined. This makes getting help even more crucial. Will Emily be able to get to civilization before she experiences a health emergency?
Strengths: Survival stories are always popular with my students (think Carter's Not If I Save You First and Durst's The Lake House). Dog books fly off the shelves. If there were any books about volleyball, those would be in great demand. This also has a worried mom, a distant dad, and an exciting cross country ski trip, so it will absolutely sell itself. The story moves along quickly. My favorite part is how Emily manages her own diabetes and is pretty smart about most of her choices-- except for the one to go on the trip! Young readers will think this is a great idea, but I am super risk averse and kept thinking "No, no, no!" at every turn. That sense of the inevitable crises makes this a real page turner.
Weaknesses: I'm torn-- I really wanted to see more of Emily's struggles leading up to her diagnosis, and more of her volleyball playing, but that's not really what the book is about. Maybe we need a completely different book about a volleyball player, maybe even one with diabetes. THAT'S a book that would be popular.
What I really think: This should be in hardcover. It is an excellent book with many topics my students ask for and will be popular with readers who like Terry Lynn Johnson and Rebecca Behrens' survival books. Definitely purchasing. Order extra copies of this if you are hosting a Scholastic book fair.
March 12, 2024
This is a book geared toward 4-8th graders. I loved it!
The story opens with a girl who is the star of her volleyball team in the middle of a big match. She's feeling woozy, and she suddenly blacks out. She awakens in the hospital to find herself with a Type 1 Diabetes diagnosis. She is full of doubts and questions, she wonders if she will ever regain her elite athlete status, she needs to learn how to manage her health and administer the insulin and the sugar she needs to keep her body healthy. She fears her dad, who only seemed interested in her when she was competing, will now revert to a distant relationship. Her saving grace, they have a remote, backcountry ski trip planned over winter break. If she can learn how to manage her diabetes, her overprotective mother will let her go.
Once on the trip, twists and turns abound. She is confronted with challenges even seasoned readers may not see coming. I LOVED this book, I found it engaging and so thrilling. I cannot wait to recommend it!
The story opens with a girl who is the star of her volleyball team in the middle of a big match. She's feeling woozy, and she suddenly blacks out. She awakens in the hospital to find herself with a Type 1 Diabetes diagnosis. She is full of doubts and questions, she wonders if she will ever regain her elite athlete status, she needs to learn how to manage her health and administer the insulin and the sugar she needs to keep her body healthy. She fears her dad, who only seemed interested in her when she was competing, will now revert to a distant relationship. Her saving grace, they have a remote, backcountry ski trip planned over winter break. If she can learn how to manage her diabetes, her overprotective mother will let her go.
Once on the trip, twists and turns abound. She is confronted with challenges even seasoned readers may not see coming. I LOVED this book, I found it engaging and so thrilling. I cannot wait to recommend it!
September 28, 2023
This book would be great for students learning about theme, because the main character very explicitily states everything she is learning as she is learning it. While I think my students will enjoy reading about Emily working to survive on her own in the back country, it is also a little misleading. The plot starts with Emily being diagnosed as diabetic, but then skips over everything to do with her diagnosis and learning how to handle it. For students who want to read a sports fiction book, this also misses the mark - playing volleyball is not a key part of this story.
Overall the book has some great moments you could use in a discussion and any kind of survival story / story about a cute dog will tend to hook my readers. I just wish it was a little longer so a few more areas could have been developed.
Overall the book has some great moments you could use in a discussion and any kind of survival story / story about a cute dog will tend to hook my readers. I just wish it was a little longer so a few more areas could have been developed.
January 7, 2024
“Backcountry” is a typical survival story reminiscent of Paulsen’s “Hatchet.” Emily is challenged by her recent diagnosis of Type 1 Diabetes. Much to her mother’s dismay, Emily is determined to continue with her plans for a cross country skiing excursion with her father. Her relationship with him has been strained and she hopes to spend quality bonding time with him. With her service dog, Molly, by her side, Emily is suddenly separated from her father and must persevere through several mental, physical, and environmental obstacles to survive.
I bought this book at the Scholastic Book Fair for my classroom collection. I plan on reading it to my students to discuss plot and character development. I highly recommend this book for middle school students who enjoy survival stories!
