Cheechako
Jonathan Thomas Stratman
CreateSpace/Amazon Digital Services, Kindle edition
9781470185909 $5.99 http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006R2NJ12
Cheechako is a young adult novel that opens with a bang: "Will nearly made it to safety before they spotted him. "Get him!" someone shouted."
With such a vivid opening a young adult reader can't help but continue to absorb the story of greenhorn Will Rollins (cheechako, in Native language), who has a hard time fitting in to his new Alaskan home. His rescue of a stranded dog earns him a sled dog and a new friendship, and Elias teaches him about outdoors survival in Alaska.
Chapters weave an inviting portrait of not just a growing friendship between two very different boys, but a series of lessons in outdoors survival that come in unexpectedly handy when disaster strikes.
There are many other outdoors adventures for young adults on the market, but CHEECHAKO holds more specific survivalist detail than most, backed by strong protagonists and dialogue.
From a wolf's threat and a near-death encounter with snow and cold to a storm that strands Will's family and leaves him their only hope for survival, this pairs vivid and fast-paced adventure with a strong story line that will keep young adults interested in the ultimate outcome.
Cheechako holds many insights and not a few twists and turns, and shows how a loner ultimately makes a name for himself in a challenging social and wilderness environment.
It's a saga young adults - particularly those who like wilderness survival stories - will relish.
