Trapped Review

Monday, December 27, 2010

Title: Trapped
Author: Michael Northrop
Publisher: Scholastic
Published: January 1, 2011
Genre: Young Adult/Middle Grade
Pages: 224
Source: Publisher

The day the blizzard started, no one knew that it was going to keep snowing for a week. That for those in its path, it would become not just a matter of keeping warm, but of staying alive....

Scotty and his friends Pete and Jason are among the last seven kids at their high school waiting to get picked up that day, and they soon realize that no one is coming for them. Still, it doesn't seem so bad to spend the night at school, especially when distractingly hot Krista and Julie are sleeping just down the hall.

But then the power goes out, then the heat. The pipes freeze, and the roof shudders. As the days add up, the snow piles higher, and the empty halls grow colder and darker, the mounting pressure forces a devastating decision....
It’s an ordinary day of school at Tattawa Regional High School, but then the snow starts. At first, it’s just a light storm, but the nor’easter rolls in quickly, giving Scotty Weems and his friends hope that they’ll get out of school after all. Then the snow picks up even more though, and they’ve stayed behind to work on a go-kart project…but they stayed behind too long. The roads are packed, the plows can’t move, and their little town is starting to shut down. With seven kids in the high school, their teacher gone to get help, and snow piling even higher. The kids are braced to face the night at school, but what happens when one night turns to two, and two turns to three? Can they survive in the biggest storm their town has ever seen?

Let's be honest...I was sold based on the cover and premise, alone, of Trapped. I’m a sucker for survival stories, too, and when they involve snow, kids braving the elements, and a battle to stay alive, I’m fairly certain you can’t go wrong with that. Michael Northrop is the acclaimed author of the novel, Gentlemen, which I’ve yet to read, but I’ve heard rave reviews of it, so I was excited to try his YA novel, Trapped. His tone is exceptionally conversational – almost as though the MC is actually speaking with the reader. It’s easily accessible, and extremely easy to follow.

I have to be honest though…Trapped rather disappointed me. I was expecting more of a thriller with gripping scenes and an epic struggle for survival. What I got instead, was a very young teen narrator that, yes, has an easy-to-read voice, but it was almost too easy, if you know what I mean. It felt dumbed down, to be brutally honest. Yes, I know kids say “like” every other word, but I don’t want to read it every word on every single page. I’m also aware that everyone says crass things every now and again, but describing someone crossing themselves as “spectacles, testicles, wallet and watch” and using terms like “turtling” is not really my cup of tea. The tension did begin to build about halfway through the story, and it finished better than it started, which was a redeeming factor for Trapped.

All in all, I can’t say that Trapped was my new favourite read, though I wish I could say it was. Perhaps it will mesh better with a younger audience than it did for me. I give it a 2.5 out of 5, and I’d recommend it to a younger YA and MG audience, especially those who enjoy contemporary and realistic fiction. It’s also great for a male audience with a male MC.

37 comments:

  1. Hmmm, this book sounds good. I just picked up his other book Gentlemen. Thanks for the review!!

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  2. Oh no :( I had such high hopes for this book! I will still give it a go though. Thanks for the honest review, Melissa.

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  3. Hmmmm...the premise sounds good, but on reading your review, I have to say it's probably not my thing, and maybe a little young for my tastes too.

    Thanks for the honest review!

    By the way, you're rockin' those blockquotes now! ;-)

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  4. I seen this on another blog earlier today and was excited to see you had a review for it... I too thought it would be an exciting read as I too like survival stories.

    I think after reading your review I will pass on this one. I like a little more in my books and like you I can live with with out some of the words and a lot of "like" would start to wear on me.

    Thanks for the review :)

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  5. I think I got overly excited based on the gorgeous cover too. I was just thinking to myself yesterday about whether you'd read it yet, so it was a nice surprise to see your review. Too bad it didn't live up to your expectations, though. Booooo. I might skip this one now. We'll see!

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  6. Melissa, I do agree that some of the language was crass, and perhaps just a bit more middle schoolish that sophmorish, but I think the language will appeal to the middle school crowd quite well. I would have like a bit more action and the end, was nothing special. Definitely not a 5 or 4 in my book, but maybe a 3.