I bought this book at the Scholastic Book Fair for my classroom collection. I plan on reading it to my students to discuss plot and character development. I highly recommend this book for middle school students who enjoy survival stories!
January 5, 2024
Such an amazing book! I love the main character, Emily and how in the beginning she struggles with her diabetes but then pushes on when she has to face the Backcountry with her injured dad and her diabetic alert dog Molly! Such a great book for students and for adults! My brother has diabetes so that’s why I got this book, then realized this book is way more about her coping with diabetes. It’s about Emily risking her life to prove to her dad that she is strong and capable of doing the things she’d done before being diagnosed with diabetes, which led her to a disaster, but also a chance to fight through her battles with diabetes! Great book overall! Would recommend! - E.K
November 25, 2023
Loved this book! It's a page-turner with real emotional depth. I felt moved as Emily explores how to thrive after her life-changing diagnosis, and how she learns to relate to her parents in a new way, especially her dad. Her relationship with her medical support dog, Molly, is really heart-warming, and I loved seeing the courage that resulted from their deep bond. The story gets super-exciting when Emily is faced with dire situations in the backcountry-- I couldn't stop turning the pages. I was moved to tears several times toward the end. Highly recommend!
July 25, 2023
A middle grade story of a girl who gets diagnosed with diabetes but feels determined to live a normal life and still heads on an adventure with her dad. Alas, a winter storm causes her and her dog to be separated from her father, so she faces managing her diabetes and surviving the weather alone. Throughout the story, she reads letters from an 18-year-old army soldier written in 1945, so that adds an element of history to the story. 3.5 stars
September 4, 2023
BACKCOUNTRY was SO, SO good! Once I started reading it, I could not stop. Perfect for any middle-grade (or, heck, adult) fan of survival stories, the story follows Emily and her diabetic alert dog Molly through an exciting and terrifying rescue in the Colorado mountains.
Bonus note: I was a longtime editor at a diabetes magazine, and I was very impressed with the representation of Type 1 diabetes in this book.
Highly recommended!
Bonus note: I was a longtime editor at a diabetes magazine, and I was very impressed with the representation of Type 1 diabetes in this book.
Highly recommended!
July 18, 2024
I like this book. Lots of realistic situations that have to be dealt with using what you have on hand. How well do you know survival skills? How much adversity can you handle? In the book, Emily finds out. A fast paced, well written book. There are a number of important life lessons in here as well including father and daughter needing to communicate their thoughts.
November 16, 2023
This book had a lot of curve balls that I did not expect. Emily went through so many challenges that really made her grit and determination shine through. It taught a lot of lessons in the end. I would recommend this book if you like adventure with a lot of troubles that go on.
May 26, 2024
“Victory comes in all different shapes and forms. It doesn’t always mean that you defeat your opponent, like in a volleyball match or the Nazis surrendering to the Allies. Sometimes victory means that you stop letting something have power over you.”
Sempre Avanti. Forward Always.
Sempre Avanti. Forward Always.
October 25, 2023
Read because my daughter read it and loved it. I love a good survival story and this was no exception. It was gripping without being too overwhelming. Molly is my favorite character.
October 30, 2023
Good book overall but I think the book should include an explanation of what type 1 diabetes. Since I babysit many kids with t1d, I get asked quite a bit what t1d is.
December 14, 2023
Great book hard to put down!
January 3, 2024
As a Type-1 diabetic myself, I am pretty impressed with how it is represented in this book. Very accurate. And the story itself is a pretty good adventure.
January 12, 2024
I read this with my 9 year old, and we enjoyed it!
April 5, 2024
Must read it. I could so relate if I was her. 😅
May 12, 2024
Well written …perfect for that 4th-6th grade reader. If you have a diabetic (and athletic) child, it’s very empowering.
June 18, 2024
Great adventure story for middle schoolers.
October 24, 2024
Backcountry is an adventurous book with so many twists and turns that make you want to jump up out of your seat!!!!!❤️🙌😊
December 11, 2024
So so good totally recommended full of perseverance and courage read read read totally recommended
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March 24, 2025Love this book I think it’s amazing and I love how it kind of reminds you that you can do anything
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews