Staying Alive

Reviewed by: Paula Johnson - Long Island Community Library, Long Island, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: November 5, 2016

Review

A haunting and tragic tale of the lost Donner party on its travels west to a new life in California. The story is told in verse through the eyes of nineteen year old Mary Graves as she and her family start off on a covered wagon adventure to find a new and promising life during the great western expansion of the 1800's. Although the story is well known in American tales of the West and has become almost mythical in its retelling, the author deals sensitively with the topic of the utter despair which the group finds itself in as it becomes snowed in at the Sierra Nevada mountains and the means that they resort to in order to survive. At its core though it is a story of family, and hope, and the human spirit and its will to survive. The ethical questions which arise are best dealt with by older and mature readers. The use of verse suits the telling very well. In the beginning the verses are varied and hopeful, but as the despair of the trail sets in the verse becomes shortened and terse so that one can almost feel the hunger and cold of the travelers. The book is based on the real life of Mary Graves, a survivor of the Donner Party. An epilogue and author notes fill in some of the background information on the ill fated Donner party.

Overall Book Score: very good