Shipwreck
The Island trilogy, Book 1
Gordon Korman
Scholastic
Fiction, MG Action/Thriller
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Charting New Courses advertised itself as a life-changing experience for troubled youth, taking them aboard the working schooner Phoenix in the Pacific Ocean to teach them teamwork and discipline and other life skills. Nobody asked the "troubled youth" what they thought of the plan, though of course none of them have a say in the matter. Luke is here as part of a plea deal after being caught with a firearm in his school locker. J.J.'s increasingly dramatic stunts to get his actor father's attention ended with a motorcycle flying through an art gallery window and Dad finally running out of patience. Will and Lyssa's sibling rivalry culminated in violence that landed them both in the hospital. Charla's athletic talent became an obsession, while Ian's parents just wanted to force him out of the house and away from the TV and internet that absorbed all of his time. None of them really expect anything like what Charting New Courses promised their parents; it's just going to be a few weeks of misery and drudgery and seasickness, then back to their normal lives.
The sea has its own agenda, however, and soon drudgery's the last of their worries, when a storm takes out their engines, their captain, and their hopes of survival.
REVIEW: While it may not break new ground in the survival/thriller subgenre, Shipwreck takes a credible turn at a familiar idea, with a cast of kids carrying personal baggage into a situation that's literally life and death. Friction flies between them almost from the start; Will and Lyssa can't go five seconds without antagonizing each other, while J.J.'s spoiled brat persona (and conviction that the dangers they face are just part of the program, rigged or arranged by CNC for "character building") gets on everyone's nerves. The first mate, dubbed Ratface, doesn't help much, his antipathy towards the troubled youth clear from the outset; he doesn't even bother learning names, just calling all males "Archie" and females "Veronica". The storm, naturally, levels the playing field, a situation made worse by one character's impulsive and ill-thought actions and another's rank cowardice in the face of calamity. Given that this is the first in a trilogy, it goes without saying that they're still in a decent level of danger by the end... those who get through the storm, at least.
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