(3) 4-6 Survivor Diaries series. When twelve-year-old twins Ashley and Ryan are caught in an avalanche on a skiing trip in Wyoming's Grand Teton Mountains, Ashley's quick-thinking and instinctual decision-making help them survive. On a sixth-grade geocaching field trip in New Mexico, former best friends Jen and Martin must rely on each other when they're separated from their class during a dust storm. These well-paced and easy-to-read wilderness stories integrate real survival techniques; region-specific tips are also appended. Review covers these Survivor Diaries titles: Avalanche! and Dust Storm!.

Reviewer: Rita Soltan

(3) 4-6 Survivor Diaries series. When twelve-year-old twins Ashley and Ryan are caught in an avalanche on a skiing trip in Wyoming's Grand Teton Mountains, Ashley's quick-thinking and instinctual decision-making help them survive. On a sixth-grade geocaching field trip in New Mexico, former best friends Jen and Martin must rely on each other when they're separated from their class during a dust storm. These well-paced and easy-to-read wilderness stories integrate real survival techniques; region-specific tips are also appended. Review covers these Survivor Diaries titles: Avalanche! and Dust Storm!.

Reviewer: Rita Soltan

(3) 4-6 Thirteen-year-old Karma's love of falconry leads to heartbreak when Stark, her foster gyrfalcon, must return to her original owner. But during the trip across Montana, a blown tire means that Karma--with Stark and a runaway boy named Cooper--must traverse the wilderness for help. The girl's deep connection with her raptor, one rarely represented in literature, distinguishes this survival page-turner.

Reviewer: Jessica Bushore

(3) 4-6 School is tough for eleven-year-old Matthew: he is bullied and may fail math. To earn extra credit, he creates a business plan, relying on his passion for sled-dog racing to create a sled school for other kids. Matthew's growth is believably gradual, while Johnson skillfully incorporates math into the text; animal lovers will welcome the information about dogs and racing.

Reviewer: Grace Worcester Greene

(3) 4-6 Survivor Diaries series. Illustrated by Jani Orban. Travis and Marina are on a whale-watching tour off the coast of Washington State when their boat capsizes; separated from their families, the tweens survive turbulent waves, injury, and hypothermia before reaching land. Realistic suspense unfurls in short, profusely illustrated chapters with simple sentences. An appendix includes cold-water survival tips and notes from the Canadian Coast Guard–trained author.

Reviewer: Rita Soltan

(2) 4-6 Fourteen-year-old musher Victoria Secord is in training for the White Wolf Classic sled race. Alone in the wilderness with only basic supplies and a skeleton dog team, she comes upon a boy who has crashed his snowmobile; when she tries to take him home, they get lost. Thus begins a top-notch survival story as the two deal with a blizzard and more.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2014