Survive

A twist of fate propels a suicidal teen to fight for her life in a compelling survival story. The first part of the novel portrays a deeply disturbed seventeen-year-old girl trapped by the pain of her father's suicide. Hospitalized after her own second attempt to take her life, Jane now has the perfect plan. Her deceptive model behavior earns her a trip home for Christmas; once on the plane, she will swallow the right combination of pills to end her life once and for all. The story takes a dramatic turn when the plane is caught in a blizzard and crashes into a remote, frozen mountaintop. Despite the obvious setup -- testing Jane's inner strength with an extreme life-or-death situation -- the novel maintains credulity by staying true to Jane's character. Her initial shock and horror at the gruesome death of the other passengers slowly gives way to a basic desire for survival. Instinct takes over as she rescues the one other survivor, who is trapped over the edge of a cliff, proving her to be more fighter than victim. An expert climber, Paul has skills that can help them make the trek out of the frigid, icy mountains. Like Jane, however, Paul also suffers from terrible loss, and the meeting of these two vulnerable teens begins to seem more fateful than random. Graphic details about Jane's suicide attempts and the brutal journey through bitter cold and snow heighten the drama and realism, while a gentle romance softens the harsh story of wilderness survival in this gripping page-turner. lauren adams