Trapped Paperback – December 1, 2012

TRAPPED is Michael Northrop's entry into the YA novel category, and it is a better-than-decent first book. I started out reading his book thinking I knew how it would all turn out - and in the overall scheme of the novel, I did. But what made this story a worthy adventure was in HOW Northrop drew out the story line, telling it from the viewpoint of a 15 year old student, an aspiring member of the school basketball team, and only child of a single parent. Northrop's attention to the details which motivated his protagonist was spot on.Scotty Weem and 6 other high school students, a mixed bag of people and personalities, are trapped for 5 days at the school as a blizzard rages throughout the northeast. This was not just any blizzard, and not just any nor'easter. "It was a natural disaster in the way the earthquakes and tidal waves are natural disasters".(p.2) Of course, none of the trapped students knew this at the outset. For them, rescue was just around the corner, until at some point, maybe when the snow covered the windows of the first floor windows, it wasn't.The crew of 7 includes two freshmen girls; 2 male "outcasts," one labeled a Goth and the other, a delinquent. And 3 boys who had a long standing friendship; Scotty, Jason, and Peter. There was wariness, suspicion, and unfounded perceptions among the unwillingly formed group of teens.The 5 days spent trapped in the old school building became one worse day after another. The worst day faded as the new worst day dawned. And the dawns faded as the school was encased in 18 plus feet of snow and the windows on the first floor were covered.Food was found in the cafeteria at the cost of breaking into several locked doors and storage lockers. Peaches and chocolate pudding were the main items on the group's menu. Soon, the pipes froze making water a precious commodity. The lights failed and the battery powered backup lights soon faded leaving the kids in total darkness when they ventured off of the second floor. There was no heat, no blankets, no sanitation, and now, without lights, journeys to the cafeteria to replenish their food supply, became dangerous excursions.A fascinating observation that was beautifully executed through Scotty's musing was the effect of having no communication with the outside world. This is a group of kids with computers, ipads, cell phones, video games, texting, facebook, and a myriad of communication channels available 24-7. Suddenly they were completely disconnected from their internet world. Scotty had left his cell phone at home that day, forgotten on his dresser. Others had phones but with limited charge in each and no way to recharge them. And, unbeknownst to them, the cell tower was destroyed by the violence of the blizzard. There was no way anyone could know that they were even trapped in the high school. And once anyone would be able to navigate the outdoors again, no one would know to look for them. A fatalistic theme enters the story, slowly, but pervasive.Another compelling aspect of the plot was the relationship of the group members. Northrop presents a clear and believable picture of the inter-relationships among the members; notions and actions about one another that are both real and perceived. This is a group that never becomes a team; they do not bond, nor do heroic things for the sake of the group. In some ways,are so estranged that they d0 not even get together to use their numbers to help them survive. Even Scotty and his 2 best friends found it difficult at times to be supportive of each other.So here we have the "trapped in a crisis situation" plot and 7 teenagers with few if any survival skills or even common sense among them. The tension does build daily as one disaster after another befalls this group, making their chances of survival diminish as the days pass. We have a brilliant depiction of a group that is naive, unskilled in daily living unless it is on the internet; a group that has no interest in the other members or their survival; a group that is basically disconnected from each other, and from the world. How does this all turn out?Well, read the book - the ending is not generic nor does it result in happy days or dreams come true. Northrup continues the tension in his writing up to (and beyond, in the reader's mind) the very last page. He shows a keen understanding of teenagers as he presents this story through the eyes of Scotty Weems. He is the narrator. His observations, thoughts, and emotions, convey the unfolding of the plot in a believable manner. This is a well written book - something a young adult and even an older adult such as myself can thoroughly appreciate.I am looking forward to more such writing from Northrop as I hope he is at work on his next compelling story.

Trapped is by Michael Northrop. It is a science fiction book but reads like a great novel. This is a young adult novel with very realistic characters and a great plot with plenty of suspense. It was recommended to me by a teacher I had taught with for years. She said they were reading this book in her seventh grade classes. In this book, nature is like a character in its own right.Tattawa Regional High School was outside of town in the middle of a field. You could see a long ways in all directions from the school. There were only a few houses out this way and most kids rode the bus. On this day, the snow started in the early morning but it was nothing unusual for this area. By noon, the school was gearing up to bus the kids home early. The snow kept getting deeper and much more dense. When the last bus left, there were seven kids left. Mr. Gossel stayed with them because he had late bus duty. Scotty, Pete, and Jason had stayed behind to work on Jason’s project in shop class. Jason’s father was to pick them up on his way home. The other kids were waiting for the bus or someone to pick them up. There was Kristy (who Scotty liked) and her friend Julie; Elijah, a weird kid; and Les, the bad kid at school. These seven watched as the snow kept coming down and no one came. When a car or truck got stuck down the hill from the school, Mr. Gossel went out to help him. He never came back.The kids were stuck here with no way of leaving and the snow just kept coming and they watched as it came up the sides of the windows until they were nearly covered. They had no phone and no way of getting in touch with anyone. They did have a radio and they broke into the cafeteria for food and the nurse’s office for blankets. They finally holed up in a couple of rooms on the second floor. Then, the heat gave out. They faced freezing.They were trapped in a school where the roof had already fallen in on part of the building. Would anyone come to help them before they died? Would their families survive? After all, Kristi’s Mom and Jason’s Dad were supposed to be on their way out to the school to pick their kids up. Where were they?What would happen as it got colder and colder and they ran out of food? There was so much of it that they couldn’t eat, frozen chicken, frozen meats, etc

