Trapped by Michael Northrop
Hardcover, 240 Pages
2011, Scholastic Press
ISBN: 0545210127
Synopsis
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....
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....
Review
I was prepared to absolutely adore Trapped. Getting stuck in an eighteen foot, week-long mother of all snowstorms ranks right up there with experiencing the zombie apocalypse for me. The synopsis called out to me, sounding like a very unique disaster novel.
I loved both the concept of this novel and the writing. Michael Northrop is very good with the details, making it easy to picture the scene the teens faced. A description of the endless piling up of snow may seem like it would be tedious, but it was very well done. Couple that with a very unique chapter page styling and the situation was perfectly set. I read an ARC and I very much hope they keep this design for the official publication. Each chapter had a darkened upper portion with snowflakes and the writing began where the pile of snow started. As the book progressed, the white snowed in portion would move higher and higher up the page, indicating the show piling up in the book. Kudos to whomever came up with the idea, because the effect is phenomenal.
Trapped was an engaging novel, but it never really brought the tension one looks for in a disaster situation such as this. The kids were in a life and death situation. They fully realized this and acted accordingly. Yet, even when death occurred, it never invoked the sense of trauma it should have. I never felt scared for the kids.
At one point later in the book, there is a definite Breakfast Club feel. The characters are trapped together and most of them are from different cliques. While not as clearly segregated as that 80's movie, when Scotty considered each character in turn thinking how they were more than just the stereotype he's originally assumed, all I could picture was Judd Nelson and Ally Sheedy. While I don't believe this was the author's intended effect, I personally enjoyed the comparison - even if only in my own head.
Michael Northrop could have inflicted more pain and suffering on his characters in Trapped. The novel flowed well and the story worked, but I was left with the feeling that they were all getting off a bit to easy.
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