Beginning: check
Middle: check
End: ehh, forget it ( )

It's early dismissal day!!! Remember those? Well 3 friends, Jason, Scotty, and Pete decide to stay after school is dismissed to work in the shop. After working for a time they notice the snow storm is much worse than they thought, so they go to wait for their ride that never comes. A small group of kids that were left in the school and the teacher who is supposed to make sure everyone leaves forms. And the snow keeps falling... Eventually the teacher leaves to get help and is never seen again.
The characters left in the school are the 3 boys, Krista & Julie, Les (the troublemaker), and Elijah (the loner). They have to figure out how to survive until the mother of all snow storms stops... and that could be a while.

I really liked this book... I wanted to read it straight through, but didn't have time, so I kept reading everytime I had a spare minute becuase I was so curious to see what was going to happen. The school seemed like the perfect place to be in that situation... but I guess it didn't really read that way. Yes they had tons of food, but with the roof collapsing and very little other supplies, they probably would've been better off at home.
It surprised me that they didn't find more stuff they could use. The teacher lounge has to have couches or at least comfortable chairs right? And they mentioned getting mats from the gym but never did, instead electing to sleep on the hard floor. The janitors closet, why didn't they check there for flashlights and other tools (like maybe a master key?)? I guess I just felt like they were missing out on some important supllies that may have been there.
The only thing I didn't like about the characters was that being that they were in a crisis, I felt like they would've bonded more and that didn't really happen. The girls stayed to themselves and the 3 friends stuck together. The only character I really felt like I got to know was Scotty.
The ending.... Well I didn't hate it, but I would've like to know what the heck happened to everyone's families. And what was school/the world like for these kids and this town after everything went back to normal?

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[bc:Trapped|8428140|Trapped|Michael Northrop|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328837786s/8428140.jpg|13291342]
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Excellent survival story about seven kids left behind at a high school during a week-long blizzard. I read it all in a day while I was sick with a cold (and during our own snowstorm!). Kind of reminded me of the movie "The Breakfast Club" in a way. Showed how getting to know other people you don't normally associate with is usually a good thing. I think this is for more mature readers, 14 and over. ( )

Weather conditions develop that are just right to stall a heavy winter blizzard over the upper east coast of the United States. New Englanders are used to Nor'easters, but this storm is something much worse. Seven kids and a teacher wait at their high school. The kids were waiting for rides home, but the snow is coming down so fast that the roads become impassable. They soon realize that nobody is coming for them. When the teacher ventures out into the storm to get help and doesn't come back, the kids are left alone in the school to fend for themselves. Then the power goes out.....and the snow keeps falling.

I enjoyed this story for the most part. I had a hard time believing that seven kids would be left with one teacher in a locked down building during a weather emergency....but I guess since they were waiting for their usual rides it might be plausible. I really think a teacher or law enforcement would have evacuated them from the building with or without parental permission before the roads completely snowed shut. But....if a storm could truly intensify that quickly without warning....then I guess I can see how the last stragglers might be stuck in the building. But, as an adult, I would not have left them alone to wander out into the night trying to get help. Not only does that leave the kids alone....but it also leaves them without keys to the building, knowledge of where emergency supplies might be or other info a teacher could provide them. Plus....where was the principal (surely they can't leave the building before all the kids are gone?) or school security? Even the schools in the small town I live in have security officers....why didn't this school have more than one teacher who stayed until all of the kids were out of the building? In the end, the kids figured things out the best they could. I think their reactions were pretty close to realistic....jokes and fun in the beginning when it was novel to be stuck inside their school with no adults, changing to a bit of panic and fear when the power and heat went off.

The ending of the story was a bit abrupt. I wanted more of a finish with more information on what happened to the kids and the aftermath of the storm. But it got to a point and just.....stopped. I felt it ended before the story was really complete.

Despite a bit of adult incredulity at some aspects of the basic premise and my need for more of a finish, I enjoyed this story. My 14 year old read some of the story and we talked about it. He had the same concerns with the tale that I did -- administration would never leave the building following an early dismissal until all students were safely out of the building, and they would never have been left alone like that. But, he did say the premise was interesting and agreed that their reactions would be realistic. It would be fun for the kids for awhile.....until the situation became dangerous.

Michael Northrup has written several other YA books including the TombQuest series and Surrounded by Sharks. The shark story sounds like it's similar to this book in that teens are put in a life or death situation. Sounds like an exciting story! I will definitely read more by this author.

The story is complete age appropriate for teens. No gory deaths, sex, inappropriate language/topics, etc. Just a survival story. Quite enjoyable!
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A solid survival story set in a high school. I would have liked a little more detail about the characters, but I think it will be popular with our middle school readers. It would be a good companion read to [b: Life As We Knew It|213753|Life As We Knew It (Last Survivors, #1)|Susan Beth Pfeffer|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328012816s/213753.jpg|206925], although the books in that series are definitely a bit more bleak and dark.