The Raft by S.A. Bodeen

Genera: Survival Fiction/Contemporary/Realistic

Subjects: Survival, love, ocean, sharks

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 231 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $16.99

Publisher: MacMillan: Feiwel & Friends

Summary/ product description: “Robie is an experienced traveler. She’s taken the flight from Honolulu to the Midway Atoll, a group of Pacific islands where her parents live, many times. When she has to get to Midway in a hurry after a visit with her aunt in Hawaii, she gets on the next cargo flight at the last minute. She knows the pilot, but on this flight, there’s a new co-pilot named Max. All systems are go until a storm hits during the flight. The only passenger, Robie doesn’t panic until the engine suddenly cuts out and Max shouts at her to put on a life jacket. They are over miles of Pacific Ocean. She sees Max struggle with a raft.
And then . . . she’s in the water. Fighting for her life. Max pulls her onto the raft, and that’s when the real terror begins. They have no water. Their only food is a bag of Skittles. There are sharks. There is an island. But there’s no sign of help on the way.”

My Rating: êêê

My Review: This book was a fast, short read. A few words to describe the book: realistic and educational. I think I learned a lot about albatrosses and tiger shark and or sea creatures in this book. It might have been an info dump, but I like learning cool facts about animals. And I learned a lot about surviving in the open ocean. I’ve never been to the ocean, so I probably will never need it. Most of the story seemed inconsequential, but there were some interesting part. The chapters were short, at least. This book reminded me of Survive by Alex Morel, only I liked the main character Robie a lot better. She’s funny and smart and not depressed or suicidal. Max seemed okay. This book is not for the wary travelers out there. I’ve never rode a plane before, and this story got me a bit freaked out, but it’s not like I’m going to be on a plane anytime soon. I wish there were more YA books set in interesting places like Hawaii or Midway. The Forsaken by Lisa M. Stasse was set on an island, and was a very exciting read. This book was realistic and not dystopian. It mentions The Hunger Games in here though. The book’s a quick read, so check it out at your library, but I don’t recommend buying it. Also check out The Compound and The Gardener, also by the same author. The Compound was very interesting.

Cover Art Review: The photo is pretty good. It shows what the book’s about. If only it had a guy on it too, because it looks very depressing without him.

 

~Haley G