Going into 15 Secrets to Survival, I was fully expecting a collection of gritty, real-life survival stories. Canoes gone wrong, close encounters with bears, stranded after a plane crash and having to start a fire with wet socks and sheer willpower.
I was wrong.
The back cover compares it to Hatchet with a teamwork twist—which doesn't entirely miss the target—but this story really holds its own. It feels more current, more chaotic, and a lot more relationship-driven. These kids aren’t fighting to survive in the wilderness—they’re also trying to figure out how to work together, trust each other, and maybe not drive each other completely up the wall in the process.
What makes this one stand out is the balance. There’s real tension, eventually, and high stakes, towards the end of the book, but it’s also funny. And that humor makes it feel more real because even in tough situations, people joke, bicker, and mess up. Especially kids.
By the time I finished, I wasn’t thinking about how it compared to other survival books—I was just glad it existed. It’s accessible, engaging, and perfect for middle school readers who want a survival story that also understands what it’s like to be twelve and figuring out your place in the world (while, you know, maybe trying to not get eaten by wildlife).
Highly recommend having this one on your classroom shelf.
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