Trapped by Michael Northrop

"The day the blizzard started no one knew that it was going to snow for a week. That for those in its path, it would become not just a matter of staying warm, but of staying alive." - Trapped by Michael Northrop.



This is a great novel for those looking for a quick winter read, and it is especially appropriate given our current weather pattern! The story centers on narrator Scotty Weams, an athletic sophomore, and his two best friends as they attempt to survive a seven day blizzard "trapped" in their high school. The boys stay late after an early snow dismissal and find themselves, along with four other students, without a way to get home. The situation isn't too bad at first, but the power goes out, then the heat, and the roof begins to sag with the weight of all that snow, and there is no way out with snow reaching to the second story windows. They are literally "trapped" and have to work together to survive.
I enjoyed this novel; it had a great premise. The idea of being stuck at school and being able to raid the cafeteria, roam the halls, and basically do what you want in a building that is normally full of rules and those who enforce the rules. I think I romanticized the idea of this (made it sound better than it actually would be in real life) because the kids in this novel never really do that. They do raid the cafe and they go sit in their English classroom, but they don't really raid anything or take advantage of the opportunity. Instead these kids were really level headed and mostly concerned with their safety and survival. I was impressed with their discipline. Trust me this is no Lord of the Flies. ; even though, they don't all get along, these kids work well together for the most part. Even during a climactic scene, only one character really loses his cool and the others are there to set things right.
One of the techniques I liked about this novel was the way the author used the narrator, Scotty, to tell the story and drop hints of what was to come. We learn very early on that not everyone will make it and you keep guessing up until the end who and how... However, while the author uses foreshadowing, he did not neatly wrap things up in the end. You will probably have more questions at the end of the novel than you did at the start!

I have two copies in my room and I think Mr. Shaw has one, so see one of us to borrow and them come and talk with me about the ambiguous ending!