Snow Bound

by Harry Mazer

Two teenagers caught in a snowstorm face a fight for survival in a desolate area.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Survival, Adventure, Read For School, Novels

142 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Harry Mazer is an American author of books for children and young adults, acclaimed for his 'realistic' novels. He has written twenty-two novels, including The Solid Gold Kid, The Island Keeper, Heroes Don't Run, and Snow Bound, which was adapted as an NBC After school special, as well as one work of poetry and a few short stories.

Reviews

[karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is one of the titles on the long list of "karen's overdue reviews," but honestly - this book is so bananas, the only way i can do it any justice is to do it drunk, so i'm gonna have to dbr this. i will get to work on the d part tonight and see if the r surfaces.

[Mariah Roze · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book to my students and they really got into it. They enjoyed the read.

"At fifteen, Tony Laporte is what many people would call a thoroughly spoiled kid. He gets away with a lot because his parents want him to have all the things they never had. But when they surprise him by refusing to let him keep a stray dog he has found, Tony decides to teach them a lesson by running off in his mother's old Plymouth. Driving without a license in the middle of a severe snowstorm, he picks up a hitchhiker named Cindy Reichert, an aloof girl who has always had difficulty forming friendships. To impress Cindy, Tony tries to show off his driving skills and ends up wrecking the car in a very desolated area far from the main highway. After spending precious days bickering with each other and waiting for rescue that never comes, they finally realize that their lives are at stake and they must cooperate to survive. The question is--can they survive?"

[Licha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three stars because I remember liking it. Reading Karen's review of this book reminded me of this book. Read this in junior high, 7th grade summer school.

[Quirkyreader · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one that I read back in the 1980's.

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the book “Snow Bound” the main characters are Tony and Cindy. Tony is a teenage boy, who doesn't have his license yet. Cindy is a teenage girl, who is trying to get back home after a visit with her grandma. In the beginning Tony finds a dog, and he takes it home. Then his parents tell him that he cannot keep it, and his dad puts it outside and it runs away. Tony find out and goes on the hunt to find his dog. When he gets to the gas station, he takes his mom’s car from the service shop, and drives until he picks up Cindy on the side of the road who is hitch hiking. That's where the real story begins.


Tony likes to do things his own way and thinks that if he wants it he should have it. He also has a strong will to go anywhere and do anything. If Tony wasn’t the strong willed person who came from your average family, it would change the whole story. He might not have had the skills necessary to survive in the wilderness for a week or more. Cindy is a teenage girl who likes to visit her grandma but she is a little more adventurous and doesn't mind hitch hiking to get to where she is going. If Cindy wasn't hitch hiking, she would have never been lost and put into this situation.


The setting really plays a large role in the story, because if they would have been living in Florida there probably wouldn’t have been a snowstorm that lasted three or four days. So even if you make small location changes to the setting the story could possibly fall apart. It takes place between the 1970's and the 1990,s.

I think that this book would fit anyone who likes to be outside in the wilderness. It would be good for any age, because it shows the hardships that can be caused just by not getting along with the person that you are stranded with. Even though it is a fictional book, there are a lot of good life lessons that can be learned for reading “Snow Bound”.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in Grade 5 and remember loving it. For a kid, reading this was a real nail-biter.
Will they survive or won’t they???
The part that has stuck with me all these years is when Cindy makes tea from melted snow and a mint gum wrapper in the Plymouth’s ashtray.
I’m not exactly sure why it has such an overall low rating but all I can tell you is that from an 11 year old’s perspective, it was enjoyed.

[Nadine in NY Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm just guessing at the date read ... I have the most specific memory of one scene in this book: they are stranded in a car in the snow, they have no food, they're melting snow to drink, and she finds a gum wrapper that she uses to flavor the meltwater. Talk about desperate! I live in a very "snow bound" area of central NY and I think of this scene often as I drive through blizzards in winter. I could never remember the exact title! Interestingly, in the course of looking up this title, I discovered that the author lived in Syracuse and Central Square, NY, for several years, so he was probably inspired by the same snow that I live with!

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story because it was set in an area of upstate New York where I used to live, and I can fully appreciate the snowy conditions that the characters in this book encounter. But this was more than just a story of survival. It was also a story of teens coming to grips with their own personal problems, which made it doubly interesting. Great book, good for winter reading!

[Austin Baehnman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book "Snow Bound" by Harry Mazer is a very good book, because it deals with something that could happen in real life. The book has a very good story line that keeps me intrigued the entire duration of the book. This book kind of starts off slow, but it then picks up a little bit when the crash happens.

