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The Trap

John Smelcer author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Andersen Press Ltd

Published:4th Sep '08

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The Trap cover

An award-winning author has written this compelling and authentic addition to the survival adventure genre, targetting the tricky boy-reader market.

Johnny worries when his grandfather doesn't return home from checking his trap line. As the old man progressively uses every technique he knows to stay alive - from creating a rabbit snare from a shoelace to fending off wolves with a newly made cedar spear, this suspenseful page-turner shows that the old man's survival is a race against time.Johnny worries when his grandfather doesn't return home from checking his trap line. The elderly Indian has packed ample supplies on his snowmobile, but has stayed out far too long in the plummeting temperatures of the Alaskan winter. Only readers know that he has caught his leg in his own trap, several feet from his supplies, and is unable to free himself. Chapters alternate between his predicament, and Johnny's failed attempts to raise concern among his family. As the old man progressively uses every technique he knows to stay alive - from creating a rabbit snare from a shoelace to fending off wolves with a newly made cedar spear, this suspenseful page-turner shows that the old man's survival is a race against time.

"An unforgettable story. Brilliant!" -- Ray Bradbury
"Beautifully written, this is a suspenseful, sad tale about a grandson and grandfather . . . A strong theme about white American culture impinging on the life of indigenous Alaskans." * The Bookseller *
"Lyrical and poignant." * Children's Bookseller *
"The Trap is a lovely story, beautifully told, the kind that makes you wade in and sink warmly into the cold, cold north of Alaska." -- Winston Groom, author of Forrest Gump
"Readers will be clinging to the pages of this graceful, haunting story... How rare to find lyrical writing combined with real suspense. A small masterpiece." * Kirkus *

ISBN: 9781842707395

Dimensions: 199mm x 130mm x 15mm

Weight: 150g

176 pages