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  7. Too bad on this one, I was sold on the cover and premise as well! It's so disappointing when you're that excited for a book and with every page you hope it's going to get better and it just doesn't. Fabulous review as always though Melissa, I think I'll skip on this one:)

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  8. Oh! I had expected a lot from this book. I can take it off my wishlist now. Thanks for the honest review!

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  9. That's a shame you were disappointed. I was playng with the idea of reading this one, but ultimately decided against it, for now anyway.

    I do appreciate the honest review! Thanks!

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  10. Bummer, this one sounded like it would be really intense. My brother might enjoy Trapped though. Thanks for the review.

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  11. Ooooh too bad you didn't like it :( But hey, sometimes it just doesn't work for everyone :)
    I'm still curious however :)

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  12. Thanks for the honest, awesome review. For some reason this book was never really on my radar...I guess now I know why.

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  13. Too bad. I thought it was a great survival story based on the cover too! I hate it when an author dumbs it down too much. Thanks for the honest review!

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  14. Melissa, it's too bad that you didn't enjoy this one that much. I had high hopes for Trapped and was really excited to read it, but I'll have to keep in mind how it's more directed at a younger audience. I still plan on reading it, and probably would have loved the atmosphere in it during last night's storm.

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  15. Lol, some of those things *shakes head* Nice honest review, and sure not my cup of tea either

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  16. Melissa, I'm so disappointed. Based on the premise and cover, which literally gave me the chills, I got pretty excited, too but now I'm thinking it won't work for me either.

    Turtling? Do I want to know what that is? LOL

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  17. Yeah, a book that might be misleading - the more thanks for your review! There are some limits even if an author wants to sound like crass teens.

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  18. That sucks you didn't love it. I was so excited for this book the whole Breakfast Club meets The Blizzard of the Century theme. But I struggle with voices that are too young too.

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  19. I had high hopes for this book, too bad you didn't like it =( Thanks for the honest review! =)

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  20. I like this review Melissa! I understand. I don't like a male POV too much myself. And I hate reading slang, that's why I've quit House of Night series. Too much slang and cussing! But what is turtling?

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  21. That's too bad. It's such a cool concept. What does Turtling mean? It's so hard to get teen voices right...but I generally think that less slang or "teen-speak" is better.

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  22. Yes, I agree, I love these kind of survival stories, too, but it's too bad it didn't live up to your expectations. Shame, because the premise does sound really good.

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  23. Aw, it's a shame that this one didn't live up to your expectations. I had high hopes for it. :( Ah, well, I suppose not every book is everyone's cup of tea! Thank you for your review. ♥

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  24. Sometimes it happens. I find it hard to related to the Middle School age books sometimes. But such is life. I then pass the books down to my wee ones.

    Mad Scientist
    Adult Blog is now up but under extreme construction!

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  25. Boooo! Like you, I was loving the premise. Sorry to hear it doesn't match up.

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  26. Ooooh darn, I was crossing my fingers for a good review. That's too bad it didn't meet your expectations. I'm still going to check it out, but I'm glad I have your review to balance with my excitement for it.

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  27. Too bad this book was such a disappointment to you. The premise sounds so promising. Thanks for your honest review. I had such high expectations for this book.

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  28. I'm not a fan of survival stories to begin with but if you had liked this one, I probably would have seen if the library offered it. Oh, and what does "turtling" mean?

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  29. Great and honest review. I don't like easy voices. lol.

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  30. Oh no, I signed up for this tour...:( Im not liking what Im hearing but I guess Ill find out pretty soon. Im reading the water wars right now......awesome........

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  31. Oh man that's too bad that you didn't like this book. It sounds like it would be a good read and the cover is gorgeous. Oh well, thanks for the heads up!

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  32. oh no, I'm sad that you didn't like it. I was really looking forward to it, but now I'll probably past. I trust your opinion!

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  33. Aw, too bad. Thank you for your honest review. I appreciate what you said about the way this book was written. I want teen characters to sound believably young, but I also don't want them to sound entirely accurate either. I'm with you in that I don't want to have to read through all of the "likes" and "ums." I'm also put off by some of the crass language. I'm sure it's accurate, but that just isn't something I want to read.

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  34. Thanks for the honest review. I'm disappointed to hear this book comes across as dumbed down and sort of lackluster; I was really impressed with Gentlemen.

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  35. Bummer! I was really looking forward to this one. Gonna think twice before picking this one up.

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  36. I really liked this book but I do agree there were few, if any, seat gripping moments. :)

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