The two main characters in this book are Tony Laporte and Cindy Reichert. Tony is a tall strong willed fifteen year old who has everything that he could ever want. Tony gets a lot of very nice things because his parents want him to have the life that they never had, but when Tony finds a dog that he really likes he is surprised to find out that his parents won’t let him keep it. Cindy on the other hand is not really that spoiled so she has to work for her nice things and it also doesn't help that her parents are divorced. Just about every weekend she goes and stay with her grandma in the same tiny town that Tony lives in. Another thing she does is hitching hikes and doing so gets her into the most amount of trouble.

The setting takes place in New York about mid-January. The main character, Tony Laporte, and his family live in a small town in upstate New York. The town only has a population of about 3,000 people so it is a fairly small town. Then around the town there are acres upon acres of woods so it is kind of a desolate town.

The impacts of the setting on our main character are very harsh. As in when Tony and Cindy crashed it was snowing and it kept snowing for about two days after they originally crashed the vehicle. In addition to the feet of snow that they had to deal with they also had the cold which was very bad in itself. After day one they had no gas left in the car so they then had to get creative with what they were going to heat up with.

I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who likes to read survival stories, this is a very good one. I would strongly say that Harry Mazer knows what he is doing when it comes to writing survival stories. The age group that I would recommend it to would probably be the 12 year old to 18 year old who don’t really like to read because it's such a short book and it makes you want to read it.

[Collin Jorgensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personal Response: I read the book Snow Bound by Harry Mazer. I enjoyed this book because it had suspense and it kept me on edge. It was very intriguing, and I just wanted to keep reading. The only part I did not like about this book was the ending. It was sort of unclear what happened but I still liked the book anyways.

Plot: In the beginning, Tony found a dog that he wanted to keep. His parents did not let him, and he was very unhappy with them. Tony kept the dog in the cellar secretly at night. During the night, the neighbors woke up to the dog barking. Tony’s parents were livid. Tony’s dad kicked the dog out of the house without Tony knowing. When Tony found out, he took his mother's car to look for the dog. While he was looking for it, he saw a hitchhiker standing on the side of the road. He went to go and pick this person up. When the person got into the car, Tony discovered that it was a girl. The girl introduced herself as Cindy, but Tony really did not care to listen. They started talking about their lives, and Cindy found out that Tony was too young to be driving! She immediately requested that Tony let her drive, but Tony did not budge. Cindy then tried grabbing the wheel which caused Tony to lose control. They went off the road and into a tree. They were both okay. Both of them figured they would be fine and just follow the tracks back, but then the snow came. It snowed for hours and hours. They decided to stay in the car until the snow stopped. When they got cold, Tony turned the car on to give them heat. Eventually the car battery died, so they had to find some wood for a fire. Tony went outside the car and found some wood. They started a fire in the car, and they were warm. Cindy had food to eat, so they divided it equally. She suggested that they portion it out, but Tony did not care. He ate his share of cookies right away. A few days went by where they did the same thing, but eventually he got bored. He knew they were going to die if they did not move, so he went to look for any sign of life. Tony walked for a day or so and came across a hunting cabin. He was overjoyed when he saw this, because that meant he had shelter and possible food. He gathered all the possible things he could and went back to find Cindy. When he finally got there, Cindy had swollen feet and could not walk at all. She asked Tony to pull her and all of their belongings on a sled. He reluctantly did but a problem occurred. Tony forgot how to get back to the cabin. They walked a few miles until they reached a big hill. Tony decided to get on the sled and slide down it. While he was sliding down it, his foot got caught under the sled. Tony could not walk or put any pressure on it. While they were sitting there, and pack of wild dogs came upon Tony. Just before the dog attacked, Cindy swooped in and saved Tony. In the morning, some snow melted and they saw a road! They followed it until they saw a car and went home.

Characterization: There was no real antagonist or protagonist, but the main characters names are Tony and Cindy. Tony lived in upstate New York in an average sized house. Tony was a teenage boy who got everything he wanted. He loved animals and was super excited when he found a dog. He also had a slight temper to him, and did not enjoy being told what to do. Throughout the book, Tony understood that he needed to listen to some people. He listened to Cindy sometimes, although in the beginning he did not really want to. Cindy was a teenage girl who loved to explore things. She had overprotective parents that wanted to know where she was at every moment. So when she went hitchhiking, she was being a rebel. She was a natural problem solver and a realist. She told it like it was and did not care about what anyone thought.

