15 SECRETS TO SURVIVAL

Four 12-year-olds and an 18-month-old have an unexpected adventure in the Montana woods.

Although their parents are close friends and despite having been thrown together socially since they were babies, gymnast Abigail Walters, twins Emerson and Turner Casella, and gamer Baxter Phillips can’t stand each other. The latest parental endeavor, the consequence of the kids’ code of conduct violation and subsequent disqualification from a middle school team competition, involves Baxter’s great-uncle Hornsby. The sixth graders are going to stay with former kids’ camp owner Uncle Hornsby deep in the mountains of Montana for lessons in teamwork. Because the parents are going to Aruba for a vacation during this time, they also leave Baxter’s baby sister, Vivi, who provides sparkling moments of humor. Uncle Hornsby has devised a scavenger hunt for the kids to work out together. It’s winter, and the task tests the kids’ abilities to integrate the survival techniques they find in notes as they pursue clues leading to the final prize—the key to a locked cabin. But things take a dangerous turn when Uncle Hornsby disappears. They must now work together to find him and stay alive themselves. The narrative presents believable moments of danger infused with the protagonists’ unwillingness to cooperate and a well-crafted realization of individual strengths, weaknesses, and friendship. Most characters read white; oblique clues may indicate that Baxter and Vivi’s mom is a person of color.

Both exciting and revelatory.