Crash by Joseph Monninger (review)

“They were a bunch of kids from a semilame television show who’d had the bad fortune to crash in what looked like a complete wilderness.” So thinks one of the girls, E, stranded with other cast members in Alaska’s Brooks Range after their plane dives into the wilderness. Only five teens and two adults survive after the first few days, making shelter and gathering fuel under the direction of Titus, the Eagle Scout, and E, the surprisingly practical video star. When rescue fails to appear, will they be able to make their way to safety before winter sets in? Monninger is probably best known for his nuanced dramas of girls amid nature, like Baby (BCCB 9/07) and Hippie Chick (BCCB 10/08), so this speedy, action-focused hi-lo is a very different enterprise. His craftsmanship nonetheless often shines through subtly in vivid turns of phrase (“Every time you breathed, you sucked in insects”) and telling details even as the book keeps the attention firmly on the survival details. The story is so concrete, though, that it’s got some odd gaps, both emotionally (nobody seems deeply frightened, depressed, or grief-stricken) and narratively (it’s not explicitly clear what happens to one character and if the other characters know). It is still a swift and accessible neo-Hatchet for reluctant readers and those more comfortable camping than reading.