Setting: The setting of this book was present day New York in the wintertime. Although that is where the book started, a majority of the book took place in a different area. Most of the time the main characters were in a broken car by a forest. The forest played a crucial part, because none of the rescue planes could see them. It was also important because Tony ended up going through the woods to find a cabin which led them to a road.

Thematic Connection: The theme of this book was overcoming the odds. Tony and Cindy would have died if it would not have been for their survival instincts. They were basically dead until Tony journeyed off and found the cabin which saved them. They were basically dead in a forest until Tony did that and overcame the odds.

Recommendation: I would recommend this book to any gender who are ages 16-20. There are 2 main characters, one teenage male and one teenage female, so I believe that any gender could connect with this book. There is some vulgar language, which is why I believe it is suitable for 14-18 year olds. I also think the way that the book starts, would apply to some teenagers lives.

[Stephanie A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A slim but tightly plotted volume, perhaps the best survival story I've ever seen about being stranded off road in a broken down car, in the middle of nowhere, during a blizzard. Their ordeal spans several harrowing days, with increasing concern about hunger, cold and injury as rescue fails to materialize, while I was fascinated by the number of solutions they come up with to address their issues. The perilous situations continue right up to the end, and by the time they'd survived wild dogs, I was well and truly worn out just from reading about them.

Midwinter is absolutely the best time of year to read this, by the way, so you can go walk out in the snow yourself for an hour and then relish your ability to come home and have food, a hot drink and a warm bed full of blankets, or even just appreciate the fact that your freezing cold car in the morning will be warm in mere minutes.

There is an impressively 70s patina to it for something you'd expect to feel more timeless, from reference to the boy's new fringed suede jacket to the fact that the old car is an early 50s model, the "rounded, old fashioned bumblebee look" of which he prefers to "the new look-alike cars," but that just makes me love it more. It's also blissfully free of romance, whereas if this were written today they would inevitably make out at some point and then probably fall in love halfway through.

But back to the survival aspect: my skin prickled just reading the author's note at the beginning, an excerpt from a then-recent NAHO publication describing the setting:

"Without a doubt the most forbidding and unknown physiographic region in New York State is the great windswept plateau called Tug Hill. On a road map it is that strange blank area of roughly two hundred thousand acres approximately twenty miles southeast of Watertown and thirty miles northwest of Utica. An effort to locate a hamlet or even a dirt road in this enigmatic area can only be rewarded with frustration...."

Can't you just see that opening a movie*? A voice over, maybe, with long, wide shots of the desolate area in winter, maybe with blowing snow for effect, before fading out to feature the title and then snapping over to the bright and bouncy opening scenes of 1970s suburbia.

[*edit: The author bio tells me this was "adapted as an NBC after school special." OK, well, first of all, high five for recognizing its screen potential, and second, despite those being renowned for their cheesiness, now I really want to find that and see how it compares...]

[BRANDON SCHEER · Rating 4 out of 5]

Personal Response:
I really liked this book. It showed how the two young children acted during the 14 days that they were stuck. The cold and blizzard made it almost impossible to survive, yet they managed to do it with frostbitten feet and a broken ankle.

Plot:
The book started out when Tony found a dog and wanted to keep it. His parents did not want him to keep it. When they told him this, he got very upset. He stole his dad’s car, even though he did not know how to drive. He ended up finding a hitchhiker, who was a girl his age. They were driving away to Tony’s Uncle’s cabin when a terrible blizzard hit. Tony decided he knew where he was and kept going. Eventually, he drove straight off the road, because he could not see where he was. The car was stuck and low on gas. The two children were very scared and shocked, and their only option was to wait out the storm, which lasted for about 12 hours. When it finally stopped snowing, Cindy decided to go out and look for a road or a house. She was gone for only a few minutes before she came back with no luck and frostbitten feet. She was in terrible pain and could barely walk. Tony found some blankets and other warm supplies on the trunk while she was gone. They made a small fire in an oil can, and Tony gathered some wood from the nearby trees. They waited a few days before they decided that Tony needed to go out and look for help before the snow would fall again. Tony found a small hunting shack with some food in it. He made a fire and stayed there for a night and then went back for Cindy the following day. When he got back her feet were much healthier, and she was able to walk.

