Lost in the River of Grass (Carolrhoda Ya)
In this authentic survival adventure, Sarah, a 13-year-old scholarship student, leaves her preppy classmates on a weekend trip to the Everglades and takes off with Andy, 15, a kind local who offers her a brief guided tour in his airboat. After the boat sinks, they walk for three days through the swamp with little food and water�fighting off mosquitoes, snakes, and alligators�until, finally, helicopters rescue them. What comes through best here is not only the teens� courage and mutual support but also the realism of their fights and weaknesses, even in the small moments, as when he apologizes after he can�t stop himself from guzzling all the Gatorade. Andy is white and ashamed that his dad flies the Confederate flag. Sarah, in turn, is ashamed when she loses it and calls Andy a backwoods redneck (she doesn�t reveal that she is black until the very end). It�s the identity questions as much as the taut rescue story that will resonate with readers. Grades 7-10. --Hazel Rochman