Trapped is a short and quick read that I enjoyed until it abruptly ended. Were the last few chapters accidentally left out of my copy? Nope, that was it! Who lives, who dies, and what’s going to happen next? I will have to decide that on my own…I was pulled in from the beginning wondering what was going to happen. I knew it was going to be a bad storm, but the snow just would not stop! These poor kids just kept getting worse off as the novel progressed. For a YA novel that has boys and girls stuck alone together, there surprisingly was not much teenage drama: They were focused on survival.If you like quick YA reads, give Trapped a try. Our narrator is a boy, which is a rarity in YA novels. *Disclaimer*: Going in keep in mind that the novel ends with no conclusion/ epilogue.Northrop wrote another novel which interests me called Surrounded by Sharks. It is similar to Trapped in that it deals with survival, but I doubt I will read it. It is about the same length as Trapped and I am afraid that there will be no conclusion, and my thinking is this:Fool me once, shame on you.Fool me twice, shame on me.If you have actually read Surrounded by Sharks, I would love to know if there is a conclusion to that novel!Other than the lack of conclusion, Trapped would be perfect to read while it is snowing: I just hope you don’t end up in a blizzard like our poor teens!

it is the review of my child; she was amazed and used the book for a presentation at school;

Great book!

I loved this book from start to finish! It's one of the most gripping reads I've had the pleasure of reading in a long time!Blogged on: cosmeticmagnetic.blogspot.com

it was a great book, i thought it was set out very well, it all made sense, the end was spectacular! I wish i could read it over and over again!

Während der Schulstunden braut sich in New England der schlimmste Schneesturm seit Jahrzehnten zusammen. Eine Gruppe Schüler bricht nicht mehr rechtzeitig nach Hause auf und sitzt nun in der High School fest. Was zunächst wie ein Abenteuer beginnt, wird bald bitterer Ernst: der Schneefall lässt tagelang nicht nach, die Temperaturen sinken, und das alte Schulgebäude ist den extremen Witterungsbedingungen auf Dauer nicht gewachsen.Die Geschichte wird aus Sicht eines der eingeschlossenen Jugendlichen – dem 15-jährigen Scotty – erzählt. Der Schreibstil ist entsprechend locker, aber nicht plump. Ich finde, er klingt durchaus echt. Scotty ist ein durchschnittlicher Teenager und dadurch eine glaubwürdige Figur: er gehört weder zu den wahnsinnig coolen Trendsettern der Schule noch ist er ein Außenseiter. Zumindest zu Beginn der Geschichte kreisen seine Gedanken auch noch um typische Probleme seiner Altersgruppe: Pickel, Mädchen, Sport (nicht unbedingt in dieser Reihenfolge!).Die Handlung ist gut und realistisch aufgebaut: Das Unwetter und das Eingeschlossensein im Schulgebäude empfinden die Schüler lange Zeit zwar als lästig, aber nicht als wirklich gefährlich. Es dauert eine ganze Weile, bis sie sich der Gefahr bewusst werden und bis sie die Hoffnung auf eine schnelle und sichere Rettung allmählich aufgeben. Es ist wirklich spannend, wie sich die Atmosphäre in der Gruppe allmählich ändert und sich Angst und Panik ausbreitet. Ich denke, im wirklichen Leben wäre es ähnlich; es ist einfach sehr schwer vorstellbar, dass man so plötzlich mitten in der Zivilisation vollkommen isoliert ist und dass ein oder zwei Meilen zu einer unüberwindbaren Distanz werden.Mit nur 232 Seiten ist "Trapped" ein recht dünnes Büchlein. Die Länge ist aber ausreichend, um die Geschichte gut zu erzählen – schließlich spielen sich die beschriebenen Ereignisse innerhalb weniger Tage ab. Lediglich das Ende ist für meinen Geschmack etwas zu abrupt. Ein paar Seiten Epilog mit Informationen dazu, wie es mit den Hauptfiguren und ihren Familien weiterging, hätten die Geschichte gut abgerundet.Abgesehen davon ein spannender, unterhaltsamer Roman nicht nur für Jugendliche. Die perfekte Lektüre für einen eisigen, verschneiten Nachmittag.