Lily's Mountain by Hannah Moderow (review)

When the news comes that Lily's father disappeared into a crevasse while climbing Denali, the family is devastated but Lily refuses to believe he's gone. The twelve-year-old convinces her older sister, Sophie, to join her on a camping trip to their family's favorite campground in Denali National Park. Secretly, though, Lily plans to continue to the base camp on the mountain where her father was lost, sure that she can find him and save him. The author, a lifelong Alaskan, writes with smooth familiarity of a life where Denali is an easy day trip and bear-repelling techniques are part of daily knowledge, and while Lily and Sophie's trek is fairly brief, it's described with vivid detail that make it clear it's dangerous as well as dramatic. It's also highly improbable, however, and characterization is an issue: Dad is made largely of aphorisms and poetry, and the girls' mother is disconcertingly disengaged from her grieving children while still being framed as a decent parent. The story of outdoorsy girls on a genuine adventure has appeal, though, and it may please those who like their armchair travel audacious. DS