No Way Out

Hiking along the Virgin River in Utah, nineteen-year-old Amy, her fiance, and four friends battle a flashflood.

Grade 7 Up A sudden rainstorm brings flash floods through the Zion Narrows when Amy, 19; her fiance, Rick; her younger brother; 16-year-old Clyde, and four others are camped there. The terrifying flood and its aftermath forces them to use all of their resources to stay alive and to make their way out of the Narrows. Focussing mainly on Amy and Clyde, the story highlights the ef fects of cold, injuries, hunger, and fear on individual members of the party. Within this dramatic framework, Ruck man allows her characters to learn from tragedy, causing Amy to rethink her marriage plans and Clyde to see himself and his talents in a more positive light. The dynamics of relationships between characters, including Amy's with Rick and her brother as well as with Audrey, a calm older woman; Clyde's with a troubled young girl; and Rick's with an other friend whom they meet on the trail, are particularly well-developed. Another plus for this fast-paced surviv al novel is that an intelligent and inde pendent young woman is the protago nist. She, like the male heros of Gary Blackwood's Wild Timothy (Athene um, 1987) and Gary Paulsen's Hatchet (Bradbury, 1987) emerges from the wil derness experience as a more thought ful and careful adult.Barbara Chat ton, College of Education, University of Wyoming, Laramie
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.