Lost in the River of Grass

Gr 5—8—The Florida Everglades provides the setting for two barely acquainted teens to embark on a survival adventure. During a weekend field trip to an environmental center, Sarah, 13, meets Andy, 15, the camp manager's son. As a scholarship student new to Glades Academy, Sarah feels excluded by the "Barbies," her snooty designer-clad classmates. Feigning illness, she skips a scheduled outing and joins Andy for a daytrip into the wilderness. Packing few supplies, she hopes to shoot some photos with her father's treasured Leica camera and be back before her teacher realizes she is absent. Alligator and snake sightings portend danger lurking in the outwardly docile landscape, and Darwinian foreshadowing intensifies as Sarah takes the helm of the sputtering airboat, accidentally running over some ducklings. As the teens explore a remote island, their airboat sinks beyond saving. Options for rescue are few, so they slosh miles through knee-deep swamp, experiencing overexposure to sun, mosquito bites, and encounters with wildlife. Factual details about local flora and fauna make this more than just a survival story, creating an intimate portrait of the Everglades. The two help each other to overcome some specific fears, but heretofore unrevealed details about Sarah's African-American heritage and Andy's Confederate flag-toting father are unnecessary to the satisfying ending.—Vicki Reutter, Cazenovia High School, NY