Boyds Mills Press publishes a wide range of high-quality fiction and nonfiction picture books, chapter books, novels, and nonfiction Fourteen year-old Allison from suburban California is in a bush-plane flying to visit her mom in a small village in Alaska--and the plane crashes with her as the sole survivor. Rescued by an indigenous hunter who luckily happens upon the crash, she lives and travels with Iñupiat Alaskans (commonly but improperly known as Eskimo), struggles with her withdrawal from her past life as a mall-rat, and gains extraordinary insights into the virtues and value of the indigenous culture. I absolutely loved this book, and I am certain that most young adults would too. Grade 5-7-A well-intentioned but poorly executed story. Fourteen-year-old Allison is stranded above the Arctic Circle when the small plane in which she is flying crashes and the pilot is killed. She is rescued by an I?upiat hunter. While she awaits the repair of the radio so she can reach her mother, who teaches in Alaska. Allison is drawn into the village community. Although filled with interesting details about the I?upiat way of life and the challenges posed by increasing contact with the outside world, the events are nevertheless predictable and the characters superficial and sometimes stereotyped. Allison, who begins the book as self-centered and materialistic, of course matures and changes through her exposure to another culture, but she seems merely a device, never a fully realized and sympathetic character. A clunky subplot concerning an outcast deaf girl whom she befriends because she happens to know sign language seems gratuitous. Despite the author's obvious knowledge of the territory, the novel remains pedestrian and readers remain, as does Allison, on the outside looking in. Cyrisse Jaffee, formerly at Newton Public Schools, MA Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. Gr. 4^-6. California girl Allison Atwood is radically out of her element when an airplane crash leaves her stranded in Alaska. Rescued by an Inupiat passing on his dogsled and taken first to his village, then to a larger one, Allison finds herself isolated again, this time by cultural differences. The story is exciting enough to involve readers; however, the novel slows down when Easley uses it to tell about the difficulties facing Inupiat communities and is weakened by the inclusion of a subplot in which Allison enables a community to accept a deaf girl by teaching her sign language. A first novel with some problems, but also showing narrative promise. Carolyn Phelan When the plane carrying Allison to the I¤upiat village where her mother is teaching crashes and the pilot is killed, she is rescued by an old I¤upiat hunter and brought to a remote village. There she learns firsthand about the wonder and misery of modern Eskimo life and helps bring an outcast disabled girl back into the heart of her community. More a portrait of a culture than a survival story, Easley's first novel shows clearly how the intrusion of modern life into the remote Arctic has brought irreversible harm to the natives. But she also shows the tenacious spirit of the people who live in the harshest, most barren wilderness, yet have everything they need. Although a bit facile, the changes that result from Allison's encounter with the villagers are a nice touch, and the author carefully avoids moralizing and easy answers. A compelling window into a remote world, wrought with sensitivity and compassion. (Fiction. 10+) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. Easley's story is stronger than a nebulous title and a close-up color photo of a girl's face, reaching into the heart of Eskimo life and the experiences of a young plane crash survivor who finds her search for family changed into a search for cross-cultural understanding. Allison's Eskimo friends and their odd ways challenge all her experiences in Easley's moving, realistic story of not just survival, but cultural appreciation. -- Midwest Book Review Used Book in Good Condition