Characterization:
Tony was very angry at his parents for not letting him keep a wild dog that he found. He decided to steal his father's car and run away. He was about 13 years old and was very strong minded. For most of the book, Tony was not fond of Cindy, but towards the very end of their journey, he began to care for her a great deal.
Cindy ran away from her home, because she felt like she was not important to anyone and that no one would miss her. She hitch hiked until Tony came along and picked her up. At first, she did not like Tony at all, but she quickly began to have feelings for him.

Setting:
This book took place in the backcountry of New York during present day winter. This was important, because this area got very harsh winters and strong blizzards that could be very dangerous.

Thematic Connection
Overcoming of nature is the best theme for this book, because the entire story was about two young children being stranded out in a terrible blizzard with little to stay warm. They used all of their brain power and effort just to make it back home alive.

Recommendation:
I recommend this book to middle school males. The main character was Tony and he fit into that group. I think that being that age and gender, the reader would relate well to him and understand his mindset.

[Gavin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Personal Response
I enjoyed the book Snow Bound , by Harry Mazer, because it portrayed the survival skills needed to stay alive. The book fully engaged my mind, because it made me think about the things I would do in that situation. I can relate to both of the characters, because they are teens and the feeling of disappointing their parents is the worst feeling.

Plot
In the beginning of the book, Tony is having troubles with his parents not letting him keep the dog he found. He wants to get back at his parents, so he skips school and runs away. He takes his mother's car to live with his uncle in upstate New York. On his way to his uncle's house, he encounters a very bad snow storm that slows down traffic. Tony notices a girl hitchhiking on the side of the highway and decides to pick her up. Tony knowing the back roads to his uncle's house, he takes a shortcut to make the drive shorter and faster. The snow is coming down harder and they begin to get lost. Tony takes a curve going to fast and flies off the road into a field below a bridge. The two are now stranded in the middle of nowhere with only a tin of cookies and the car to stay warm. After hearing a helicopter fly by, the two decide to make a smoke signal fire, so they can be easily seen. Tony knows the whole accident is his fault, so he takes things into his own hands by embarking on an expedition to find a road. He is on this adventure by himself and understands what he needs to do to survive.

Characterization
Tony Laporte was the main character in the book. He had to evolved throughout the book to adapt to the situations he was put in after the accident. Tony’s maturity level also increased as he could not make jokes or do dumb things, because he had to survive. The situations made him think less of himself and more about Cindy and her survival. He understood that he was the reason that the accident took place, so he took things very seriously when solving them.
Cindy was also a main character in the book. She evolved through the book by not being so stubborn and putting up with Tonys actions. She was not as offended by him once she got to know him better.

Setting
The setting of the book takes place in New York. This is important, because that is where all of the traveling and action takes place. Another important setting in the book is the car. That is where they had to survive for two days before going and looking for help. The book takes place in present time in the month of February. The month affects the story, because the big blizzard occurred in February.

Thematic Relations
The main theme in the book was appearance vs. reality. Tony was a know it all kid who had always gotten what he wanted. When he embarked on the trip to his uncle's house he thought it was going to be a nice easy ride with no worries. Once the snow started to fly and the traffic slowed down, he figured taking the back roads would be easier and faster with less hassle to go through. It was just the opposite. The road was covered in snow, and he could not see or tell where the road was. The backroads appeared to be the best option but in reality they were the worst option.

Recommendations
I would recommend this book to any middle schooler or older. The reading level is appropriate, so they can comprehend what is going on easily. I also recommend this to either boy or girl, because I think both will be able to relate with the fact of survival. There are both boys and girls in the book, so they could relate to the characters. I would rate this a four out of five stars.

[Wes Flease · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personal Response
I like the book SnowBound because in some ways I can relate to the main characters. The author, Harry Mazer, does a great job keeping me interested. Harry Mazer does a good job portraying Tony and Cindy's personalities. I always feel like I am in the book right along side the characters. I like how there are no questions left unanswered. That way I know what happens and I am not left wondering.

Plot Summary
Tony, a young boy, finds a stray dog. He is disturbed when his parents kick the dog out of the house and leave it to fend for itself. After the incident, Tony tries to teach his parents a lesson by taking their car and running away from home. Tony picks up a young girl named Cindy. She wants to join him on his adventure, but the fun soon ends when Tony crashes the car due to a snow storm. The two must fight for survival as there is nobody to save them.

Characterization
In the beginning of the book, Tony is a spoiled boy. He gets whatever he wants by complaining. When he is put in this dangerous position, his thinking changes. He realizes he has to do things for himself. Towards the end, he does not yell at Cindy as much either.

