READING LEVEL: 4.8 AR POINTS: 9.0

Fantastic novel for young readers...and for me, and I’m 55 years old! I was immediately reminded of Lord of the Flies, but there were only two boys on this adventure of survival in the Alaskan wild, and this book was much easier to read. The boys find themselves stranded and learning to survive by scavenging for food, escaping bear attacks, and fearing the nights with all the noises of the wild and their over-active imaginations. But, mostly surviving each other. I loved both characters, the very sensitive, and a bit intuitive, 12 year old Chris, and the angry, know-it-all 15 year old Frank. But, I mostly fell for Thursday, the Raven, a huge part of the story, who was drawn to and befriended Chris. I read a book once called “Mind of the Raven” by Bernd Heinrich, who had a ½-acre aviary in Maine just for the purpose of studying raven’s. They are extremely smart and very peculiar birds.

As the boys scouted the area, they came across an old, deserted run-down cabin, which they made home. Their time was spent sharing a book, “Kaetil the Raven Hunter” by Daniel J. Chesterson, they had found inside the cabin. Bits and pieces of that story kind of followed along with the things they were learning about in Thursday, their raven. [NOTE: I'm not sure, but the book may not be real. An internet search did not bring up the title nor the author of the book mentioned. Awww! Too bad cause I actually wanted to read it...lol]

They also found a lookout ridge with a wide view of the ocean that had a tree which held several coffins of bones of the dead, with the smallest coffin at the top. They called it the skeleton tree. [NOTE: The author, himself, claims to have actually seen one of these burial trees while scouting about in wild Alaska. The North American Nations (nanations.com) website says these burial trees were once used throughout America.] In this novel, the raven is very connected to this tree. But, the boys were quite afraid of it at first.

As time goes by, at least 44 days alone together, the boys learn the secret of, and come to terms with, why each of them were invited by their Uncle Jack on this sailing expedition. ( )

Objectively about a 2, (a miserly 1.3, and a generous 2.7) so I'll give it somewhere around a 2.4 .... just because somehow I liked it, even though it dragged along (i'm particularly averse to slow books, especially if I think that its unnecessary). If you're looking for a book with a good theme and strong character development (without spoiling anything) try Touching Spirit Bear instead. (Spirit Bears sequel though has many of the same problems as Skeleton Tree's though.... twisting plot, dragging on, some [if not most actions] don't make sense)

The theme feels confused in this book at best. It hops around from theme to theme, and you can barely tell the theme is there. The theme is much different from what the synopsis seems to portray it. Instead of reading about two kids trying to work out their differences (which we do get, but its a side plot that never really gets satisfactorily resolved as you expect it to), we get an exploration about what life means and about the meaning of death.

subplots are disjointed and ill-defined (as I mentioned above, they argue and bicker but it doesn't really play into the main theme. It is used as a plot device though..... heavily)

Unfortunately, most of the book is tell not show, but the parts that are "show" and not "tell" are particularly powerful. The climbing action of the plot is pretty all over the place. I think this is because the whole book is written in a way where you feel like you don't get a break, and it packs a lot in. After one thing happens, we immediately go into another, unrelated event or conversation between the boys, and so there's very little time to linger on one event. Aside from the above, I will say that the synopsis is a little bit misleading. It seemed to hint that they had to survive through the winter on the island, but really thats only the later 3rd of the book (IF that.... maybe even 1/4th.) While it is a survival book, we don't really get to see very survival book scenarios till the later half.... and then most scenarios resolve miraculously (which irked me. infection/shock disapear overnight from a magic bird?? hmm. I'll give them the wolf scenario and Thursday, because that was set up better than the infection plot, and seemed to make more sense in the theme and overall story). The tie in at the end with Thursday made the book at least worth it to read, for me at least. (another thing..... why have magic in the book if its not fantasy? To me it feels like a cop out, unrealistic, unless the synonpsis is changed and the book is more about life and death sort of thing. anyway.)

most of the character development is largely surface level actions the boys take, they become more like friends, but it just happens. There's no real struggle, and at the end the boys are largely the same as when they were stranded (with the exception of Frank, who is now slightly nicer to Chris than before, but with still the same anger issues as demonstrated with was Chris mentions at the very end about Franks expression, before he takes the radio from Frank and calls mayday to the Coast Guard.)

anyway, I liked the book. ( )

Excellent adventure novel with a twist. Two boys are stranded on a remote part of the Alaskan coast after a shipwreck. They have no relationship at the beginning of the story and slowly one unfolds. It's a story of heart and survival in extreme conditions. They come to realize they need each other and they share a secret. ( )

The back cover compares this book to Lord of the Flies but that is not a comparison I would make beyond the story of survival. Lord of the Flies felt more sinister to me, but I am reading these 20 years apart.

I enjoyed this book. The author spends even time between developing the two very different boys and their dynamic relationship, and on their efforts to survive their situation.

The books felt realistic, even with the elements of the supernatural, and as someone who lives on the West Coast and just recently visited Alaska, it was neat to compare what I heard with what the author writes about.

I'm not the best judge of youth reading, but I feel this book would do well for someone who is detail oriented and more mature. There is a lot of little content in this book that adds to the primary storyline. I would also recommend reading the author's note after the story where Lawrence describes some of his own experiences that came out in the writing. ( )

If you liked Gary Paulsen's, Hatchet, you will enjoy this book! I liked this story because of the bond that resulted from the events between two boys who didn't realize we're related! ( )