Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Book Review: To Stay Alive

TO STAY ALIVE by Skila Brown tells the story of Mary Ann Graves and the tragic Donner Party.
Set in 1846, this young adult novel tells the fictionalized story of a young survivor of the Donner Party. Based on the real people, places, and events, Brown uses a novel-in-verse approach to share the hardships of the journey West.
Librarians will find this well-researched novel to be a nice companion to the many nonfiction works about the Donner Party already found in the library collection. Work with history teachers to create a class reading list that includes the growing number of historical novels-in-verse now available for middle and high school students. Students who enjoy books about survival will find this haunting, historical work to be a sober change of pace from other adventure stories.
Published by Candlewick on October 11, 2016. ARC courtesy of the publisher.