When Cindy is first introduced to the book, she takes a lot of crap from Tony. She continues to let him have his way. Soon she realizes if they want to survive she must straighten him out. Towards the end, Cindy doesn't take any crap from anyone and is very independent.

Setting
The book takes place in an unnamed New York town. It takes place in the 1950s. A majority of the book takes place in Tony's father's freezing car. The rest of the book takes place in the forest. This is important because the story is about survival.



Thematic connection
There are lots of themes in the book. The main theme, however, is that people should never give up no matter the circumstances. This is shown when Cindy and Tony leave the car to find safety. Also when Tony breaks his ankle and Cindy Carries him out.


Recommendation.
I recommend >Snowbound to anybody reading at the middle school to high school level. Both males and females would like this book because the main characters are a male and female. Anyone interested in a survival book would like this book due to the plot.

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

***I forgot to mention that this is a J or YA book***
I don't think this book has stood the test of time. It was published in 1973 and I read it in 2022. I was eight years old when this was written and I don't find it believable that a teenage boy would talk back to his parents and disobey them without being severely punished. Disrespect was rarely tolerated in those days. This book seemed more like a description of a survival scenario rather than a story about characters or plot. Not for me.

[John Jorgensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Plot: In this story, Tony runs away from home to go to his uncle’s house. After stealing his mother’s car and picking up a hitchhiker, they get stranded and lost in a giant snowstorm. The rest of the story tells how they survive in the wilderness and eventually make it back to civilization. After Tony breaks his leg, both him and Cindy wonder how they are ever going to get saved. When Tony was searching for help and rescue, he found a hunting shack that was not inhabited. In the cupboards, he found cans of beans and some fruit.


Characterization: Tony is a young kid about 15 years old who is ignorant to what his parents tell him. He is cocky and a smart allic. Cindy is around 15 also and she has overprotective family who “cares too much” for her. She is kind of quiet, and not the most outgoing person in the world.


Setting and Impact: The setting is on the border of Canada. In order for it to be snowy and have a blizzard, it had to take place in a location where it would snow. Without being in this location, it wouldn’t probably snow out as much. It took place in about the 1960’s. All of the clues of the date are the prices of items and especially the car. If it would have been later than that, the prices of everything would be higher.

Who and Why: I would recommend this book to someone who is “outdoorsy”. It has a lot of connection to people who understand the wilderness and can understand the actual fear of Cindy and Tony.

[Hank Hoeft · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, I was giving the final exam in freshman English to one of my classes, and as I usually do, I stood in the back of the room to proctor the test. When I do this, I pull out my phone and use the Kindle app to read something in between scanning the class. But I was chagrined to discover I'd forgotten my phone, and left it at home. So I went to Plan B. I looked on the bookshelf of my classroom library--made up mostly of books that have been discarded from the school library--and picked out Harry Mazer's Snow Bound.

Harry Mazer is an author of "Young Adult" (i.e., middle school and high school) novels, who's probably most famous for writing Hatchet. Snow Bound is typical Mazer, the story of an arrogant, obnoxious know-it-all fifteen year old boy and an aloof teenage girl who become stranded in the middle of nowhere during a blizzard and have to learn to get along with each other in order to survive. The reading level is grade 5 (5.1), but the story is not simplistic. Mazer does a good job of characterizing Tony and Cindy, and does an excellent job of portraying Tony, who starts out a self-centered, egotistical spoiled brat, as a three-dimensional character. After all, no one is ever the villain in their own story, so of course Tony thinks of himself as heroic and good, even though Cindy (and probably most readers) want to slap him from time to time.

This was a well-written YA novel that I, as an adult, still enjoyed reading.

[Zach Volz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like this book. The book is about how a boy named Tony finds a dog and wants to keep it. His parents let the dog loose in the middle of the night, because it kept barking and waking up the neighbors. Once Tony found out he went out looking for the dog. Tony stole his mom’s car and headed to his uncle's house, because he didn’t want to live with his parents anymore. On the way it started to snow heavily, and he came across a hitchhiker named Cindy. Before they knew it they realized that they were completely lost. Tony lost control of the car and they ended up in a field stuck. The rest of the book told about how they survived together and the things they had to go through in order to stay alive. I would recommend this book to middle school or high school students, because it does use some vulgar language in the story.

[Dichotomy Girl · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was such a disappointment. First off, I love survival stories. Secondly, Harry Mazer's The Island Keeper, was one of my childhood favorites.

But this book was just, well, kind of bad. Maybe it's because it was only his 2nd book, and he really improved in the 8 years before he wrote my childhood fave. I don't know.

Very rarely is there a MC that I just so thoroughly dislike, and that I can't find at least one redeeming quality. But honestly? Tony is a butthead. He was selfish and obnoxious, and that never really changed.

And the fact that Cindy wanted to keep in touch with him and the end? Wow, that girl has some serious self-esteem issues.

It makes me afraid to go back and ever read The Island Keeper...sigh....

[John Driscoll · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can't really give any details on this one because it's been decades since I read this and I don't really remember much of it. I'm only even adding and reviewing this as a reminder that it's real and not a product of my imagination.

I read this in junior high as an assigned reading for class and hated every single moment of it, though I don't remember many details anymore. I remembered it was about two young people (not as young as I was at the time) who crashed a car and got stuck in a blizzard.

This was the first time I can recall really, really disliked a book. I'm sure there were books before this that I wasn't crazy about, but never before had I truly hated one like I did Snow Bound. This held the title of my least favorite book ever until I read The Great Gatsby in high school (which is still among my most hated books).

[Cole · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Snow bound” was a good book, it had a great story line. I actually think that it would make a great movie. I enjoyed reading this book because the story kept moving along, it never stood still. I thought the characters were easy to relate to. I would recommend this book to any one looking for a good read and is a high school student or any age above. Again, very good book to read and would recomend.

[John Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think that other people should read this book.The reason why I think that is because it is an amazing book it has one teenage boy and a teenage girl in it and they have a pretty amazing adventure if you asked me.But this book looks old and some people just don’t like certain books and they don’t want to read an old book because it looks old.All I’m saying is that it is a great book and you should really get to read it sometime if you see this review.

[Lianna Kendig · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had been thinking about this book for years. I read it in middle school. (I know now it’s because the author was from NYS, went to SU, and lived in Jamesville, NY.) It is obviously dated (the sexism is strong in this one), and the main characters aren’t very interesting or written well. The survival part of the story was realistic (mostly) and interesting enough to keep my attention and finish the book.

[Robyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow. I read this book in high school or junior high. I can't remember when virtue book always stuck with me. I didn't love it, and I didn't hate it. I remember it really just, I don't know, unnerving me reading about these kids my age (at the time) being stuck in the middle of no where and in the snow. I think it was the first book I read with something scary that could really happen.

[Daria Cleinman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this in elementary school. I really enjoyed it. I always think of this story when I look for survival gear to keep in my car.

[tyRonE hArDing · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did Tony ever find his dog?

[Quinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked the narrative hook, Harry Mazer uses Tonny the fifteen-year-old boy to really kick off the book when we learn he finds a dog at the fort he had then this would later lead to the dog getting kicked out of the house by Tony's dad because the landlord that lived next door was tired of hearing the dog whine in the basement. But the part that made me wanna read more is when we find out Tonny would steal his parent’s car to go looking for the dog. I also like how the author makes tony a great dynamic character and also a round character because by the end of the story tony has a whole different perspective of life because of how he acted like a punk while he stole the car and didn't want to be seen as that anymore and he was also described throughout the whole story. I like how the author uses point-of-view choice to really show how the character experiences things. I like the author’s theme because it shows how someone can really change over a course of events.

[Kim Kuhne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this multiple times as a teen and still have the autographed copy with a $1.95 price tag. :)

I re-read this in part because of the huge amount of snow that has fallen this week on the Tug Hill Plateau, setting of the book. I've cross-country skied on some of the roads and trails in this area and know how easy it is to get twisted and turned around. The roads are not plowed in the winter. It would be easy for someone not familiar with driving in the area to pull onto one of the roads at the start of a storm and think that a plow would eventually come around. Everything in the book is possible.

[Janalee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another book pulled from the high school classroom shelf.

Premise: self absorbed, foolish teens (in the 1970’s) get trapped in the snow for weeks, learn survival skills and how to care of another person and emerge older and wiser and grateful for simple things like food and warmth.

I wouldn’t have thought of half those survival tricks like with the gas and ashtray and hood. But I also wouldn’t have been as mean, whiny and hoarding food sneakily for myself.

Great to read to kids, even better to put every teen though this two week camp.

[Kale Erb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an amazing read for a survival book. I like how the main character got lost and how he meets the other main character my personal favorite character is tyler he is a mystery he is a great person and loves to help. I like how the author wrote the book. I didn't really like how they paced the book it wasn't very good how the author planned out the events. Overall I think this book was a really good read and personally I would like another book to be made. I believe that the author should have really paced the book better.